[delayed - Sir Brian used the wrong address to post from]
All
Apart from our hosts, the only people we met on an "invited" basis were
Outpost 207. Jennifer's friend Vicky held a dinner for the outpost staff and
us. Somehow it gravitated into the women in the kitchen and the men in the
living room talking about men's things and women's things (I presume). Seems
like the Harley Davidson has a few fans in Vancouver <g>. The Outpost itself
was ..... boys being boys (and some Commanders being boys as well <g>).
However, if one of the Commanders in England walked in, in full cowboy gear,
complete with six gun and 12" bladed knife, the SC would throw a blue fit!
Still all the boys listened to the story of Mickey Mickey Tombo and some
responded afterwards when asked if their name was in the Lamb's Book of Life
which was a real blessing.
As I said previously, I think most people were a bit leery of us but most
staff were polite. Even so, I still got the impression that, with some, it
was because they had to be. Because we did not stick to the usual tourist
trail most of the motel owners seemed pleased that we had stayed there. That
even included the Polish guy where we managed to walk asphalt over his
carpet (he was having the place re-tarmaced). In the restaurants/fast food
places we visited, it seemed to be the older staff who were genuinely
helpful. We only had one who confessed to being an Anglophile, "Gee, I could
stand here and listen to you all day", she said (or something similar). I
remeber the breakfast waiter in Seaside because he was all over everyone
like a rash. Even so, he was aware that American Steak Sauce is similar to
English Brown Sauce. I thought that he would never have heard of it. He got
his tip for effort <g>. We didn't have much contact with the native American
population but from what little we did have, I got the impression that they
were not too fond of whites,We met one or two older people who had visited
England during the war. The only thing one guy could remember was that it
rained a lot! We also met a couple from NY state on the train up Pike's
Peak. It seems that they just managed to stay ahead of the tornadoes in
their RV.
Our best reception, however, was at a place called Pomeroy House. It was a
place Duane took us to surprise us. Unfortunately for him, I spotted the
name plate on the way in which included a Union Flag under the name. Chris
did not spot this, however, and was surprised to see little bit of England
in the US. It was a fascinating place from which I was able to buy some real
English brown sauce, which Duane is now the owner of, and some of my
favourite English chocolate bars. I was explaining to Duane why the UK flag
which had been printed on to a mug was upside down when I suddenly realized
that I had an audience behind me <g>. When Duane informed the assistant that
he had brought his English guests to visit we suddenly became VIP's and
ended up sat at a table in the middle of the room drinking coffee and eating
shortbreads. When the owner walked in he seemed rather puzzled but the
assistant explained and it turned out that he studied at UMIST in the 60's!
(I also came home with that mug as Duane insisted on buying it for me seeing
that I had gone on at such great lengths about it).
(Test for everyone - how can you tell if the Union Flag is upside down?).
BoW,
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