So the first meeting went well.  We frolicked around Santa Barbara and clearly had enough to keep us busy from the ocean to restaurants to nervous conversation charged with excitement and anticipation.  That all happened in Chapter 3.  Now onto the real test.  I would go to Montana and see what life was like for Benjamin there.  What did it look like to be in the Air Force?  What were his friends like?  Most importantly, could I honestly ever see myself living there?

I arrived in Great Falls and remember the airport looking exactly like a truck stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  There were shadowboxes of stuffed animals and large displays of Native American history.  Oh dear.  Here we go.

Benjamin arrived in his truck of course and picked me up.  He was in uniform and without a doubt looked cute.  I can't recall if this was the time where we went to the hot dog shop or to get sandwiches but either way, both are good stories.  He took me to a restaurant that only served hot dogs.  There were various toppings for them but that was it.  Clearly he knew me so well.  Another time during this trip we went to a sandwich shop that was in a little house where each sandwich looked the same and was piled high with mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce.  

Clearly the man had dashing good looks, a great personality, and sincere faith or else I may have spoken up.  I held my tongue and now several years later we can laugh about how gross I thought each restaurant was.  It was sweet of him to show me the town but in all reality there was only one restaurant in Great Falls that we ever wanted to go eat at- otherwise, it was best that I just cook when I came to visit.

On that trip I got to meet his roommate who like Benjamin was an avid hunter, see what his life looked like for work, and get to go to places like the Sip and Dip which is yet again a very classy establishment.  This one had Benjamin and his friends laughing each time they went as it was a little bar in a hotel that had a swimming pool where a mermaid would swim in it.  The decor was awful velor and the lighting was low.  Oh dear.  

Didn't look very promising that I could see myself living here, right?  There was one saving grace in the town.  A local little grocery store that carried Amish Butter.  It really had me thinking "this is amazing... ok ok.. we could make this work."  

But did we?  Did I ever live there?  Keep reading friends.  Keep reading...