The Slice: Pick a place to go, and just keep truckin’

The speaker’s forum portion of the next Marmot Lodge meeting will focus on transplants to our area and how they came to Spokane.

The format will feature the Exalted Grand Poobah leading the discussion with personal recollections – what else is new? – and then opening it up for story-sharing from the floor.

Here’s our tentative outline.

1. I drove here in early 1988, in a 1987 Honda Civic that I still own and pamper. You?

2. I was accompanied by my wife-to-be, the world’s most emotionally stable travel companion and famous map lover. You?

3. Starting just east of the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tenn., we stopped for the night in Columbia, Mo., then North Platte, Neb., then Sheridan, Wyo., and then Coeur d’Alene. You?

4. It was PBS pledge time across the country and everyone was showing “Anne of Green Gables.” Do you remember what was on TV when you made your trip?

5. I seem to recall that we listened to a bunch of story collections from “A Prairie Home Companion” and some Windham Hill tapes. You?

6. One dicey road moment took place near Cheyenne, Wyo., when a passing truck splattered the Civic with a blanket of slush that turned to ice the instant it landed on our car. You?

7. You know it was a long time ago because, for us anyway, this was pre-cellphones and pre-Internet. You?

8. Most remarkable wildlife-watching from an Interstate was in Wyoming. You?

9. Yes, we stopped at the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. You?

10. I think the first time we saw “Spokane” on a highway sign was in the middle of Montana. You?

11. One travel surprise was the zero-vacancy situation in Missoula because of a state high school basketball tournament. You?

12. We were just a few years too early for that one motel in Wallace. You?

13. We spent our first night in Spokane at The Ridpath. You?

If you would like to share your answers in advance of the meeting – which has a 100 percent chance of being postponed – feel free.

Today’s Slice question: Why is the area just south of the small of the back such a popular spot for tattoos?