Leisurely drive leads to visit with former football player

You can file this column under "it's a small world."

The other day, while Sandi and I were on vacation, we decided to put the top down on the Mustang and go for a drive in Montana.

Our convertible is an older Mustang we bought last year and although we're still sorting out a few minor bugs, it's plenty of fun.

I've owned several convertibles in my life and enjoy them.

It upset me when Detroit stopped building convertibles because "someone" thought they were too dangerous.

After all, no one stopped making motorcycles.

So why not build convertibles? Glad they have been reborn.

I've always been a sort of "wind in my hair" kind of guy.

Which is why I bought this little unit. It's just for fun.

Anyway, we were driving down a dirt road behind Luther, Mont., on our way to dinner at the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe when we came to a one-lane bridge over a small stream.

Just as we arrived at the bridge, a small, gray SUV arrived on the other side.

I pulled to the side of the road and motioned him over.

When he drove by, I noticed he had on Nebraska plates with the number eight pre-fix.

For those of you who don't know, that's Hall county Neb., the home county of Grand Island.

They're not quite as notorious as 9 county Wyoming, but it's a similar situation.

Naturally, since I was pretty much raised in Grand Island and that's where Sandi's from, I stopped the guy and we chatted a bit.

Turns out the guy worked in the VA hospital there for some time and even knew some of the same people we knew 45 years ago.

Go figure.

Later, while we were eating dinner at the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe, Gary Hogeboom and several members of his family walked in and sat down.

Since we've met Gary before, we stopped on the way out to chat.

Come to find out, he and his family had been out hiking trails in the area and, like us, had stopped in at the Grizzly for dinner.

I thought about that after we'd left.

Gary is several inches taller than six feet and even his sister, a lovely lady who was with him, was taller than my 6'-1".

Hiking-wise, most folks were hard put to keep up with me back in the day.

I was in shape and I could cover plenty of ground fairly fast.

But I think Gary or his sister could have left me in the dust, even back then.

They have been blessed with some really long legs and they look to be in excellent physical shape.

We met Gary some years back when he obtained some investment properties in the Clark area, where some of his family currently lives.

Gary and those members of his family we've met have all been good people, never too busy to chat for a minute.

Gary even sent my grandson Cory an autographed picture of himself that was taken when he was the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback several years ago after Cory wrote and asked him for one.

Hogeboom included a hand-written letter to the lad without being asked.

That's the type of sports figure we need more of as positive role models.

So yes, while never being a big fan of the NFL or of the teams Gary played for, I'm a big fan of him.

He impresses me as a true Christian athlete and an all around nice guy.

On the way home that night, with the wind blowing through our hair, I leaned over, squeezed Sandi's hand and said as we grow older, this old world just keeps getting smaller.

I think I'll hang around for a few more years, just to see what happens next.