WASHINGTON — Utah Gov. Olene Walker said that as she was eating dinner at the same White House table with President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I kept pinching myself to see if it was real."

With the governors of Maine and Wisconsin also by her side, "We had a rousing table. We really had a good time," she said about the dinner — and a concert by Natalie Cole — that Bush had Sunday for all governors during their annual winter meetings in Washington.

"All of a sudden it hit me that I was sitting there with the Cabinet and the governors — really the top policy-makers in the country," she said.

But Walker shook off any signs of being star-struck to dive into questions with the administration on Sunday and Monday about Utah issues — and even popped briefly into the national media spotlight.

After White House meetings Monday, the National Governors Association sent the newest governors out to talk to the media about it — so Walker, Schwarzenegger and others faced national reporters. When Schwarzenegger tired of fielding questions about gay marriage, he suggested reporters ask another governor.

"So they asked me," Walker recounted.

She found that Utah's conservative reputation preceded her. When asked if her state would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, "I just said, 'I'm from Utah' — and they all laughed."

She added to the laughter of the reporters, "You know in Utah we believe in traditional marriage between man and woman. And someone said, 'Well, what about your mayor in Salt Lake? He wants gay marriages.' I said we still allow diversity of opinion."

Walker said she also received important assurances from the administration about resolving problems Utah has with the "No Child Left Behind Act," Medicaid, with high numbers of National Guard activations and other issues.

The No Child Left Behind Act was a center of controversy among governors Monday after Bush told them, "I'm going to vigorously defend No Child Left Behind because I know in my heart of hearts it's the absolute right role for the federal government — to provide money but insist upon results."

The Utah House attracted national attention recently when it passed legislation saying Utah would only implement as much of that act as the federal government funds. The Utah Senate has yet to act on it. However, Walker said Monday she supports the act and Bush because administration officials "stressed they would work with us with flexibility sufficient to solve our individual problems."