Several years ago, Powell visited Walker and her husband at her office. As Myron tells it, "As he greeted her, he went to buss her (a light peck on the side of the cheek), and we just don't do that. She didn't know what to do. She didn't turn her face. They kissed on the lips. They were totally embarrassed. They knew they had done it wrong."

During the Olympics, Powell visited Walker again and bussed her again, this time correctly.

"Olene, we did it right this time, didn't we," he said. He had remembered the embarrassing incident for six years.

Powell can be forgiven for the exchange. Those close to Walker say she seems to exude such warmth that people are constantly hugging her.

"Most governors are very formal in public, but people like to hug her," says Amanda Covington, the governor's deputy for communications.

To promote her reading program, Walker once appeared at a school, as did an eight-foot Cat-in-the-Hat mascot. When the mascot walked into the room, one little frightened boy screamed and ran into the governor's arms, where he was soothed — "It's OK, little one," she told the boy.

"And he ran right past his mom to get to her," says Covington.

Before a group of 18 Muslim leaders from Africa visited her, Walker was coached not to touch or make eye contact with them, but when they showed up, the visitors touched her and shook her hand and finally applauded her.

"That's just her," says Covington. "They were enamored with her."

'She wears us out'

This is what else you'll discover about the governor: She's as active and energetic as a roomful of teenagers. It's not unusual for her working day to last 14 to 16 hours. In the Walker family, her energy is legendary on vacations with extended family members.

"She'll invite us on a little hike," says Slighting. "We end up going five miles, and the teenagers are dying and she's leading the way."

Walker, the great-grandma, shredded the floor while dancing during legislative meetings in New Orleans. She stole the show at the closing banquet of the Western Governors Association by belting out a rendition of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "Wild Thing."

Varela recalls that during the Olympics, Walker was on the go from 6 a.m. till midnight every day. "They had to assign two shifts of security to keep up with her," says Varela.

Slighting recalls that when her mother was asked to carry the Olympic Torch to Delicate Arch over the red rock in southern Utah, security worried that she couldn't handle the hike. "They took back every word they said," says Slighting.

When anyone hints that age is an issue for the governor, staffers laugh.

"Age!?" says Covington. "Oh, my word. She wears us out. We fall into bed."