It took 4 different stores to hunt it down, but I found a bag of perlite.  Neither of our 2 different lowes, nor the local nursery had it...but it was home depot who came through for me.  Unfortunately, the only perlite they had was miracle grow infused.  Anyone ever root with this stuff?  Surely its not concentrated enough to burn the roots...right?

Brettjm,
The MG perlite will work fine, I've used it. For rooting cuttings I recommend sifting it through a regular window screen (mosquito netting) to remove the dust and fine particles. http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/from-bag-to-pot-particle-size-is-everything-6284562
Good luck.

Way ahead of you.  I found that a regular old pasta colander works pretty well to get rid of the dust.  It's not perfect...probably looks similar to the medium grade size with some big chunks mixed in.  Glad to hear the MG aspect of it will be fine though.

Thanks