Weekend in Idaho

I grew up in a very redneck small town on the Idaho-Oregon border. There are more remote corners of the Oregon Outback; but this corner of Oregon is not only 375 miles from Portland, but in a separate time zone from the rest of the state had one redeeming quality, a 40 minute drive to Boise.

I went to high school here a hundred years ago

Its a place where people fly flags like this...

The flag reads, "America - Love it or Leave it"

I hear they serve good food... and guns...  but its closed on Sunday...

 

Sandwiches, Fireworks, Flags and... GUNS!

I cannot see myself  living there again, but there is a comfortable feeling that sweeps over me when I go back. On a number of occasions this weekend I found myself making fun of the overwhelming Red-State culture; I found myself realizing that these are my people, this is the culture in which I lived my formative years.

Enjoying a bonfire by moonlight

There are pockets of progressive thought, especially around Boise. But at the end of the day these are salt of the earth people. I spent my Sunday morning at a Junior Girls Rodeo at the Payette County Fairgrounds. A place where parents and family gather to watch girls get their reps in the rodeo arts in preparation for hopefully qualifying for the Snake River Stampede one day. I watched adorable little girls in their finest tentatively enter the arena and jump from their horses to tie-down a goat, or to lasso a runaway steer. I heard that there would be a competition on July 6-7 at the same arena to choose those who will do the pre-show entertainment at the 2013 Stampede. I am hopeful that I could go back.
My best friend still lives in that world, his daughter was one of the girls we were cheering for this morning. We lament that we don't get together more often even though its only a 3-hour drive.

It felt good to be "home"... once again this afternoon we made promises to not wait so long.

PS... I couldn't ad a caption to the burger. I got it from a place in Notus, ID called The Garage. It was delicious! I mean... look at the bacon hanging out! They featured The Hemi Challenge... 2 lb burger, 1 lb of fries and a shake for $25. If you finish, it's free.