northern idaho.

when posed with the question, “so, where are you from?” at byu, i am quick to answer “idaho…northern idaho!” –i have to make that clarification. i feel like northern idaho is just its own breed, am i right?

 

i found this list on the ‘idahohomestead.com’ website. why was i browsing that? i don’t even know? i guess i’m just excited to go home?

“you know you live in northern idaho when…”

your kids are safer playing on an idaho highway than on their old suburban street in california.

almost every vehicle is a 4×4 or awd.

your $80,000 house has a detached garage/shop filled with $300,000 worth of “toys”.

you don’t know how to correctly pronounce: “quesadilla” or “chimichanga”.

the local gas station sells live bait.

little smokies are something you serve on special occasions.

your mayor is also your friend’s grandmother.

you know you should listen to the weather forecast before picking out your clothes.

you know cow pies aren’t made of beef.

winter: you wake up when it’s dark and go to bed when it’s dark.

summer: you wake up when it’s light and go to bed when it’s light.

your nearest neighbor is…heck…haven’t heard or seen him for a season.

it takes 30 seconds to reach your destination and it’s clear across town.

you see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings and funerals).

you install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

you design your kid’s halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with ice.

your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

you were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.

everyone you know has hit a deer more than once.

the really nice and expensive homes are located on dirt roads.

the big government project in your local town is the paving of a few of the dirt streets.

when the sun goes down you start looking for your coat, gloves, and hat.

in march, your vehicle is 83% mud.

you leave your keys in the car and the next morning it’s still there.

the elevation exceeds the population.

you can’t get out of your car and go inside your house until the mountain lion decides to move off your porch.

you don’t have a key for your house. you’ve never really needed it.

you’ve broken down on the highway and three cars stop to help you.

you can not only see the stars at night, but the milky way too.

people drive 100 miles to shop in a real mall.

your great grandmother is older than the courthouse.

you got a set of studded tires for valentines day.

your back yard smells like forest or scat.

a girls’ basketball game fills the gym.

tourists are easily spotted: they don’t have cracked windshields.

you slept through the night unawakened by a siren.

a fishing derby is more popular than a rock concert.

you can fish, golf, and go skiing all in the same day without really trying.

democrats are like salmon, they are on the endangered species list.

you wave to someone on the freeway because you recognize the truck.

in the spring and summer, every third vehicle you pass is a logging truck. every fourth vehicle is a gravel / dump truck.

you can choose plastic bags or paper sacks for your groceries.

you have to wait for a herd of moose to move off the road.

your main drag in town is two blocks long.

the only 14 hippies and commies are fittingly locked away at some bar in moscow. (ha!)

you know how to pronounce pend oreille and coeur d’alene in a decidedly francophobic way.

you’ve received skis for christmas, and used them christmas morning skiing off the roof.

you know what lewiston smells like.

your definition of a condo is “what californians come to purchase.”

you have more than once, while in another state, said “you call this a lake?”

you think suburban sprawl is the latest innovation…what a novel idea!

you can successfully use ‘hagadone’ as a verb.

you live in the only place outside new england where you can go between three states and a canadian province in under 3 hours.

 oh, sweet northern idaho. how i miss you.

can’t wait to go home; only a few more days!