8/29/10 – It’s nice to be in a Red State

I slept well last night, content in knowing that I am finally in a Red State where people seem to have a certain down-to-earth sensibility that Blue State People don’t get. There are no shower police here, No Sir. Showers here flow as freely as the Snake River, just as Sir Isaac Shower designed it back in 1879. This is no Nanny State: There are no helmet laws; People here pack heat and they even have smoking rooms available in the hotel. Not that I want a smoking room, but I support the inalienable right of every grown-up to kill themselves slowly [or quickly in the case of David Carradine] in the privacy of their own room.

I woke up this morning at 9:00, only to realize that I had lost an hour when I crossed into ID yesterday and it was actually 10:00. It was cold and raining and I decided to spend the day in Boise and let the weather pass before heading off towards Yellowstone tomorrow. By early afternoon the rain stopped and it was partly sunny so I decided to do my laundry and get some lunch. Between the wash and dry cycles I stopped into a local Chili’s for late lunch and watched Matt Kuchar defeat Martin Laird in an exciting playoff at the Barclay’s golf tournament, while I enjoyed chicken tacos and an IBC. I stopped to rotate laundry and then rode out to the World Center for Birds of Prey, which was closed. By now the weather was mostly sunny, so I toured around Boise and I stumbled across Glen Campbell’s alma mater, the Northwest Lineman’s College. I also cruised around the Capitol and Boise State, but I couldn’t get into the stadium to snap a shot of the blue turf. Oh well, maybe I’ll see it on my next motorcycle odyssey.

Weather permitting, tomorrow I will head east through Craters of the Moon National Monument and on to Jackson, WY, which is just south of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. The forecast for my ride tomorrow calls for cool temperatures and a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms. I’m praying the other 50% chance happens. There should be good pictures on tomorrow’s post. Good night from the land of Famous Potatoes.