Idaho Cars and Drivers

As soon as I finished my website and finally got it posted, I got an email from the gallery in Eagle telling me my work is outstanding and to come on in. It felt like the universe conspired to get me to get that site done. Here's the link:

http://www.shellyjohnsonstudio.com/

I voted and I now have Idaho plates on my car. It was really funny to just hand someone my vote. The DMV parking lot was crowded, but I waited about 30 seconds for the next window and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. Registration cost about $90 for a year. I could have paid $150 for two years, but I don't want that car for two years. I got generic plates that say Scenic Idaho at the top and Famous Potatoes on the bottom. In my time here I have not seen one field of potato plants, all I see is corn. My California car registration was paid through May 2011, think they will give me a partial refund? Not.

The woman at the DMV said she hasn't heard anyone complain about their Prius in the cold, so next time I go to the Toyota dealer I'm going to ask them why that darn warning light goes on and stays on the minute it turns 32 degrees. I spent the entire drive through Grant's Pass with it snowing and icy and this useless warning light glaring at me. All the light did was scare me. Why is this on? What should I do?

When I was driving to move to Boise the most popular car in California was the Toyota 4Runner. Once I got to Oregon it was the Toyota Tundra. In Boise people mostly have older cars, I hardly ever see anything new, but the most popular car appears to be Subaru, the Forester and the Outback. I figure that's because it is a cheaper four wheel drive. I do see plenty of Volvo, wagons and the XC 90, I would love either one. If I see a Toyota, it's mostly the Tacoma. I see a lot of trucks, like I did in Simi Valley, but they are of a wide variety, not all white Ford F150s. Actually, I do not see many white cars. I guess you don't need one to keep the heat off in Summer and they seem impractical for Winter. In Winter you would want your car to stand out in the snow, not blend in with it.

Boise drivers drive the speed limit. This is a good thing because sometimes the speed limit changes from block to block and all I have to do is stay with the speed of traffic to keep up. They do drive aggressively and if you are not going the speed limit they will pass you, although unlike the drivers in California, they will give you some room and don't try to clip your bumper on their way around. The speed limit on the Interstate is 75 MPH and drivers expect you to go 75 MPH. The entire time I've been here I've only had one driver tailgate, and that was on a back road on the way to Craters of the Moon. This was a young girl who thought it was funny when I slammed on my brakes and pulled over, what is it with young girl drivers now? In California when someone was driving like an ass it was either a young girl or a middle aged soccer mom in a giant SUV more than half of the time. Giant SUVs are rare here. I've only seen one Cadillac Escalade in two months. Idahoans are too practical for Escalades and in general I don't think they like standing out.

I am paying the price this morning for a diet of popovers and blueberry marmalade for the entire day yesterday. It was yummy and popovers do not make good leftovers, but square meals is on the list for today.