At Least I'm Not in Arizona

Idaho bugs me in some ways.  The culture-clash of living in Eastern Idaho and being the minority because I'm not Mormon is one of the biggest reasons, but there are more.

Incredibly red state, which isn't a bad thing, but Idaho seems to have more of the dumb "dey took our jerbs" Republicans than the intellectual moderates or conservatives.  They hate blue, and that's enough for them.

Also, there's nothing out here.  Which isn't a bad thing, but I'm still a city boy true and true.  I'm 3 hours from Salt Lake, 4 hours from Boise, and those are both half-assed cities anyway.  Give me Chicago.  Give me Boston.  San Diego.

But at least I don't live in Arizona.  I'll take Idaho any day.

My paternal side of the family lives about an hour north of Phoenix.  While the median age for someone living in Idaho Falls is about 57, the median age in Prescott / Prescott Valley seems to be 120.  ALL old people, ALL the time.

If their population is 100,000 right now, in 10 years it'll be 35,000.  It's that bad.

And they're ALL horrible drivers.  Driving too slow, swerving, wide turns, not looking... you feel like you're going to die, even if they're in a Geo and you're in a Hummer.

I had one instance where I was driving down the main street, maybe going 5 over the speed limit.  An old dude 500 feet ahead moved from the next lane to right in front of me, then started slowing down.  When I tried to move over to pass, he moved over as well.  After a little do-see-do, I finally got around him.  He shook his fist at me and yelled for me to slow down.  I think he called me a 'crazy Mexican' too...

Unbelievable.

Also, Prescott Valley has speed cameras EVERYWHERE.  Cops even have camera cars they park in random locations.  Going 26 in a 25 zone?  Expect to see a flash from the car, and getting a ticket in the mail.

The old people don't mind, since they are always 10-20 below the limit.  After all, then they had Flintstones cars, that's as fast as their feet could pedal...

So Idaho has its faults, but they're not nearly as bad as Arizona.  I'll take outsider-fearing Mormons over death-defying old people any day of the week.