Trip Report

Just got back from taking the daughter to college, and offer the following brief vignettes for your perusal:

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"

Stopped off first in Pocatello, which is where SubBasket and I first met -- she was a student at Idaho State University, and I was attending nuke power training out in the desert. Showed our daughter the house I was living in at the time with three other drunken Sailors... I have no idea how we lived in a house that small; also have no idea why the neighbors never called the cops on us. Went to a restaurant that is reputed by everyone in SubBasket's family to have the best Italian salad dressing in the world. It was really good, but it looked to me like they've decided to give up on normal restaurant activities like "cleaning the restrooms" and are just getting by on their salad dressing reputation. (For those who are wondering, Idaho Falls and Pocatello really haven't changed in the last 20 years...)

On the Availability of Various Consumer Goods in Areas of Low Population Density

Spent the night in Idaho Falls, then got up early to drive the last 25 miles to Rexburg, Idaho. (Those with really, really long memories may remember that this was the town that was decimated when the Teton Dam burst back in 1976.) We wanted to get gas at some point along the way, and I figured that there'd be plently of gas stations between Idaho Falls (a town of about 50,000) and Rexburg. I thought wrong. Apparently, people in this part of Idaho use potatoes to fuel their cars. Anyway, we finally found a gas station in the middle of nowhere, near what I think was E. Bugsplat, Idaho (pop: inbred). I got some gas, and SubBasket went in to get something to drink. She came back out and said, and I quote, "I was disappointed with the selection of bottled water here." You can take the girl out of California...

(SubBasket would like to point out that at this gas station I was so distracted that I forgot to close the cover to the gas cap; I forgot again this morning, but in both cases noticed it before we pulled back out onto the road.)

On Campus Political Diversity

At the "Info Fair" for new students, I was surprised to see a sign advertising a debate between "College Republicans" and "College Democrats" at the BYU-I College Republican's booth. I asked if they had any actual organized Democrats at the school, and they said, "Not yet, but we're trying to find some so they can organize and we can have debates". BYU-Idaho is a little different than most schools...

I Am The World's Greatest Undiscovered "Air Backup Singer"...

SubBasket was snoozing on the way home, and "Time" by Hootie and the Blowfish came on. I didn't want to wake her up, but I couldn't resist "singing" along with this classic track for backup singers. (Sample backup singer lyrics: "Time.... time..... time.... time..... time.... time.... time..... time.... Aaahhhh-aaahhhhh".) So, I'm mouthing the words, and SubBasket wakes up and asks me if I'd lost my mind. No... I was just perfecting my craft; you air guitarists may get all the press, but "air backup singing" is where it's at.

On the Wisdom of Mothers

As we were leaving our precious daughter this morning, it was pretty emotional. SubBasket had this to say to her as we left: "No matter how far away I am from you, I'll be right behind you. The voice you hear whispering in your ear will be mine."
Submariners, as a general rule, have amazing wives...

Going deep...