ANNOYING PARANOIA

On Thursday evening, July 23, Glenn and I realized that the locally important holiday called "Pioneer Day" is nearly as big a deal in Idaho as the Fourth of July is in Michigan. We'd taken Miles to a nearby restaurant (where I'd scored a free meal) for dinner. Because the establishment is near I-15, we observed quite a few folks on the road hauling campers, boats, and ATV's. Considering that the campground we wanted to visit at Mackay Reservoir has only 30 sites, and it was a holiday weekend and we planned to have Meg and Miles join us there. . . we sort of panicked about whether or not we'd "get in."

Sooo. . .up at 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, out the door by 7:00 a.m., we arrived at the campground around 9:45 a.m. We learned and realized some things:

• Check out time was 2:00 p.m.
• Despite the late check-out, in the first loop of the campground (Grouse) there are 15 sites, one of which is occupied by the campground host. Of the remaining 14, four were unoccupied, including a primo spot right on the shore of the reservoir!
• We're (as I've stated before in this journal) "Not in Kansas anymore."

Mmm. . . when I say it was a beautiful campground, it's an understatement. It's operated by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and has been recently renovated. Everything is new. Each site has an asphalt pad (big enough for our camper, pickup and Meg's truck), an area for a tent. We also had a built-in fire ring, barbeque grill, brand new picnic table with a steel awning over it, electrical hook-up AND our own water spigot! All for 14 bucks a night!

In Michigan, the third weekend of July, a campground like that for that little money would have been teeming with people, parties and vehicles. This campground never even filled up.

We keep forgetting. . . we are NOT in a populous state anymore. In fact, the entire population of Idaho is approximately the same as MI's Oakland County. Wayne County (according to my atlas) is home to about 750,000 people MORE than all of Idaho. Coupling the low population rate with the highest percentage of public land in the lower 48 states, well, it means our paranoia about being shut out of campgrounds is no longer well founded.

Another example we'd considered: We could take every man, woman and child living in the nearby city of Pocatello and its adjacent township, Chubbuck. . . put them all into Michigan's "Big House" football stadium. . . and have 30,000 seats left!

In the top photo, Glenn and I fly-fished the spot along the Big Lost River (beneath the Mackay Dam) we'd found during our last camping trip. Glenn pulled out this nice rainbow, which we kept and ate. Mouth-watering!

In the lower photo, Sunday afternoon a thunderstorm rolled nearby leaving a dusting of snow atop a nearby mountain. The picture doesn't do the scenery or our campground justice, but does hint at the size of our campsites and the dramatic views to which we awoke each morning.

We're not sure when or where our next camping trip will be, but we're working hard to overcome the "population paranoia" with which we are afflicted!