Batman and Jack are off fishing somewhere without cell coverage. The laundry is done–I strongly recommend the tech wash soap in the orange bottle from Walmart–and the galley is clean.

Today is our last day to sightsee in Challis, which brings me to some recent quotes…

Batman: Want to take that road up to the dump?
Dale: Is that number one of one attractions on TripAdvisor?

Jack: Mom, we made up a play. Do you want to see it?
Me: Sure! What’s it called?
Jack: “Who Is the Town Murderer?” It’s got a great plot twist at the end! (and it did)

Me: Is there a laundromat here?
Batman: No.

Me: Is there a drugstore here?
Batman: Not anymore.

Me: We didn’t pack socks. Can we buy them at the bowling alley? (common in Florida)
Batman: No.

Dale: Will there at least be 4G coverage in Stanley?
Batman: No.

Dale: Those are gunshots, right?
Me: Yes.

Confession time. I invented a word today. Two words, actually. And if I don’t preface this, it will sound mean and make my mother cry. As much as our family loves camping and traveling and seeing new places, we are, at heart, city people. We appreciate good, cheap restaurants, nail salons, 24-hour grocery stores, all-night pharmacies, and a choice of cineplexes. And small towns are charming, Today we went to church in the Challis Ward, the local Mormon church. The people there were very sweet, very welcoming. But they all seemed quite bewildered at the fact that we are church members who don’t live in Idaho or Utah and have no desire to do so. They are heart-bonded to the Inter-mountain West in a way that separates us in a fundamental, big-city-vs-small-town kind of way. To express this feeling of disconnect I invented the word

Idahoverload: n. a feeling of mild discomfort arising from excessive exposure to Idaho culture, similar to a stomach-ache from excessive sugar. See also “too much of a good thing.”

The second word I invented (where are the people of color around here? Hello!) was

blandscape: n. a particularly homogeneous gathering of people.

Tomorrow is our river rafting trip, which promises to be amazing. Plus they have agreed to take care of our dog! And I have really appreciated that Batman has no cell coverage here, so no work worries have interrupted our adventures. Tonight we are popping the Jiffy-pop and putting up the movie screen to watch the pilot of Breaking Bad. Because Netflix plus free wifi is a good thing.