Day 65 (July 18). Lewiston, Idaho

Miles today: 0

I was more exhausted than I realized.  Lewiston seemed like a nice enough town.  I mailed 20 or 30 pounds of mostly rocks when the post office opened at 8 am, then went back to the hotel, asked for another night, and slept until the afternoon. My major accomplishment for the day, other than the post office, was getting a haircut.  (I have been on the road so long that I needed one.)

One thing I did notice as I walked to the hair cutting place was that it was not only sunny, it was warm.  Then I saw a sign with the time and temperature: 93 degrees.  I am near the Snake River, but am still at about 1000 feet elevation.  I am not in Canada anymore. 

Not in Canada anymore

In the evening, after walking around a bit, I walked into a hotel restaurant that said it contained a microbrewery.  For dinner I had hot wings and – wait for it – hummus.  Surely Idaho must be liberal deep down if I could get hummus in a bar in Lewiston.

You can get hummus in Idaho!

The place started filling up, and it turned out it was high school reunion night for both the class of 2005 (ten years) and 1985 (thirty years).  Being at the edge of my 40^th high school reunion myself, I felt that I should hang around in the 1985 area.  In fact, I had some very pleasant conversations with people who had grown up both in Lewiston, and some of the surrounding small towns.  Many things they told me were fascinating. I will pass on only two here.  First, Idaho grows not only potatoes, but something like 75% of the world’s chick peas. (Thus the hummus.)  Second, no, none of them were carrying guns, but they all had them back in the trucks they came in. They owned dogs, and they owned guns.  Didn’t everyone?  I said that in Virginia, most people didn’t, because there was nothing to shoot, except people.  The understated  reply was, “Well, there is always that. . . .”  I did not get an elaboration, and the conversation turned so I didn’t get a chance to follow up.  So I guess I will have to leave it at that for now.