We had some friends visiting for the first time over the weekend. They live in San Jose and had never been north of Redding before. We were excited to offer them a little change of scenery and a bit of an escape from Life with Two Teenagers. And to your next question, yes, there was a party. The Two Teenagers are in B I G trouble.
A common theme emerged during our friends' visit. It appears we live “about a half hour” from just about anything of interest. Nearest Target? “About a half hour away.” Nearest Lowe’s? “About a half hour away.” Nearest hospital? Nearest mall? Nearest Trader Joe’s? Nearest hotel? Nearest chain restaurant that isn’t fast food? Nearest Costco? Nearest Weinerschnitzel? All are about a 15 minute drive from our little town, which is about 15 minutes from Woodhaven.
Our repeated 30 minute reply reminded me of a visit to Pocatello, Idaho a number of years ago. Rob’s company was relocating there and was trying to entice dollar-signs-in-their-eyes Bay Area employees to move to a town with one mall and one new Office Max which they were very proud of. We spent about 3 hours seriously investigating what life in Pocatello might be like. We talked to some nice people at a visitor’s center, the Chamber of Commerce, and an open house for a home about the price of a really nice car. Over and over, we were told the best thing about Pocatello was that it was 3 hours from all sorts of things: 3 hours from Sun Valley, 3 hours from Salt Lake City, 3 hours from Yellowstone. We understood this to mean that the best thing about Pocatello was leaving it. I wouldn’t say that’s the case with Woodhaven; we quite enjoy hanging out here. But the visit by our decidedly urban-suburban friends reminded me just how far away we are from the life we lead in California. Way more than 30 minutes – or even 3 hours.
4 comments:
Next you'll tell us you don't even miss In'n'Out...
At least I can find Togo's, Chili's and The Gap within an hour's drive -- albeit in another state! Our nearest In-n-Out is Redding, 6-7 hours away. But...and Rob doesn't agree at all...I've sort of become partial to Burgerville. Hard to beat the Tillamook Cheeseburgers and Walla Walla Onion Rings. Mmmmm...
Toni doesn't know that it actually takes closer ot 8.5 hours to get to Redding, mostly because she sleeps a good chunk of the way there.
Really? 8.5 hours? That long? How about that.
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