No, Things Are Not Bigger in Texas But in Idaho

I guess you could say we’ve got big seats in Idaho.  Let me rephrase that, you need to be a big man to fill this chair!  It’s outside one of my favorite places to eat.  Pickle’s Place had been closed for a time in winter, but the doors opened again a few weeks ago.  The restaurant is eye-catching for travelers on old Route 20, passing between Idaho Falls and Mountain Home.  The highway stretches from coast to coast and long pre-dates the Interstate Highway System.

Pickle’s is an oasis.  I mean that literally.  Driving one day when I was west of Interstate 15, my car thermometer reached 105 degrees.  You pass through a lot of desert-looking terrain and past Atomic City, before reaching Arco.  Atomic City helped light neighboring Arco decades ago.  The place celebrates its part in nuclear history.

If you think the bright green exterior paint is quirky at Pickle’s, you should see the rest of town!  The motel across the street has a paint job straight out of 1950s Las Vegas.

The conning tower of a nuclear sub occupies a local park, along with torpedoes and a rather distinct number on the tower (I guess some of our subs are the destroyers of worlds).

I gather the local teenagers have the sill of mountain goats.  One Cliffside is dotted with paint that celebrates graduating high school classes.  I get vertigo on a ladder.  Imagine scrambling up a rock wall with a can of paint.

If you’re new to Idaho, I would highly recommend a road trip to Arco.  The town has an annual Atomic Days, with a parade featuring torpedoes on wheels.

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