I love to write and I love to read, but most of all I love a good story. Imagine how excited I was to receive a package in the mail the other day that paid homage to Flat Stanley. If you don't know who Flat Stanley is, than you are missing out.

Flat Stanley is the main character in a series of books by the same name. Author Jeff Brown writes about an ordinary boy who gets flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. This new shape allows Stanley to travel the world in an envelope (and much more). (Okay, I know this sounds super violent and awful, but I swear it isnt.)

My niece, Eliza, read this book at school and her class decided to join the Flat Stanley Project. Students make a flat version of themselves and send it to someone by mail. The recipient then takes care of the flat student for a week or so and takes it with them to places in their town. Eliza sent me her flat self. I was so excited. Thoughts rushed at me about all the things Flat Eliza and I could do together. Granted, my little corner of Idaho may not be as magical and alluring as perhaps New York, or even Seattle, but I think Flat Eliza and I will have some pretty awesome adventures.

So, this begins the Flat Eliza Travels to Moscow (Idaho) blog series. I hope you enjoy this adventure with us.

There is even a Flat Stanley mobile app if you want to be really cool!!!

I am a born Californian, and I am proud of it. This makes it hard to live in North Idaho (or anywhere in the state, for that matter). Idahoans don't look too kindly at us Californians — insisting we have stolen their jobs, ruined their economy and otherwise taken over their great state. You hear things like this all the time — mostly from people who have never had a job, don't know what the word economy actually means or have never been outside their own state. Okay, maybe that is a little harsh, but I get a little defensive about my home state, even if dear Arnold is running it into the ground.


I will always be a Californian, but I think, after about 10 years in the state, I am entitled to also being an Idahoan. After all, I did marry someone who has spent his whole life here. So, shouldn't it be like U.S. citizenship? Maybe I need to get a green card of sorts.


This brings me to the actual topic of today's blog post — the Idaho Passport Policy. There isn't one, but there should be. I often feel I need a passport to come to the northern part of the state. The culture here is so different from anywhere I have ever lived.


Exhibit 1:

Isn't this the greatest thing you have ever seen? No need to go into a Walmart, wait 20 minutes at the gun counter to get the attention of the man with the mullet (who has ignored you because you're a woman and a woman doesn't belong in the gun section, but at home baking cookies for her hunter-gatherer) to get you some worms out of the little cooler next to the ammunition. Now, with just a little cash you can purchase your bait from a soda and snack machine outside the gas station. This is by far the best invention ever.


I have decided to continue to document other evidence of why people need a passport to visit this amazing and beautiful state. Further exhibits of this evidence will follow in the days to come.