Idaho is an upside-down Vermont

We've been living in Idaho over a month now and still feel like we're getting settled in and into a routine. There have been some fun things that remind us of living in Vermont which makes us feel happy. Idaho's shape is almost the same as Vermont if it was flipped upside down!

Images from here

I did a little more comparing and found that Idaho is about nine times bigger, but only has about two and a half times the number of people. Vermont felt under-populated, so I'm thinkin' Idaho is really going to feel that way.

• Vermont's area code is 802, while Idaho's is 208 (Yes! Each state only has ONE area code for the entire state!)
• Vermont has only one time zone, but for some reason, the southern part of Idaho is on Mountain Time while we northerners are on Pacific (not that I'm complaining, but it just seems weird. Did anyone else know this? And why the tiny section of Oregon on Mountain Time too?)
  

Image from here

• Vermont's highest point is 4,393, while Idaho's is nearly three times as high at 12,662 feet (Mount Borah or Beauty Peak is located the Lost River Range -- mountains I have never even heard of before)
• 20% of Vermont's land and 22% of Idaho's land is used for agriculture. It has been fun to live in another farming state. I even saw a hardware store with posted "harvest" hours.
• Another upside-down thing is of course the politics. Vermont tends to be a very blue state while Idaho is incredibly red. Not really an issue either way for us ... 
• In Vermont, we did not have any Tribal reservation land nearby, in Idaho we are sandwiched between the Coeur d'Alene and the Nez Perce reservations. I am interested in learning more about the history of these people groups.
• We were sad to say goodbye to our lovely Green Mountain State license plates, in exchange for what feel like boring Idaho ones with the tag line 'Famous Potatoes'. Ugh! 

One awesome bonus to registering our car here is that for a mere $10 a year you get free day use at any of the 30 Idaho State Parks. Awesome! We already checked out Hells Gate State Park (on the Snake River) since it was less than an hour away -- a great place for boat/water recreation.

And, we had a family day at Heyburn State Park (on Lake Coeur d'Alene) with Jason's mom, sister and nieces. Luke had his first try at fishing with the help of his Aunt Mel!

Two parks down -- 28 to go!

We continue to miss Guatemala, but are enjoying this interesting place with it's scenery SO SO drastically different ...