Welcome to Idaho

Interstate 90 travels through 73 miles of Idaho from the Washington/Idaho border to the Montana/Idaho border. We travelled it often when we were living in Seattle and visiting family in Montana.

The Idaho stretch has one rest stop in those 73 miles. You have several additional miles to travel either east or west before you find another. It is an ideal place to stop. We let the dogs stretch their legs along a nice stretch of the Centennial Trail that runs through the east bound side.

It also is home to one of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce's visitor centers, manned by friendly senior volunteers and chock full of tourist information for the whole tri-state area. Definitely something for everyone. Last year when our Senator was arrested in a Minneapolis airport for allegedly suspicious mens room behavior, it came out that this bucolic rest area was also a haven for those seeking a quickie.

Wow. Right here in our tourist destination want-to-be northern Idaho! A place where those wanting to visit would stop to gather information.

It's one of those news items that fade from memory when you live here and don't have reason to frequent the place. One would assume the authorities would be dealing with the problem.

But no. Apparently not. In today's Coeur d'Alene Press there was an update, if you will. It seems the restrooms have also become a haven for those who want to shoot up. The janitors are finding something like 30 discarded needles a week!

What the heck have the authorities been doing? The article tells us the rest rooms are vandalized routinely even with a crackdown on the lewd conduct. Some crackdown! What's even more disturbing is the information that tells of the State Police conducting a sting back in 1987. Let me see now. 1987, 1997, 2007 and there is still a problem. Twenty years?

Maybe we can get the officer from the Minneapolis airport that nabbed our Senator to join the ISP stakeout team. Twenty years of a problem in our only rest area is not only disgraceful, it's unacceptable.