Recently my camera and I took a week-long trip to southern Idaho to visit the western division of the Strong family; I returned with plenty of photographs … and a much greater appreciation for trees.  If you haven’t already read them, you can see the previous day’s adventures here.

Who knew static could be so impressive?

On Tuesday we got a chance to visit Mountain Home Air Force Base, which, if you’re not certain, is an Air Force base that is located on the outskirts of Mountain Home.  Like every other Air Force base, MHAFB includes what those In The Know would call a static display.  Much to the dismay of everybody who loves rubbing a balloon on the carpet and holding it over somebody else’s hair, a static display doesn’t feature anything that will make your hair stand on end (unless you have an unusually vivid imagination and a strangely overpowering fear of combat aircraft, in which case you probably shouldn’t be near an Air Force base in the first place); instead, it’s a display of retired aircraft that appear ready to pounce, except that jets don’t really pounce, especially when they’re attached to large concrete pedestals that aren’t really conducive to flight.

While we were looking at the static display, our attention was diverted by the decidedly dynamic display of several fighter jets taking off from the nearby runway.  It’s one thing to see jets flying at an air show, but it’s something else altogether to see jets taking off from an active Air Force base; it’s much more meaningful.

Chelsea: taking over the nation, one oven at a time

While on base, we made a stop at the base’s grocery store — what those In The Know would call the commissary — to fill a few food needs.  When we got to the end of one of the aisles, we were pleased to find another familiar sight from home:

Yes, it seems you can’t go anywhere without finding Chelsea’s most famous export: Jiffy Mixes.

Click it or lick it

Later that day, we decided to drive into the mountains north of Mountain Home.  As we were headed out of town, we found ourselves behind a vehicle whose cargo reminded us we were in Idaho, which is less urban and more relaxed than southeastern Michigan.

We were behind that truck for several miles, and the dogs seemed to be enjoying every bit of the ride.

They’re not kidding about the Mountain part of Mountain Home

The canine limousine turned off the main road after a while, but we kept going.  We didn’t have a specific destination in mind; we just wanted to drive into the mountains to see what we could see.  And my oh my, there was plenty to see.

After driving through the mountains for a while, we encountered a scenic overlook where we could pull off the road and overlook the scenery; when we got out of the van, it was cold and windy and absolutely gorgeous.

Granny decided to get a little closer to the scenery…

…And Malachi liked that idea.

Local wildlife is always so fascinating

On our way up into the mountains, we passed a road sign we don’t see in the Ann Arbor area; when we headed back out of the mountains, I made sure to have my camera ready to capture the sign.  And we happened to pass the sign at just the right moment to see the reason for its presence:

What, are you surprised?  Did you think board games just appeared in your game closet?  Wild board games were roaming the earth long before you had a game closet, and obviously, they still populate the western landscape.

Come back soon for the next installment of the Famous Potato Diaries, which will feature the western Michigan coastline, but without the Michigan or the coastline.