Favorite Things about Pocatello, ID

It has been a month now since I left Rebecca and the kids behind in Washington. It's been a long month and I am counting down the minutes until I get to visit them in a couple of weeks. Since they are not here with me, I often find myself thinking about the things that they will like once they do get here. I think this is going to be a really great place for our family to live and for our children to grow up. Here are a few of the things that I have found that I really like about Pocatello, ID over the past month living here.

1. I like how Idaho State University plays an important role in the town. Pocatello is definitely not a college town, but it is the largest employer (followed by the school district and then the hospital). On game days many businesses and homes will put up school flags, the city holds a welcoming party for students at the start of the year (Welcome Back Orange and Black), and the streets of the city even have tiger paw prints (the school's mascot is a Bengal tiger) on the roads leading to campus.

2. Related, I like how ISU seems to have lots of family friendly activities to engage in. Right on campus they have a cheap theater (free for students, but $2 for faculty and family). Just last week I saw Jurassic World there and a couple weeks ago I saw the Avengers movie. They also do free babysitting for parents who want to go see a movie on a Friday night, so once Rebecca gets here I already have plans to take advantage of that (not sure if they are expecting someone to drop off five kids, but there are no limits from what I read about it). ISU also has a small natural history museum, a swimming pool that is open to the public (and I think free for family of students and faculty) at certain times during the week, one of the best performing arts facilities in the nation, and it seems like they have lots of other fun campus activities.

3. I like how the cost of living seems to be much lower than other places that we have lived in the past. I love having a Winco close by and being able to get bulk candy and spices and everything cheap. Even at the Costco, from what I can tell things like milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables are all cheaper. And it is not just groceries, but we found out that although we a building a brand new home that will be twice the size of our old home, our monthly mortgage payments are going to be lower than we were paying in Alaska. Gas is also cheaper as well as it seems like a hundred other little things.

4. I like being around so many others who share similar values and beliefs. 75% of Pocatello's population identifies as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. It is nice not to have to explain myself or some of my actions as often. But more than that, even those who are not members of the LDS Church seem to hold many of the same values regarding family and media and things like that.

5. I love being in the mountains. Although I do not think they are as pretty as the rugged mountains of Alaska or the tree-covered mountains of Washington, I love being able to look up and see mountains all around me. It is nice to be able to drive just 5 to 10 minutes and have access to several secluded mountain hiking trails.

6. I love all of the wildlife. I have mentioned this in other posts, but mainly what I see through the city on a daily basis so far are deer, rabbits, and hawks. But I have heard that the moose will come around sometimes too.

These dear were in the back yard last night. The people I am staying with are out of town, so I knew that I was at their house by myself. I was startled when I saw something move in the back yard, but then I realized it was just deer.

7. I love the weather so far. I know I have only been here for summer time, but the weather has been great. It has been nice and warm in the days (not too hot where I am sweating all of the time), but then it really cools off at night. Based on what we have looked up about Pocatello, it looks like we will be able to get all four seasons without it getting too cold in the winter time. I have already felt a few colder breezes here and there though and I am actually looking forward to the winter this year.

8. I like the size of the city. Pocatello has about 60,000 people in it, which for me is perfect. It is large enough that it has things like Costco and a mall (it even has a lot of stores we didn't have in Anchorage), but small enough that I never have to worry about traffic or not finding a place to park. Plus, it seems like that after living here for a while we will be able to really get to know people in the community and maybe be able to feel like we can contribute to shaping the city.

9. I like the central location of Pocatello compared to where our families live. We have family siblings in Washington, Utah, Nevada, and just recently Minnesota. It will be nice to be able to drive just 10 hours so the kids can see grandparents and some cousins, but then just 3 hours to see other cousins. We hope to be able to do many more road-trips and we hope to be able to have lots of visitors come to us.

Pocatello is right at the top right side of the T in United

I am grateful for all of the places we have lived. We loved Anchorage, Syracuse, Stillwater, Provo, and growing up in Washington. We have very fond memories of each of those places. However, I am glad that we get to live in Pocatello now and I really look forward to the future our family will have here.