"You know you're a true Idahoan when..."

• You don't see anything the least bit funny about the state's largest university playing the biggest football game in its history every other week.
• You've parked next to sagebrush that are taller than your car.

• You refer to any elevation that doesn't have a tree line and a snowcapped peak as a hill.

• Your town has more tackle shops, outfitters' offices and whitewater businesses than it does houses.
• You see a man in a pin-striped suit and cowboy boots and know immediately that he's a state legislator or congressman.
• People believe you when you say you're late arriving at your destination because you were held up by a band of sheep.
• When you ask people what ward they're in, they automatically know you're talking about a church instead of a hospital.
• You know people who have been in fistfights over the brand of pickup they drive.
• When entering a drinking establishment in North Idaho, you instinctively know better than to say you're from southern Idaho. If you inadvertently let it slip that you're from Boise, you duck and look for the nearest exit.
• The county where you live is bigger than some states. Cows outnumber people there, and the few people who do live there are proud of it.
• You're not surprised when, instead of asking where you're from, motel clerks greet you by saying, "Whatchahuntin'?" And it isn't even hunting season.
• You see a lonely looking woman having lunch by herself at the Statehouse snack bar and recognize her as the entire delegation of statewide officeholders who are Democrats.
• You see a mountainside riddled with caves and know not only that there are people living in them, but that they're paying rent.
• You know better than to pop into a popular restaurant because it's reservations-only and you won't be able to get past the Harleys parked on the front porch.
You know several people who have hit a deer more than once
• The closest thing you have to rival gangs in your neighborhood are skiers and snowboarders.
• You stop at a small-town restaurant where they don't have what you want and the waitress runs three blocks to get it for you.
• Your car breaks down on a state highway and the first person to come along picks you up, takes you home for dinner with the family and puts you up in the spare bedroom. This has actually happened to me.
That's one of the things people like best about Idaho. The natives are incredibly friendly.
Tim Woodward - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho: