Grasmere, Idaho

First timer?  In this formerly once-a-day blog (now pretty much an every-other-day blog), I have my computer select a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48).  I call this “landing.”  I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town I land near.  I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location.  To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is and what the various numbers and abbreviations mean), please see “About Landing,” (and “Abbreviations” and “Cryptic Numbers”) above.

Dan –  My pattern continues, 10 in a row alternating between OSers and USers.  Last time, an OSer, this time a USer . . . ID; 46/51; 5/10; 1; 150.6.  And give me a break.  I once again landed very close to a previous ALAD landing.  Back in January of 2009, I landed near Riddle, and as this landing map shows, I did it again.  Today’s landing is north of Riddle:

Because I highlighted Riddle once already, I figured that Grasmere (although a little further away) would be featured.

Here’s a broader view:

Here’s my GE shot – an oblique shot looking south towards the UT border:

Here’s a Street View shot, with my landing about a mile and half in the distance:

Before I get to Grasmere, I thought I’d share this Riddle picture, posted by Artemis Fartemis (note “Riddle” on the roof, so any airplanes in the vicinity can figure out where they are, I guess).

OK, so maybe the guy’s “name” is what caught my attention more than my interest in the photo.  But good ol’ Arty Farty also posted this shot of Grasmere:

Across the street from the above truck is downtown Grasmere, which I captured with this Street View shot:

From Ghosttowns.com, about Grasmere:

Grasmere used to be the only gas station and cafe on the road between Bruneau and Owyhee, NV. A couple of years ago, however, the owners, deciding it was unprofitable to maintain their desert oasis, decided to place the town up for sale. As of Feb. 2005 it remains closed and is rapidly disintegrating into the desert. It remains for sale, but with no buyers in sight, I imagine it will soon be completely gone. Submitted by: Tina DuBois

I stumbled on something quite interesting about Grasmere.  Author Jacquie Rogers picked a fictional Grasmere as the setting for her novel “Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues.”  Check out this Amazon.com review:

What a hoot!
Jacquie Rogers has an original and delightful imagination. This romance is completely different from anything you’ve ever read before. You’ll find yourself laughing out loud at the match- making animals. Rogers has created interesting characters and a hero and heroine you’ll adore. Brody made my heart race, but I have always been partial to cowboys. When you want to curl up with a good read, pick this book. From the first page you’ll be hooked, and there is no way you’ll be able to put it down.

There are five other reviews, all positive.  Here’s what Ms. Rogers herself has to say about selecting Grasmere as the setting for her book:

Where the heck is Grasmere Idaho?

It’s in Owyhee County, located in the southwest corner of Idaho.  This is one of the largest counties in the lower 48 states, and has about the same area in square miles as New Jersey.  Population is a about 1 person per square mile (twice as many people as when I lived there), although far less dense than that around Grasmere. (New Jersey’s population density is about 1,170 people per square mile.)

My editor was a bit stunned when I told her that there are twice as many characters in Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues as there is actual population in Grasmere, Idaho, where the story is set. Last I knew, Grasmere had phone service but not electricity, and outlying ranches have neither.  All appliances and electrical devices are run with generators or propane.

And exactly why did I set Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues in Grasmere?   Because I wanted to make communication a little more difficult, the lifestyle more contrasting to the urban life, and my heroine just a little bit ashamed of her roots.

Actually, Jacquie has more to say – click here for her blog, which includes a YouTube video of a song written about her novel.  Maybe I should add her book to my reading list . . .

Even though Grasmere doesn’t have much else; remarkably, it has an airport.  What with all of the air traffic, no wonder that garage in Riddle put “Riddle” on the roof!  Anyway, here’s a plane’s-eye view of the airport (photo from an Idaho state aviation website):

In closing, I stumbled on a motorcycle blog:  Adventure Rider – Ride the World.  It has a posting entitled “The Small Stuff, Idaho Style:”  I’ve copied some of the posting; for the entire post, click here. I’ll pick up on the action when the riders get to Grasmere (picture captions are from the blog):

What a step back in time this place [Grasmere] is. I rode for another ½ mile then turned onto a road that leads to Jarbige.

Traveling along this area is about as good as it gets, along some beautiful desert roads. It was decided that a detour to the Cat Creek area was necessary.

This is a scenic overlook of the area. Sam had done some research about the canyon and there was supposed to be an old homestead at the bottom, off everyone went looking for the trail. It was soon found.

Our youngest and most fearless member tore off down the steep road as the rest of us sized up the task. One by one the riders skidded down the trail arriving at bottom.

At the bottom laid the old homestead and a nice meadow by the river. I took a quick power nap realizing the ride out would be a bit dicey. The way out was a quite a bit more challenging; riding over hard rock covered with various sizes of gravel ranging from marble sized to softball size can be tricky.

That’ll do it. . .

KS

Greg

© 2010 A Landing A Day