Back in January 2022, I moved from my twenty-seven year residence in Rexburg, Idaho to a new home in Jerome. There is much, much more to why I moved here, but that is for another episode.
Today I made my semi-annual trek to the county landfill, the transfer station to be more exact. Since no one accepts empty cardboard boxes as recycling, it's off to the transfer station. When I moved here two years ago I really wanted to begin exploring the area which comprises my new not so private Idaho in the southern part of the state. It's more commonly known as the Magic Valley. And if you don't know much about the state of Idaho, the explanation of where the name "Magic Valley" will be another episode down the road.
But my aging 2004 Ford Explorer wasn't in good enough shape to be trusted too far from home base. It was getting close to 100,000 miles. That's not much considering many folks around here have well over twice that many miles on their vehicles. But my Explorer need a total new front end. The cost for the repair was as much as the car was worth. Last March, my trusty 4X4 gave up the ghost; appropriately in the church parking lot. Cause of death? A thrown timing belt which caused the camshaft to bend and one of the six cylinders to cease. Yep, time to get a new car. One that could be trusted. Enter my 2023 Subaru Outback Premium.
Like the old TV Western from days gone by "Have Gun, Will Travel," I guess you could now say "Have Car, Ron Will Travel."
After exiting the county transfer station, I had a decision to make: left (to the east) or right (back to the west). It was lunch time and I was thinking about turning left so I could grab a BLT and a fabulous handmade milk shake at the Manhattan Cafe in Shoshone, Idaho. If you are dining at the Manhattan at the right time, you might see a Union Pacific freight train heading on the main line out of one of the huge picture windows. Again, a possible future episode.
So I decided to turn left and go east on Highway 25. I had been to the small town of Eden, Idaho before. Yep, another future episode. I continued east of Eden (all respects to the great Californian author John Steinbeck) to the small town of Hazelton.
Incorporated on December 5, 1916, Hazelton has a current (2022) population of 814.
That's double of it's 1990 population of 405.
It didn't take me long to drive through town before I stopped and turned back. I spotted the restaurant where I wanted to eat lunch.
But before I ventured back through town, I had to stop and take a few pictures. The first is what I thought was quite curious...
I don't think I have ever seen a Family Dollar and Dollar Tree stores in the same building. And the good folks of Hazelton made sure you didn't miss the store on your way out of town.
If you look close at the sign at the Chevron station next door, both Regular and Diesel No. 2 are the same price. Kind of unusual in my book. Valley Service Convenience on the west end of town had the same prices.
I love looking for old buildings, especially those of the Art Deco era. Across from the Family Dollar/Dollar Tree store was what was an old cafe. Check out the bas relief sign spelling out 'CAFE."
This old cafe now houses J & W Agri-Corp. They provide for "potato, transport, and goods relocating." Check out what they offer.
As with more smaller towns these days, many of the old store fronts on Main Street are now vacant.
Yet across the street from this site is what I came to Hazelton for: LUNCH! Google told me about Hazelton's Landmark Bar & Grill. Since today was Taco Tuesday I went with the tacos de birria. Birria is a shredded beef. They make some pretty cool (really tasty and HOT) salsas: habanero, guacamole, and homemade extra-spicey chili peppers unknown that is flavorful and a bit on the hot side. The waitress wasn't sure what was in it, but I enjoyed it. If you like it, you can take home a jar. Just ask!
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| The Landmark's exterior with homage to Evel Knievel |
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| My tacos de birria |
