Small Town Girl

I've lived in california almost 8 years now but I actually grew up in the small town of Snohomish, Washington. That's Sno - Ho - Mish, for those of you who had to re-read that. And I'm not kidding ya'll, it's a small town with a small town vibe. I am often told by my friends, and new people I meet in my new home state that it is obvious I am not from California. I'm not quite sure where the "obviousness" comes from, I'm not one I would consider to be "country bumpkin" (if you will) but it is true, I am not from California, and small as it may be, I really like the little town that was once my home.

This is a picture of the Snohomish Valley. This land is apart of Stocker Farms, and I went to school with the Stocker boys.

This is a picture of downtown Snohomish. 

This little strip is First Street.

Another Snohomish Farm.

And this, my friends is the Buzz Inn. This little gem is located right next to Harvey Airfield. What is it you ask? It's fabulous and that's all you need to know.

 

Every Thursday from 6:00-8:00 they play Bingo, and this week we were lucky enough to be invited to go. This particular Bingo night was special. Because it was the Thursday before Christmas, we were asked to bring a white elephant gift to be exchanged after the game.

I was warned before coming that the crowd was going to be a little redneck different. I showed up in full make-up with my little sweater, high heeled black boots and a crisp white winter jacket with a fur hood. To say I stuck out like a soar thumb is an understatement. That bar was crowded with Snohomish county's finest blue collared, working class men.... Not that there's anything wrong with that. There isn't but lets just say they were pretty rough around the edges. Beer and whiskey was the drink of choice, except for the guy next to me with a long white beard and ponytail ordered some kind of blue foufy martini. The food was questionable, and the women could have been dated to 1980 but I have never met more friendly people in one location in my life. And Bingo was a blast! I didn't win but my brother and step-mom both did and were able to pick from a selection of prizes carefully wrapped in recycled, stapled paper bags. It was fantastic! Then the white elephant gifts came. I definitely won in that category. Of course, because I'm me, I picked the larger perfectly wrapped box of the bunch and inside was a candle set, a stuffed animal (which Roxie loved) some Nickelodeon Slime and beeswax sheets to make my own candles. I was ecstatic. My dad got a Basset Hound Mug, my brother got some ribbon candy and my step-mom got some kind of sparkly holiday wine bag. Aside from mine, Tanner's (my brother's BFF) gift was up there in quality. See below:

The Santa hat came from my stuffed animal and the sign was a "PG" Holiday plaque that said "HoHoHo" Of course we I changed it to an "R" rated plaque that now says "Hohohoes and Sluts." And it went perfectly with his beer tree. See below again:

I have to admit that at one time I used to resent Snohomish. I hated the one street they call downtown, the valley thats smells like cows when driving through. I hated that it took 45 minutes to get anywhere "fun" or that if you didn't leave as soon as you graduated there was a chance you'd get stuck here. I hightailed my butt outta Snohomish so fast after graduation you could have seen a dust trail, but now I appreciate it. It's made me who I am and helped me become who I want to be. I like to come home to visit Snohomish, farms, beer trees and all! So, maybe I am a little different than my friends in California- not a lot but I think what they say is true. You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can't take the small town out of the girl!