"Your Monday column really made me laugh," wrote Terry Smith. "Being born and raised in scenic Dubuque, I appreciated your shout-out to The River City.

"The 'Iowa/Idaho/Ohio' joke is one near and dear to my Midwestern heart. While going to school at WSU in the late 1980s, I worked at the Quality Inn. One of my duties was to drive the hotel's shuttle van. Other than the Horizon air crews, the Pullman airport didn't generate too many trips for me so every passenger was a welcome guest. One gent in particular I'll never forget. While making small chat on the drive to the hotel, he asked me where I was from. 'Iowa' I offered. He replied, 'Hey, I've got a sister living in Boise!'

"After all these years, it's still a punchline at our house." 

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