This photo was to document my arrival at the Idaho-Utah state line before entering Utah for the "first time." But it was the first time only symbolically. In 2002 I had driven "through" the state during a whirlwind drive from the New Jersey shore to my home near Seattle. This trip in 2004 had greater meaning because it was my first trip with Utah as a destination.

I was returning to the Beehive State to see in detail some of the topography I merely glanced at two years earlier. When I took this picture, I was happy as a clam, thinking I was in Idaho and about to cross into Utah. (Actually I was already in Utah.) When I drove past the Box Elder County sign I let out a joyous shout to celebrate the occasion. In Utah at last!

But as I discovered seven years later, it was all a mistake, caused by a hoax perpetrated by the states of Idaho and Utah. In fact, the state line is about 260 feet (80m) behind the vantage point of this photo! I had been duped, tricked, lied to, and fed disinformation. My joy of crossing into Utah had been a wasted effort, a mis-directed emotion. I had been cheated. Life is tough.

On that later trip I drove here with my Toyota Sienna and I found the state line. It is marked insignificantly with a short concrete post having a survey marker embedded therein. No signs, billboards, flashing lights, fruit stands, or tourist traps. To mark the occasion, I photographed myself standing at the boundary.
At the same time I duplicated this shot with the Green Weenie.