Teapots and Scandals

This weekend I took an excursion to

the dry side of the state

for a little family time.

It's way different there, 

both in geography, climate and culture.

Besides growing lots of apples

and some pretty fine wines,

the region produces a bumper crop of Republicans.

(On the wet side of the state,

we tend to have a more moderate climate

and grow more Democrats and Independents.)

Notwithstanding the dry side's affinity for R's,

there's a little architectural oddity alongside

I-82 that makes allusion to one of the dark moments

in a Republican presidency almost a century ago.

Remember Warren Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal?

In case you've forgotten that period of American history,

there was some hanky-panky in the selling of leases

of federal oil reserves in Wyoming.

It rocked the Harding presidency and landed 

the Interior Secretary Albert Fall in prison.

Talk about a fall guy.

So architect Jack Ainsworth designed

this dandy little gas station that was built in 1922.

Though it stopped dispensing motor gasoline

within the past five years,

it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Not exactly a "Postcards from Paradise,"

but close enough!