Idalou is about twelve miles northeast of Lubbock on US-62/82, with 2,193 residents at the 2020 census and an elevation of 3,192 feet. It was incorporated in 1925 and named for an Ida and a Lou -- local histories still disagree over which pair -- and it has never stopped being what it started as: the agricultural center for the cotton and sorghum country in northeast Lubbock County.
People here either farm or drive into Lubbock, and often both across a household. The town has its own school district, its own ZIP code, a post office, a library, a city park and a cotton gin -- the full set of things that make a place a town rather than an exit.
Because the run in is divided highway the whole way, Idalou is a twelve-minute drive from Lubbock, which puts it well inside our normal scheduling range. We run weekly, biweekly and monthly house cleaning here, along with one-time deep cleans and move-out cleans.
Farm-adjacent houses have a particular cleaning profile and we would rather name it than pretend otherwise: more dust, more of it tracked in on boots, heavier soil in entryways and laundry rooms, and harvest seasons that put a visible layer on everything for weeks at a time. The 42-point checklist covers the same rooms it always does. In Idalou it just has more to do at the doors and the floors.
