Travelogue

Did you know that Boise is pronounced "Boy-See" and not "Boy-Zee?" I didn't know that. It seemed weird to say Boy-See. Try it. See what I mean?

From what I could figure, the city population is about 200,000 (within the city limits), and about a half million in the area. That is perfect, in my opinion. Big enough to have a ballet, an opera, a philharmonic orchestra, a big university, and a Babies R Us, but not so big that it is overly congested and polluted. There are wonderful local restaurants, and while the big chain restaurants are present, the local places are really the popular ones. Plus, a NICE dinner entree (say homeade spinach linguine with artichoke hearts, capers, olive oil, basil, garlic, tomatoes, spicy italian sausage and olive tapenade) is around 10 bucks!!! That is impossible to find in Alaska--the price AND the quality of the food!



There is a 22 mile greenbelt along the Boise River that runs through town. This greenbelt has a biking and walking trail the entire length of it. There are bike trails everywhere and many bikes resting outside downtown businesses.

We saw someone fly fishing on the river in the downtown area. While it is located in a desert area, the city itself has lots of trees, lush green grass, prolific pots of annual flowers and tons of rose bushes. The city is fresh, fit, clean and amazingly friendly.

The Boise River (these were taken right downtown!)

In fact, the people were so friendly I had a momentary flash of Stepford. I considered running, screaming, from the Taco Bell drive-in when the voice said, "Good Afternoon! How are you today?" [We won't discuss why I was in the Taco Bell drive-in and not a cute local place, but it had to do with a sleeping baby who had missed one too many naps]. But, the more I talked to people and listened in on other peoples' conversations, I realized that it isn't a ruse. The people are actually that happy and friendly.

I was strolling around downtown and lost my camera case and extra battery and memory card (thankfully, not the camera itself!) I realized it later and called around to every business I could think of that I had walked past. I called about 20 restaurants that I had seen and asked if anyone had turned in a camera case. The people who answered the phones were so helpful. Some said they would go outside and look around on the sidewalk for it. You just really don't get that kind of helpful-ness that often these days. Even though I never found the missing items, people were so nice about it, that I didn't get very upset. Weird.

I have always loved the west. It feels clean to me. I love the big open sky,the spectacular sunsets, the mountains, the rushing rivers. But the icing on the cake is the lack of humidity. The temperatures were in the 90s while we were there and it was not unbearable. We could even eat outside during the heat of the day!

The only thing that got on my nerves was the stoplights. We just don't have to deal with them very much up here. The traffic wasn't too bad there, but it seemed we were always sitting at stoplights saying, "No. THIS is the longest light ever." Also, driving on the interstate next to ten semi-trucks is annoying. But, I guess that is what happens when you live anywhere with people and culture. Too bad!

Becca loved the mirrored closet doors. She discovered her own twin.

I had one of the best vacations I have had in a while. It was unstructured and unhurried. We had naps, ordered room service, went swimming, strolled along the river, went to the zoo, a park, a rose garden, ate at delicious restaurants and went shopping. Our hotel was right on the river and the greenbelt. I spent many glorious hours by the pool--one day with a mango rum smoothie-- soaking up my last rays of the summer. It was bliss.