Boise, ID

This past week, my girlfriend and I have tried to hit a new park every day Monday through Friday. We found some great new places to hang out at during the weekend. One of my favorite places we stopped at was Julia Davis Park. It is on S Capital Boulevard, and W Battery Street.

Late in the school year, this past season, I was fortunate to transport several classes of Boise High School students to Peak Fitness, located a the south end of 25th St. The address is 308 S. 25th, next to I-84.

Around 10:00AM, one class of Boise High students, numbering about 30 or so, clambered aboard my bus. Along with the students, one Physical Ed teacher. My paperwork said it was a charter to Peak Fitness. From the name, I thought it was something like Gold’s Gym.

I made a joke with the teacher to the effect, that some of the football sized students didn’t look like they needed to lift anymore weights. He had a good laugh at my expense, then told me that Peak Fitness, was an indoor rock climbing wall.

I was always fascinated by a little church, tucked tightly between other buildings on the corner of 11th and State St. The unusual architecture, along with it’s stained glass windows, always made me wonder who built it and what style it was.

Years later, I learned from a friend whom had gone to the church, that the property was up for sale and that the fate of the building was unknown.

I couldn’t fathom the possibility that such an unusual building, obliviously historic in nature, could be demolished for a new development.

Not to worry though, the little Jewish Synagogue that had been a fixture in Boise for nearly 108 years, was going to be moved to a new site, purchased by, Ahavath Beth Israel so they could expand their growing congregation.

Background: The Boise Train Depot was built in 1925 and operated until 1971. When the trains quit running, it was abandoned. Over the years, weather took a toll. In 1990 MK-Morrison Knudsen purchased it and renovated it to near original condition. The city of Boise took it over in 1996 and rents it out for special events.

Last week, I read a short blip in the Statesman that the old Boise Train Depot would be open for tours. (Hours of Operation) I hadn’t been inside, since the mid-sixties. The last time I was there, I had driven my mother to the depot to check on train tickets to California.

The wife and I weren’t exactly sure what to do about Fourth of July Fireworks. Should we go to Melba, where we had watched the parade earlier in the day, or head on over to Ann Morrison Park that was closer to the house in Boise, or just stay home. As with the parade, we opted for Melba again. We just like that good ol’ small town feel of the area and the people in it.

Since we don’t have the kids or grandkids around anymore, their wasn’t much sense in spending the day at Melba doing kid things after the parade-so we came back to Boise. Knowing the show would start at 10:30PM, we decided to leave home around 7:30PM so we could set up our lawn chairs near our usual spot on the Melba School field.

Summer is in full swing. The sun is blazing, the sky is cloudless, the heat is on. Time to head out the door for our vacation! We’re not going far this year. Nope, not us. Instead of leaving town to explore new sights and wonders, we’re going to stay local — it’s our staycation! What’s a staycation, you ask? Instead of leaving home, we stay home and explore our community in either day trips out or quick jaunts in the morning or afternoon. Some folks take a week off and staycate, others do it over several weekends. Here are some ideas for your next staycation:

Leading the parade of antique cars was this guy at the left. Not the sort of thing you find in a Rose Day or Macy Day Parade-but the kind of small town feel that is part of the hometown atmosphere of this state.

How the fella, ever fit into such a tiny vehicle is beyond me, but he was happy to give a wave for the camera! Too bad his Schwab’s Ice Cream truck didn’t have any…we sure could have used some on such a hot day!

A few weeks ago we were hanging out with some friends at their house on a Saturday and decided that a walk on the Lake Lowell dam would be nice. We gathered our things, packed up the kids (between us there are 5!), made a quick stop at our house for some different shoes and water, then headed out.

A couple of weeks ago I was starting to worry that the weather was going stay unseasonably cool all summer,and that swimming lessons would be bone-chilling, rather than a refreshing respite from SW Idaho’s summer heat. With the temperature suddenly soaring into the nineties, however, those daily trips have been welcomed.
Caldwell Municipal Pool is a [...]

My kids are parks experts. One of their favorite things to do in the summer, spring, fall, or anytime it isn’t raining, snowing, or 110 degrees is to take a family trip to a park—one with swings and slides of course. When we don’t want to drive far, the park of choice is Caldwell Memorial [...]