Boise, ID

If Peter Piper had planted a patch of plump picken’-pumpkins (rather than picking a peck of pickled peppers), he probably would have grabbed the attention of more children. Fortunately, many other farmers have caught the autumn spirit (and a business opportunity!) and provided families all over the Treasure Valley with a fun way to spend a little time enjoying a beautiful fall day in SW Idaho. One such place is Linder Farms in Meridian, where my kids and I have enjoyed an outing more than one year.

August 7th thru the 10th Boisean’s returned again and again to the Flicks off the corner of Capital and Front Street to enjoy the variety of films this festival offers.
While many of the main features seemed to focus around the late journalist Hunter S. Thompson, the festival offered a wide range of movies. I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end of the festival, jumping at the chance to view a series of short films. Film shorts are fantastic because they offer a wide range of talent, acting, and story telling all in a neat, not too tedious, packaging. Films are short enough that if one absolutely hates the story they can rest easy knowing it will be over very shortly and there’s more to come.

Call it Murphy’s Law or just bad luck, but it seems to have become an annual tradition in our family that we plan to attend the Canyon County Fair, decide which day to go, get the kids all excited, and then have things go wrong all day before we can actually get out the door. [...]

My most recent visit was one of the best so far. The museum began with a dramatic entrance, taking the opportunity to allow guests to tactilely explore the one of a kind exhibit inspired by the question “What is worth protecting?” A creation that first debuted in New York City, this sculpture encourages one to explore what others believed was important to protect.
Beyond the web of the entrance hall the American Cockroach, an exhibition of the artistic vision of Catherine Chalmers infested the main headlining rooms of BAM. Her work was a combination of living material sketches, impressive sculptures, film, and photographic exploration that delivered a changeable emotional impact. While one is first challenged to reevaluate their aversions to these pesky creatures they are comparatively forced to view their own feelings of torture and execution.

Satchel’s is located on 8th and Bannock behind the Idaho building and during the summer months, when its too nice to stay inside and veg-out in front of a TV they have movie nights. I used to love living downtown on 8th street and listening to the sounds of the movie projected just below my cracked window. Satchel’s takes advantage of the open space on the side of the Idaho building to project films on movie nights.

Movies just aren’t cheap anymore, but I am. I have to really want to see a flick on the big screen in order to pay for it, and I know I’m not the only one like that. Add up ticket prices for a couple of kids and their parents with snacks, whether from the concessions stand or the corner market, and the total can be a deterrent for a lot of families. Solution? Family movie night at the park. Officially, CableONE Movie Night in Meridian. Every Friday night in the summer the city sets up an inflatable screen in Settler’s Park and shows a movie, for FREE!

We headed straight for the best part of the natural hot spring, which lies just beyond the curve of the cliff. Getting to it can be a challenge and more so if you don’t have the right shoes. One must brave the chilly river waters or else take a long way over the cliff and attempt to mountain goat their way down some unstable rocks. The river can be deep in spots, but a thoughtful citizen has made a path of large stones through the more difficult parts. The pool its self is about ten feet by six feet worth of calf-deep water that’s just the right temperature. A small waterfall that originates at the top of the cliff feeds the pool.

While flipping through my copy of the Boise Weekly one afternoon in late June, I came across an ad for the 8th Annual Star Party at Bogus Basin. The event was free and as my cohorts and I were feeling skint, (as many teenagers find themselves in the summer months) we decided to check it out, pitching in for gas money and heading up to the Boise National Forest for an evening of star gazing. I myself not a huge winter sport enthusiast was excited to go take a look at the Bogus ski resort I had heard so much about over the years.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been up at the Boise Depot just to look and wander. It’s really peaceful up there. It’s also pretty and there’s a great view of the city. I’ve pressed my face up to the glass doors and cupped my hands around my eyes, but . . . nothing. [...]

Yep, you got it–Gone with the Wind. Now, the movie itself is one thing. Seeing it on the big screen would be fun, but at the Egyptian in Boise? Completely awesome! How many times can you say you’ve even seen the movie title on an old cinema marquee? I can say . . . never, un