Boise, ID

As mentioned in previous posts, my children are park-a-holics. As this is one of their very favorite activities, winter, when it is absolutely too cold and nasty to be outside, is hard on them. Thank goodness for Wahooz! (formerly known as Boondocks) where for a modest fee they can climb, slide, and swing like the [...]

“Well,” said my husband. “Do you want to do anything special today on your birthday?” My first response was “Oh, I don’t know. We don’t need to do anything. I have plenty to do here.” Then my more adventuresome side kicked in and I said, “You know, it would be a good excuse to visit [...]

A couple of weeks ago I started this little series of fall fun ideas, and then I got so busy with the “un-fun” things that make up life’s routines and to-do lists that I haven’t had a chance to work on it. Ahh, to have more time! But without further preamble, here we go with [...]

We left Spalding, having learned a great deal about the life of the Nez Perce, and how the Clearwater river came to be their life’s blood. If your ever in the area, plan on several hours to tour the museum and the grounds of the old Spalding mission. The Nez Perce artifacts alone in the museum are worth the effort.

We had made reservations to stay at a Super 8 motel, located on the outskirts of Lewiston. But a noisy truck stop across the street changed our minds.

On our way to the Super 8, I had noticed a Casino right off the freeway. With the girls consent, we decided to drive back. As I pulled off the freeway, I noticed a sign that read, Clearwater River Casino. As I pulled around the parking lot, we ran right into the hotel.

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.

The smell of kettle corn wafts through the air as you approach 8th Street on Saturday mornings in Boise. To me this can only mean one thing, a visit to the Saturday Market, Boise’s bustling weekend farmer’s market and art sale.

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.

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.

Wednesday was a rough day. I woke up late, had to skip breakfast and my shower (making my hair look ridiculous). Three separate customers yelled at me at work for things that were completely out of my control. I got a blister on my big toe from my new shoes, and to top it off, I spilled shoe dye on my favorite white shirt.

Most people might want to crawl into bed after a day like that. I was ready to hit the town. Thank goodness for Humpin’ Hannahs, the premiere downtown destination in Boise on Wednesday nights.

On the day my little brother got out of school, we decided that it would be nice to celebrate a little. I was actually at work when I got a call from my mom asking me if I had any plans for the day. I told her that I didn’t and she asked if I could stay with Jordan at Boondocks for a while. I thought, why not?