August 3 - 4, 2019:
It was a good travel day to Boise, Idaho making a few stops along the way to explore.
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| Arriving in Huntington, Oregon with scenic mountains, the railroad and windmills |
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At a rest stop near Huntington the sign told of heavy smoke
along the Oregon Trail in this area due to range fires |
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The dispensary in Huntington was very busy on a Sunday
morning and quite a lot of smoke there also |
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Next stop was Ontario, Oregon where I find another
old train depot |
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| Caldwell, Idaho with a beautifully restored train depot |
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A monument outside for the Steunenberg brothers, an incredible story.
AK came to Caldwell in the 1890's, followed by brother Frank and then the
rest of the family. They were very successful businessmen with Frank
becoming the Governor of Idaho. He had enemies and was assassinated
by a pipe bomb. |
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A wonderful painting inside the depot titled "an early start to
college 3 AM 1922 |
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| Caldwell seems to be redeveloping their old downtown area nicely |
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A very nice park area with a concert stage and a water playground
for the kids |
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| Nearby the a fast flowing river with nice landscaping and bridges |
Boise has several great old buildings of architectural and historical significance and a very vibrant downtown. Boise is a a much more bustling city than it was when I was working there in the early 1990's.
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After saying how busy it is now, I should have taken photos of busy
intersections and streets. I tend to wait for people to get out of the
way, but sometimes it is more interesting to see them. |
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The Egyptian Theater is a place I'd love to go to a concert, it's spectacular inside,
but I've never been there at the right time |
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The horse sign on the roof of the old Pioneer Tent Building
is a landmark |
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The Pengilly Saloon with the iconic
buffalo head, also a landmark |
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| Boise mural at 6th and Main |
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| Love the Stearns car advertisement on this building |
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| The Idaho capital building looks immense |
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| A nice flowery shot of the Capital |
I have spent considerable time in Boise having worked on a railroad project there in early 1990's and having visited again while RV’ing in 2014. Boise has to be one of the most, if not the most progressive cities in Idaho. They were one of the first cities to develop a river park trail system along their river, to develop and promote bike lanes and trails. In fact on Sunday as I arrived they were having a bike festival called the Goathead Fest adjacent to the capital grounds. I arrived late when things were winding down and actually the festival seemed sort of goofy to me. I went to get a beer and found that you needed to have tickets to get a beer which had to be purchased at another tent. I went to the tent and it’s $6 for tickets for one beer, but that doesn't come with a cup, you need to have your own or buy their special metal souvenir cup for $20 or rent it for $8. I said no thanks, I’ll go down the street where I’ll get a PBR for $4. I understand they are trying to reduce plastic consumption to help the environment, but sorry I’m just not ready to go that far yet.
http://travelswithtwinkles.blogspot.com/2014/06/boise-idaho.html
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| There was much crowd participation activity and bad music |
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This person is dressed as the Goathead whatever that
means. I never did understand. |
In the evening I visit the Pengilly Saloon that was one of my favorites years ago. I remember a folk musician who did a great rendition of The Wreck of the Ella Fitzgerald. The place has changed some over the years, but they still have a lively music scene. The musician playing sounded pretty good but I had a bad seat and then this wild eyed entrepreneur type character sat next to me. He had to give me his sales pitch for his invention that is sure to make millions. He has developed a case for cell phones that will protect you from the dangerous rays emitted that are sure to give you cancer and will sell it for only $10. Not only that, but he is also a singer/ songwriter and I had to listen to his new song lyrics which are sure to be a huge hit. After a half hour straight of his sales pitch, I had to dash out the door for a breath of fresh air.
On Sunday morning I get going early before the heat builds, it gets near 100 degrees in Boise in the summer and I head to the edge of town where the foothills begin. That is one of the attractions in Boise, you can drive 5 minutes from the Capital building and be on the fringe of the city and going out into the this grass covered, rolling hill country. It’s not hard to imagine what it was like when the buffalo used to roam out here. I was hiking, which seems to be less attractive these days to the outdoors crowd, they are all trail running or mountain biking. They come flying down these hills on the narrow trails and you need to be aware of them so you are not mowed down. It’s king of what happened to skiing when snow boards became popular.
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| The trail was called the Red Cliffs Trail |
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| Beautiful grass lined trails |
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| Nice wild flowers too |
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| Looking down on the city of Boise |
I had never gone to the Idaho History Museum before, somehow I missed this one, not sure why, it’s a great one.
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| The Idaho History Museum |
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| Garden view |
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| A perfect red rose |
Next stop is Idaho Falls, Idaho
Goatheads...
ReplyDeleteRelated to bike riding, there are "stickers" on weeds that puncture almost anything that gets near them.
Bare feet, fingers, tires, anything.
I remember putting canned cream in the tubes of my bike tires.
The cream would leak into the punctures and "seal" the hole. Much easier than stopping to disassemble the tire to patch it.
If stop-leak existed then, it was too expensive. A lot has changed since those days, but goat heads still exist. They are seeds that have four points arranged so that there is ALWAYS one pointed up. New knobby tires were usually thick enough to resist, but the canned cream was the charm.