Friday, August 23, 2013

Boise




Got into Boise Friday afternoon (August 16) to spend the weekend with our good friends from Georgia, Genie and Jack.  They had lived in Ellijay and were in our church, where Genie and I sang in the choir together; Trisha and Genie had been together on a lovely trip to Ireland a while back and we were all so sad when they moved to Boise--we all miss them at church and in Ellijay, as both of them were so involved in so many things.  But we were so excited to be able to see them on this trip!

They had found an RV park for us right on the Boise River, next to the fairgrounds, where the Western Idaho State Fair was kicking off on Friday.  Lots of activity with the fair, and lots of happy sounds wafting over into the campground!  Genie and Jack picked us up that evening and drove us to their home in the nearby little town of Eagle.  It’s a lovely community, with lots of beautiful landscaping, lovely flowers and lots of water falls and fountains.  Their house is just so beautiful, and they have it decorated so charmingly.  It was so much fun to catch up with them and learn about their new life in Idaho.  They have children and grandchildren all living quite close, as well as other family.  Theirs is a unique story, as Genie’s daughter’s husband and Jack’s daughter’s husband are brothers--and the brothers’ parents also live there not far from Genie and Jack.  They have weekly family night dinners, with a total of 16 people, when all the grandchildren and spouses are there--what an incredible joy to have all that family so nearby!

Saturday morning I got up early to ride my bike along the wonderful greenbelt pathway that extends for over 20 miles along the Boise River, through downtown and beyond.  The path took me along the back of the fairgrounds, past this huge horse stable compound, where lots of folks were busy getting their horses ready for that day’s competitions at the fair.  It was such a gorgeous, crisp, cool morning, and everyone I passed on the path, bikers, runners and walkers were so friendly, everyone giving a cheerful greeting as I passed.  It was a super ride!  (But, like Albuquerque, Boise also has goatheads, and, unbeknownst to me until I next pulled the bike off the rack to ride in  Grand Teton National Park, I picked up one in my back tire!  Didn’t affect the ride in Boise, as these little buggers are insidious--they usually don’t give you an immediate blowout, but just start a leak that flattens the tire sometime later.)

Genie and Jack picked us up and took us to the wonderful farmers market in downtown Boise.  We found some wonderful veggies, and got to see the Idaho Capitol, and lots of the sights of downtown.  One of the funniest sights we saw was a group of folks on bicycles (learned later that there were a total of 6000 of them!), everyone dressed in their best efforts to be outlandish, e.g., purple wigs, ’70’s bright orange gogo boots, all in celebration of summer.  What a fun time everyone was having!  Then they drove us all around Eagle, their community, showing us some of the places of historical interest, and telling us about the efforts of the town to do a good job of preservation of historical sights, balancing this with thoughtful development and green conservation of natural resources.  Those who know Jack will not be surprised that, though they’ve been there only a year, he has already become deeply involved in local government, and is now Commissioner for Preservation (not sure if I got the title right, but he’s Da Man for preservation!)  

Se stopped by to meet Genie’s daughter, Rhonda, and her husband, Mark.  They are both so nice and we also got to spend more time with them that evening, when we all went to a Pops concert of the Boise Philharmonic Symphony.  It was on the grounds of a beautiful winery not far out, but it was so much fun.  The heat of the day had passed, and we were able to find places to set up our lawn chairs in the shade as the sun was setting.  The theme was Latin Fever, and the symphony was joined from time to time by a wonderful Mariachi band and chorus, as well as two of the principal dancers from Ballet Idaho.  The conductor was so full of energy and lively, it was fun just watching him having fun and bouncing all over the stage during the performance--just a wonderful evening.

Sunday we went to church with Jack and Genie and later in the afternoon went to visit with Angela and Tom, the parents of Rhonda’s and Jacqueline’s husbands.  They are delightful folks, and we had a wonderful visit with them.  They’ve always had RVs and they showed us their wonderful set up for their current RV.  They built this house and included an RV garage, so they can have their motorhome always parked inside and hooked up, so they have two extra bedrooms for company--a great set up!

Then that evening we went to meet Jacqueline and her husband, David, and had a lovely evening with them, watching this video about Idaho.  We never really knew much about Idaho, but this video was great to see all the state has to offer.  And Jacqueline and David are so nice.  David converted this studio building in their backyard into a home movie theater, with amazing multi-speaker sound and a huge screen, just incredible!  Just a great ending to a fabulous weekend with these good friends!

Boise Farmers Market



 Jack and Genie at the Farmers Market
 Some of the crazily dressed bicyclists!

 Idaho Capitol
 Boise High School, where Jack and Genie's granddaughter goes--built in 1908, and a beautiful building
 Cathedral of the Rockies, Boise First Methodist Church

 Beautiful water sculpture in the foyer of the church complex


 Check out the Idaho potato in the right of this stained glass panel!!  Genie had taken a class on these windows and explained how they have many panels with different themes, and while most are of religious scenes, obviously not all of them are!
 This panel shows Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, Genie says they were going for something of a reconciliation theme here
 Genie explaining the windows for us

 Huge tiffany shade!

 at the Pops concert



 Jack and Genie, Rhonda and Mark
A singer from the Mariachi band
 Lovely dancers from a Mexican dance troupe
 The two principal dancers from Ballet Idaho--obviously hard to catch dancers not in total motion!
 Gorgeous moon over the concert!
Flowers around Eagle
 Lovely path along the river, in Eagle, on Sunday afternoon


 Rope swing out over the river

 Interesting tree
 A guy enjoying the rope swing!
Just one of the many waterfalls and fountains around the community



 This is the yard of the person who lives next door to Angela and Tom--wouldn't you just love to have that next to your yard??!!  They say she just has her yard full of these blowup scenes, sometimes in keeping with the season and sometimes just out of nowhere.

The facade of an old drug store, whose original owner made his name by never not having an item--if it was not on the shelf, you got a rain check, plus he always helped people who couldn't afford to pay for things.  Now it's a pub


 More of Eagle's lovely flowers!


5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Chuck, it really is a lovely place to visit; hope you make it!

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  2. Well I've posted twice in the wrong places, so here goes again! I love all the photos you took. We so enjoyed your visit - sorry about the goathead. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Genie, no problem! Glad you got it figured out how to comment! No worries about the goat head--far outweighed by the wonderful time we had with you guys! Be sure to tell all the family how much we enjoyed meeting them, and how we wished we had been able to meet the grandkids.

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  3. Great photos! We enjoyed meeting you also during your packed visit!
    Rhonda Apsley

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