Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Saturday, June 28, 2014

2S2G* - I Love Boise! - Day 11, Mon., June 23

*2S2G = Two Susans to Go

Today's agenda: meet a good friend for breakfast in The Dalles, Oregon, then drive to Boise and do the 12K Capital - Microbrewery walk. It was time to leave the Columbia River Gorge in the rear-view mirror.

In The Dalles, we met Daily at Cousins Restaurant, a place with good ole, down-home cooking. Soon after we were seated, samples of their cinnamon rolls were brought to our table. We dug in and enjoyed their great rolls.

Cousins Restaurant
Cousins
Our friend, Daily
Susan, Daily and I conversed about politics, politicians, airplanes, flying, world events, deer ("yard rats" per Daily), and his life at the lake. Breakfast was wonderful. None of us left hungry. Thank you, Daily, for taking care of our breakfasts. I love connecting with friends.

Upon arriving in Boise, Idaho, we checked into our motel room, then headed to the downtown Boise YMCA to start our 12K Capital walk. The weather was warm.

Treasure Valley Family YMCA, our walk starting point
The Volksmarch route took us past old churches, the Capitol building, microbreweries, into parks, the Center on the Grove, and through beautiful neighborhoods. In many large cities we find deer, pigs, bear or other animals painted and placed around the city as art installations. In Boise, artists paint the electrical boxes at intersections. The box pictured below is titled, "The Garden She Keeps," by Ellen DeAngelis.

"The Garden She Keeps"


The state Capitol...three views:

State Capitol in Boise, Idaho
Susan M. in front of Idaho's Capitol.
Capitol at dusk.
The Center on the Grove is an area in downtown where a street has been turned into a pedestrian mall with restaurants and shops. Lots of people sat outdoors along the mall enjoying the pleasant early evening temperature.

The Center on the Grove fountain.
We then walked along the Boise River (a 102-mile tributary of the Snake River) on the Greenbelt Trail in Julia Davis Park. It was early evening and people were rafting the river through town. A couple of guys also jumped in and went swimming, carried downstream by the current where they exited and walked back to the start point. In addition, we saw many bicycle riders, walkers, joggers, people playing volleyball and tennis. We even heard someone playing the bagpipes, but we didn't see who. The zoo is in Julia Davis Park and we saw two giraffes come out of their enclosure.

Boise River in downtown.

Lagoon in Julia Davis Park
Susan M. walking the Greenbelt
As we walked, we smelled wonderful fragrances in the air and I thought the trees that smelled so good might be Glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum). The air was also perfumed with honeysuckle and jasmine. This walk was the most fragrant of any city I've ever been in. Catalpa trees were in full bloom as were purple coneflowers, hollyhocks, and succulents.

Catalpa tree in full bloom.
Purple coneflowers.
Hollyhocks
Sedums or succulents blooming
University of Idaho in downtown Boise
Below is O'Farrell cabin, the oldest home and place of worship in Boise (1863).

O'Farrell cabin
Federal Building
One of the parks we walked past.
I love walking through neighborhoods. Many delightful homes!




The Lion Home, yours for 1.5 million.



 

About three-fourths of the way through our walk, we came upon a fast food drive in. Susan bought us both ice cream treats. Yummy! Thank you, Susan M.  We noticed in Idaho 'tater tots are called "gems." You learn something new every day.

After the ice cream, we headed back to our start point. Along the way we walked on 13th Street (historic Hyde Park). Some of the eateries reminded us of San Antonio.

Restaurant in Boise's Hyde Park neighborhood.
The Methodiist Cathedral also known as "The Cathedral of the Rockies."

The Cathedral of the Rockies.
St. John's Cathedral:

St. John's Cathedral
We finished our 7.4 mile Boise Capitol walk in three hours. Along the way we passed three working microbreweries but didn't stop for any brewskis.

A great walk. We hopped in the car for the short drive back to our motel. We had a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow, Salt Lake City.

Travel Bug out.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures of Boise. We love Volksmarches! Looks like a wonderful summer evening in Boise. Great recap!

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    1. Boise certainly impressed me. I wonder what the winters are like?!

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  2. My son is working in Boise this summer, and I was just there a month ago. He's staying in the rectory bldg right next to St. John's Cathedral. Yes, Boise is a great town. Sorry I missed you guys last weekend, but I was running a relay race. Maybe next time...

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    1. We're sorry we missed you, too. We were very busy with our walks. I did take Sunday off to recuperate from our 25K on Saturday.

      How was your race?

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  3. We always enjoy eating at cousins. there is another one along I-5 in Centralia, WA. Beautiful pictures.! We'll be in Utah next month

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    1. Thanks for the info on the other Cousin's. Next time we travel I-5 north to my brother's property on Lake Arrowhead, we'll have to stop for breakfast!

      I hope you have more time to "smell the roses" in Utah than we did. Utah is so awesome. It's too bad Susan M. was in such a hurry to get home, but that's her loss. Bob and I have spent a lot of time hiking in Utah.

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  4. nice looking town Boise... we enter Idaho tomorrow for the first time...

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    1. Boise is lovely, indeed. I'm interested to learn more about it. To me, it's a manageable-sized city. I'd be interested in living there, but Bob wouldn't as much because it doesn't have any big sports teams.

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