Airplanes, Pines and the River
6/23
We said goodbye to Twin Falls late on Thursday morning. We love the city, the river and the mountains…the campground not so much. We only about 150 miles to get to Boise we took our time packing up, Southern Idaho, like many of the western states we visited, is dry except for the heavily irrigated pockets. Much of what we passed through was again brown, just sagebrush and occasional herds of sheep.
We arrived in Boise in the early afternoon. The Boise Riverside RV Camp met our expectations and more. Located on the banks of the Boise River, a tributary of the Snake, it has direct access to the Boise Greenbelt a beautiful bike, walking trail that runs for 27 miles from downtown along the river. Although most of the park is gravel, we had a nice pull-through site with a patch of green & a small cement pad connecting us to the parking space for our truck. Very well designed. We immediately took advantage of the trail to walk the girls after their long confinement in the RV.
Tom had been looking forward to visiting the Warhawks Museum in Nampa, ID. It is a small museum stuffed full of memorabilia of the U. S. Air Force from WW I to the present with a heavy concentration on WW II. Much of the material was donated by families of the airmen, momentoes, photographs, uniforms, flight suits, and the stories to go with them. It was fascinating! I loved the story of the young man who brought home an unused Japanese parachute, he and his fiancé did not have the money for a wedding dress for her, so a friend turned the parachute into a dress. It was beautiful! A young man from Boise, last name Beason, named his plane the Boise Bee. There was a large case dedicated to Jimmy Dolittle, the commander of the flying group that first bombed Tokyo, donated by his son. We were there for about 5 hours but could have stayed twice that and not seen everything. If you visit the Boise area, don’t miss this museum.
Saturday the Capital Market is held in downtown Boise. I love farmers markets so off we went. it was a nice, strung along several blocks near the Capitol Building. More the booths sold arts and crafts then fruits and vegetables but still interesting. We found a couple of excellent bakeries, the peach hand pies were delicious and the Dutch caramel fill waffles were too. I found a woman making jewelry from old silver flatware and purchased a ring made from Tom’s Aunt’s silver that we inherited. The local coffee roaster served up an excellent cup to go with our hand pies. Back at the campground, I took off for a 6-mile ride on the greenbelt while Tom worked on our accounting, then in the evening a nice walk with the girls along the Greenway. Many houses back up the trail and the owners provided us with views of their gorgeous gardens. With the rivers to one side and the homes and gardens on the other, it was an excellent way to end the day.
Plans for Sunday did not go our way. Wishing for a second view of the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains, we packed and took off in the truck for the Ponderosa Pines Scenic Byway. Within a few miles, Maddie began to act strange, then had a rather serious accident so it was back to the campground. I gave both dogs a bath while Tom cleaned the backseat. Poor Maddie, she was miserable and so were we! Stuck in the campground, Tom took the opportunity to wash the outside of the RV while I clean the inside and did laundry. The evening was completed with a delicious pizza from the Idaho Pizza Company and a Boston Concert held in the stadium next door that we listen to from the comfort of our lawn chairs.
Maddie is in recovery. After a few doses of Pepto and a diet of boil rice, which for some reason she loves, we have not had any reoccurrence of her problem. I feel so sorry for her, she was frantic to get outside but could not wait.
So Sunday’s plan became Monday’s and we took a chance that she would be OK. Leaving Boise on ID 21 going northeast towards the Boise National Park and the Sawtooth Range. Crossing over the dry brown ridge just north of Boise the view did not look promising, but soon we were surrounded by the tall Ponderosa Pines and winding up and down the 6000+ peaks and ridges. The views were spectacular! Our first sign of civilization was Idaho City, an old mining town. The old buildings have been preserved along with the wooden sidewalks. It has seen its best days but was charming and quaint. Further up the road, we stopped at the Lowman Ranger Station, this station was the epicenter of the 1989 forest fire that consumed 72 square miles of forest. We were saddened to see the damage done by forest fires and by the pine beetle, both devastating these majestic trees.
It was also in Lowman that our route began to follow the South Fork of the Payette River. The Clear, blue-green water of the Payette is amazing as it swiftly flows through gorges and across its boulder-strewn bed.
Approaching the Sawtooth Range from the West we viewed them across wide meadows of grass with beautiful mountain streams flowing across them. A truly awe inspiring sight.
On the return trip, the GPS suggest with taking the Banks-Lowman Road, also know as the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway, back to Boise. I feel I am overusing words but this was a spectacular drive. Hugging the cliff on one side with a sheer drop-off on the other it follows the course of the SF of the Payette for 33 miles. According to the Idaho Visitor Guide, it is considered by many to be the most powerful canyon drive in the state.
Although Maddie did well yesterday, she seems to have a relapse today, so she is back on the Pepto. Tom took the time to wash the little truck and we stayed in the RV most of the day. In the evening Tom and I took advantage of the breeze and slightly lower temperatures to bike the Greenbelt Trail. High of 101 expected for Wednesday.
Tomorrow we move on to Burns, Oregon.
June 27th, 2016