Far From Home - P is for Potato?

  Years ago, we drove through Idaho for about an hour or so on our way to Yellowstone National Park.  At the time, Dana believed we should count that scenic drive towards our mission to explore all of the states. I, not surprisingly, disagreed, which led to our ground rules for what constitutes a visit (at the very least, we all must be there together, we must eat a meal in a local restaurant, we must do an activity that is unique to the state).

     Now, as we have fewer than ten states left to explore, it's time to give Idaho its due.  Also on this summer's agenda is Montana.  We have two weeks of mountains, trees, rivers, and National Parks ahead, with stays planned in what we anticipate will be some charming towns and cities.

    After delays in both Maddie's flight from LA to Salt Lake City and our flight from Florida had us just making out quick 40 minute flight to Boise, we all settled in for our reunion and comparison of our previous flight's entertainment (Daniel and I watched Independence Day, after I cried my way through the documentary Biggest Little Farm, which I strongly recommend!)

     Our arrival into Boise was easy, the rental car (a Hyundai Tuscon ;) familiar,, the weather perfect, and the drive into our downtown based hotel quick and traffic free.  We had a great lunch downtown, where Maddie decided to start rating all the potato delicacies we enjoyed (the fries earned a slightly lower rating than the chips).  After lunch, we walked for several hours all around town, learning about the Basque cultural connection to Boise, browsing through a wonderful little bookstore and record store, and happening upon a plaza where live music is performed every Wednesday night during the summer.  We immediately felt like Idahoans.

     The only little hiccup was that, unlike an Idahoan, Daniel got altitude sickness.  He was fine for most of the day but started feeling sick just before we were due to see Far From Home, the new Spiderman film.  He insisted that we press on, only to finally succumb just before the movie started.  Luckily, once he got sick he felt much better, and Spidey proved the perfect medicine.

The best thing of all is having these two together. 

 

The Basque Mural near out hotel

The kids loved playing in the fountain while the music played.

Maddie immediately noticed this was a shop meant for Molly.

     Tomorrow, we head to Sun Valley, where we will be based for the next several days.  We're hoping the move to the lower elevation will insure that Daniel continues to feel better.   While we initially weren't planning to spend a night in Boise, we couldn't be more charmed by this City of Trees.  If the rest of our stay in Idaho lives up to its capital city, this may go down as one of our favorite states.  Good thing we didn't settle for a drive through verdant fields of potatoes back in 2008. :)