More in Boise

Sunday we drove in to look at the capitol.  We figured (correctly) that there would be less traffic on a Sunday morning than during the week.  Here is the dome and the columns out front.



The top of the dome from inside.



On the basement floor there are many informative things to read about the history of the state.  We found this to be amusing.  One wonders how they determined which Indians were to be disenfranchised, and were there that many Mongolians that they needed to be kept out of the voting pool.  In 1890 the LDS gave up plural marriage, and Idaho gave them the vote in 1895.



Isn’t that a beautiful thing?  I love old stuff that still works.



Boise has commisioned public art on their utility boxes.  The painting does add a touch of cheer to the sidewalks.



After the capitol we walked down to the Basque Block.  The Basques are an interesting people.  Their language is completely distinct from all other languages.  Many of them migrated to this part of the country and worked herding sheep and cattle.  Boarding houses were built for the men to live in during the winter.  This is one of the two surviving buildings.  The block “preserves the Basque heritage” with a number of restaurants and a museum.  You can read more here.



This was a surprising marquee.



We drove out the other side of Boise in search of dry sections of the greenway.  There is a really cool stretch of amazing homes in south east Boise.



This one is for sale.

Still wet!  There is a work around to this section of water, other than riding through it.  This is pretty far from the RV park, so it’s doubtful we would drive out this far to get on the other side of the water.

Today we rode up to the Eagle Bike Park.  As is so often the case, our conception of what constitutes a green trail is different from the person’s who colored the maps.  Trails are very hard packed dirt, with some sand.  There are ruts from water run off.  In most places the single track is wide enough.  There was one hillside traverse I declined because it was too narrow and too side hill.  The trails are steep.  There was a fair amount of hike a bike.  The initial pitch up was about 18%.  We decided to look at this less as peaceful riding through scenic vistas and more like weight lifting.

The first time we came down the hillside, Jim decided to ride a “green” downhill course.  Hah!  Double HAH HAH HAH!  He had to dismount three times because it was so steep.  At one point he could feel his back wheel coming up, so stepping off seemed prudent.  He also flushed some sort of large bird from the bushes.  I went down the 18% section (with jumpy things) and that was sufficiently thrilling.

See the jump mid photo?  We ended up approaching that from the bottom on a different trail and riding down under the jump.  It’s the Stormin' Mormon trail.  The bottom half is fun, it’s bermed, and the jumps are not extreme.



Looking up from the parking lot – key word is up.  Given the topography of the land, and where the open space is, it’s all going to be up.



The new Dish receiver was supposed to be here Friday, today at the latest.  I called last Tuesday to verify it was in transit and was told that it was.  So I called today to inquire since it did not arrive.  IT NEVER SHIPPED.  The technical support person just did not order it.  The person who verified it was on the way Tuesday flat out lied to me. When talking to them today, a little bit of anger leaked out of my voice, maybe just a touch.  We don’t have that many more days here, and the people who do installs are really busy. We may end up having to take it with us to Oregon and getting it installed there.  We have an over complicated system that has a/b boxes and wires going everywhere and I do not want to touch anything in the cabinet.

My ear is better.  When I push up from the underside, I don’t hear fluid moving around.  The pops and crackles have stopped, as have the momentary periods of being deaf.  So, perhaps there is progress.  I am back to showering with the ear plug AND the plastic cup over my ear, trying to keep it dry.

So, that’s it from Boise.