Boise, ID

Monday – Wednesday, June 20-23, 2016

June 20th was our 18th anniversary.  Happy Anniversary, Ron.  Can’t believe we have had that many wonderful years together.  I look forward to many more years with you and traveling in the RV enjoying all the beautiful places this country has to offer us.

Our trip on Monday from Twin Falls was uneventful and very short.  Only 129 miles to Boise via I-84 through some very fertile but also dry areas with mountains in all directions though not very high ones.  Our campground was a bit tricky to find, but what really happened was we missed the sign since mapquest indicated we were to go 1/10 of a mile beyond where we were supposed to turn.  Of course, this meant finding a place to pull over and turn around.  It’s always a challenge to move across lanes of traffic in an unfamiliar place, turn around or having to drive down narrow residential low tree lined streets with 40 feet of RV plus a car on the back, but Ron does a great job of getting us through those tight spots. 

Our campground here is located next to the Western Idaho Fairgrounds and a bike/walking path which runs along the river behind the campground and Fairgrounds.  This heavily wooded trail, called the Boise Greenbelt, runs across the city for 27 miles and is used by lots of bicyclists and walkers who use the trail to bicycle to work, exercise or just enjoy a day out with nature.  Many places along the way give you a view of the swiftly flowing river through the trees.  I have enjoyed early morning walks along the trail listening to the sounds of birds and the river.  What a joy to be spending time outdoors this summer.  Weather here, while so far fairly hot during the day (in the low 90’s these last three day), does cool off in the late afternoon with pleasant evening temps but cool nights (low to high 50’s).

Boise is called “the City of Trees and the name Boise means “wooded.”  It is the state capital as well as the largest metropolitan area in the state founded in 1863 a year after the gold rush reached the Boise Basin.  The woods lining the Boise River were a grateful sight to the French-Canadian trappers after trudging across the eastern territory’s semiarid plain.    Today the population in Boise is over 200,000. 

Boise has a number of large Parks one of which is the Julia Davis Park which is the cultural and historic heart of the city containing a number of museums, the zoo and a rose garden.   The Park was created in 1907 and named in memory of Thomas Jefferson Davis’ wife Julia.  Davis was granted a homestead of 360 acres and was responsible for laying out the plot of Boise. 

Our first stop at the Park was the Idaho Black History Museum which is housed in the historic St. Paul Baptist Church building and whose purpose is to build bridges between cultures.  Numerous plaques with text and pictures gave us a history of the black people in Idaho.  Very interesting and informative. 

Unfortunately, the Historical Museum was undergoing renovation and we were only able to photograph these three old homes from Boise on the grounds of the Museum.  The area was fenced off and we were not able to identify whose homes they had been.

Before returning to our car, I strolled through the beautiful rose garden and along the walkway under the canopy of trees where I found picnic tables, benches and lush green grass as well as these sculptures depicting Julia Davis handing an apple to a child. 

I did not find too much to see in the city from my literature; however, after spending a morning riding the Boise Trolley, we learned different.  The hour and a half ride took us through the downtown area, the historic home district, and some outlying areas including a drive by the Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site which I will mention again later.  We have been in many large towns, but I do not believe we have ever seen as many large old homes, craftsman styles or other early 1900’s homes as we have seen here.  The historic district was quite extensive. 

 Before arriving at the Old Idaho Penitentiary, we stop at this old Trolley Station which today is a cute restaurant serving breakfast and lunch.   Note the painting on the side of the building.

The Old Idaho Penitentiary located a bit out of town near the mountains was used from 1870-1973 with additions to the complex constructed by the prisoners with sandstone they quarried and cut.  We missed the last tour so walked around on our own strolling through several buildings including the maximum security building and noting information regarding various inmates and listening to a video recalling prison history and conditions of prison life.  The grounds and rose garden are still maintained as they were by inmates in the early 1900’s.  Some of the cells held two prisoners and a few held four.  

                                                     Admin Building

Cellblock Buildings

Maximum Security Building

Top - Prison Gardens, Bottom - Back of Admin
Right - Guard Tower as Seen From Outside Walls  of Prison

I don’t believe life here would have been very pleasant though the guy in the picture below does not seem too concerned. 

                                                                      Do you know this Prisoner?

One evening Ron’s nephew, John who lives and works in the area treated us to dinner at a place called Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery.  This is a vodka distillery..  We were seated on the outside patio  located along the Boise River under the shade of a large umbrella, not really needed at this time of night with the sun already hiding behind the building but certainly welcome earlier in the day.  While we did not sample the vodka, we did enjoy a good meal and catching up with John whom we have not seen for several years.  Thank you, John.  It was good to see you.