A little time to write

Sorry I've been so negligent in my writing duties the past few weeks. Spare time has been very hard to come by between GauleyFest, preparing for this trip, and exams. Who knew Biology had changed that much in 15 years. I’d like to thank Mr. Smith in Bridger for teaching me well, but it seems advances in science have replaced everything he taught us!

Well, we’ve made it Boise for our first recon trip. Here I sit in our temporary digs, the Idaho Heritage Inn, listening to Ray LaMontagne while my beautiful wife lay sleeping peacefully by my side. Our flight was uneventful, thankfully the wonderful Northwest Air lady found room for us on America West. Both legs of our NWA reservation were delayed and there was no telling whether or not we’d actually get to Boise as planned. We thought it was a fortunate turn of events to get on a new flight, but after trying to sleep in the pitiful hotel last night I’ve decided we would have been better off sleeping in the airport. At least the airport is somewhat insulated from noise, unlike our accommodations last night. Check it…… that really is the interstate about 30 feet from our room.



This morning we couldn’t get out of the hotel fast enough. We had a wonderful dining experience at the finest breakfast establishment in downtown Boise. Goldy’s is the name and breakfast is their game. The enjoyment we got from eating at Goldy’s was no surprise, as they’ve been voted “Best Breakfast in Boise 1999-2006”. The food's quality was matched by the excellent service.

After our breakfast we rambled around the downtown area for a bit, then headed up to Northend, one of the cuter neighborhoods in the greater downtown area of Boise. We happened upon Hulls Gulch and we were so stoked at our finding. Without even looking we had come upon the trailhead for the Ridge to River trails in Boise. I kid you not, 85+ miles of established hiking/biking trails about a mile from downtown. This place is the BOMB. There looks to be over 100 trails and almost all of them are off-leash!

Each square is 1 mile.



After leaving Hulls Gulch we made our way west about 4 blocks to Bogus Basin road. Bogus Basin, the local winter resort is about 18 miles of twisty mountain road away from BoDo (Boise Downtown). I cannot wait to get out on my roadbike to try these climbs. I do believe it will be brutal, very brutal. I mapped it out on routeslip, the elevation gain is hellish. John, are you ready for it? Blood, Sweat, and Who? Hahahahah!





Since I sat down here at the window of our room to update ya’ll I’ve had two squirrels come to the screen, Tucker is going to have the time of his life living here. So many squirrels, so little time. I think I’ll take a walk and enjoy some of this Idaho sunshine. If you've got a few minutes you can check out the photo repository to see all of our Idaho pictures.