Idaho- Boise, friends and hot springs in the forest!

We rolled into the driveway of some old friends in Boise, Idaho and had a hard time peeling ourselves away.    In case you hadn’t noticed, Boise has grown up into a pretty nice place in recent years!  There is a nice set of infrastructure (minus reliable public transit) and some great colleges around.  There are a wide variety of business and industry employers (we attended an open house and learned a TON about the world of 3D printing-

and above all, an excellent green space right through downtown!  And this whole package is surrounded by hills and valleys for recreation!   Mike even got a chance to go mountain bike riding and rekindle his love of a few hours in the saddle!   We attended a very moving and informative 24 hour “think-tank” event that featured only high school students sharing ideas about improving education (check out more at Teenage think tank ).  We also saw a beautiful garden/park area in downtown Boise that is dedicated to Anne Frank     Very classy, Boise.

One highlight of the visit was an relaxing night at the mini-farm of a childhood friend in nearby Eagle.  We petted horses    “awed” at an old goat, listened to some fine guitar plucking  and shared good food.    It was a great time evening and fun way to bring together older and newer friends who happen to be in the same community.  I hope they can make connections after we are gone.

Mike was on the healing side of a cold, and Geneva came down with it in Boise.  So to help us both breathe more clearly and avoid sharing too much more of our snot and slobber with friends, we decided to head for the woods.    We found a great forest area near a lake along the Boise River.  and nearby was a big flat clearing under some trees, which was perfect for setting up for a few days.       and just up the road a bit was a series of hot springs soaking pools, right on the shores of the river.      But even this fun had to come to an end.  We took a look at the engine, checked the fluids and cleaned up the van.   Then we packed up and headed down the highway.  Our route took us right past a familiar town name (I grew up near Jerome, Arizona) so we snapped a photo…….    The highways are leading us closer to home base, friends and family and more changes in our plans…… keep watching for more to come!