#18 - A Tour of Boise

Our next major destination was Boise, but with an intermediate stop at the “Village of Trees” campground near the small town of Declo, Idaho. It was a very nice comfortable campground with a little grassy park and docks on the Snake River. It did have lots of trees and provided a nice oasis from the wide open expanses of farmlands along the Snake River Valley.

It was Saturday night and the guests were treated to a cheese and wine tasting party, hosted by a local winery. Many of the campers showed up, as did a local Southern Idaho motorcycle club. Everyone socialized well and had a good time. We had a chance to chat with some hardened "full-timers" and hear some of their travel experiences. One couple had been traveling around in their motor home for nine years and still loving it. They thought it was strange that we were going to Seattle in mid-September. They suggested that we turn south and spend the winter in Arizona. We're not ready for that. The tasting was followed by five members of a local church group who provided vocal entertainment, including an assortment of folk, religious and other music. It was well done but, unfortunately, not well attended.

Enjoying a sunny day on the Snake River.

It was a relatively flat and easy 155 mile drive from the Village of Trees to Boise. We arrived around noon and checked into the Mountain View RV Park, which is located in an industrial district sandwiched between the Boise airport and I-84. It was noisey but we did have a peek-a-boo view of the mountains.

Grandson Jaysen is a sophomore at Boise State U. Bonnie arranged a meeting with him at the local Del Taco. He gave us a tour of the Boise State campus and we all settled into the living area of his state-of-the-art dorm room to watch the first half of the Seahawks vs Arizona football game (we won’t mention the outcome of that game).

Ron keeps a bag of Costco mixed nuts nearby to snack on while he drives. The bag was empty, so Jaysen took us to the nearest Costco where we stocked up on nuts and plastic knives (hard to find), followed by dinner at Fudrucker’s. Jaysen showed us downtown Boise and the state capitol building on the way back to his dorm. Very nice city . . . about twice the size of Everett. We finally settled in for the evening and watched the Emmy awards on TV.