Monday, November 16, 2020

Sadly, we leave Juliaetta and Kenny and Jessica.  So, the main reasons for this cross country adventure are over and the remainder of the trip is wending our way home, using short trips of 5 or so hours to determine our stops and if something fun/interesting happens on the way or in that town where we are staying then that is all a bonus.

The corona virus is gearing up all over the country now and it seems each city that we leave is reporting more and more cases.  We feel a bit like we are dodging the gauntlet.  We have been faithful about wearing our masks and social distancing the best we can and washing our hands a lot.  And as we head home to San Diego it seems like that has also become a hot spot.  

So our first destination after leaving Kenny and Jessica on a rainy day  is Boise, Idaho.  (1st picture below is actually driving down Middle Potlatch Creek Road away from their house, gloomy and rainy...a bit like our mood)

But as we travel through Idaho we appreciate what a beautiful state it is and the snowy scenery adds to the picturesqueness:

Wide open farm lands again.  Some waiting for next years crops and some, as in Grangeville near Jessica's parents, still have a green crop showing up through the patches of snow.  I  am wondering if this is a cover crop to till under to enrich the soil for next year's planting.

We travel over many mountain passes and valleys.  One of our favorite spots was in a high mountain valley that had low lying clouds making for some really dramatic and interesting snowy winter scenes.  

Now in Boise, we are staying at the Riverside Inn which is located in Boise's Garden City....a river walk section of Boise. - the river is the Boise River.  Go figure.  We are glad for the walk and pretty scenery which of course includes an old train bridge transformed into a pedestrian walkway now  This seems to be a popular transformation of old train bridges over rivers..

Dinner at the Riverside Inn restaurant right inside the hotel complex.  This dinner was very nice.  A bit upscale from our other dinners.  I haven't included food shots but thought that I would for this because of the clever culinary methods.  Bob had an almond flour encrusted trout (which was really almondy tasting).  And I had a shrimp carbonara but I totally loved the way that the chef twirled the spaghetti....very clever.