Billings, MT to Boise, ID – 5/11/2017

May 11, 2017 (Thursday)

Slept okay. Quiet (other than a motorcyclist who kept revving up his engine before he parked it for the night). Got up and went down to the breakfast, which had a decent selection of the usual stuff. We left around 9:00 AM, and headed to get gas just a bit down the street. The weather looked clear and lovely, and continued to be throughout the day (temperatures got into the high 80’s).

Headed back after the free breakfast. It wasn’t bad. We had our fill.
Tree in bloom, Edie was happy.
We liked this. It was in this mornings breakfast room.

The drive today was to Boise, Idaho, about 300 miles. The drive was all highway. Good roads except for the road construction. Montana and Idaho let you fly low (80 MPH) most of the time. I love going that fast on flat, straight roads, but can’t believe they allow it on the curvy mountain roads – but they do. (You can’t help but notice all the crosses alongside the roadways where people have been killed, probably due to the speed.) We decided last minute to stop at Shoshone Falls. We’ve been there a couple of times over the last few years, but the falls were never quite full, or even half full. We were hoping with all the rivers bursting the banks, and all the rain, that the falls would be full – and they were.

Every body of water around here is full to the brim.
The road to Shoshone Falls.
A teaser on the way down.

They were so beautiful. It was like being at Niagara Falls with the mist and the bright rainbow. Loved it. So glad we stopped and got to see it in all its glory. So gorgeous! Another plus was that we didn’t have to pay the $3.00 entrance fee because they take your old people National Park pass.

This is our third trip to Shoshone falls. It has twice before been a trickle and merely interesting. Now…wow.
Wonderful rainbow.
Our waterfall selfie.
Grumpy on the move.
It seemed to me a perfect rainbow.
The foot bridge that leads out to the rock would be interesting and give you a sense of the power of the water flowing by, but it would rob you of the view of the falls.

The land is so flat on top, driving here I keep asking, “How can there be a huge waterfall around here?” Then the canyon reveals itself and all is clear.
A few millennia and this will be the next Monument Valley.
Lava flow.

We got into Boise and it’s such a cute town. Would love to come back and explore it more. Our niece (who now lives in Australia) lived here for a few years. Wish she were here to show us around but I know she’s loving it where she now lives.

Our first glimpse of the Capitol.
Nice and imposing.

Before we got to the Capitol we had talked and since it was close to 1:00 PM, and there are only two tours here a day (at 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM), that Michael would get out and start the tour while I parked the car. He got out at the stop sign in front of the Capitol and walked inside.

Nice curves.
A echoing cacophony of kids being very loud hit my ears as soon as I walked inside.
Underground offices go east and west.
Some very nice marble pieces mixed with a lot of scagliola.

I went around the block again and found an open metered space. I am going to brag now about how I managed to park the car PERFECTLY in ONE TRY! So proud of myself. I remember having to take like ten tries on the narrow streets in Annapolis, Maryland, and all the cars that were backing up waiting on me. PERFECT in one try.

I walked to the Capitol and met up with Michael. He said the tour was full and he really didn’t want to do it anyway because it was all out of control little kids (you could hear and see them yelling and running around). We tried to avoid them and went upstairs to explore. We got to see the rotunda, the House and the Senate. We never did find the Supreme Court, but did see the Office of the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, etc. We also saw the beautiful statues of Nike and a golden George Washington on the 4th floor. We finished up in the basement where they have a really nice display about government and Idaho. There is also a very cute gift shop there.

“Let it be perpetual”
Former Governors, all.

Nice looking seats. Names are on the front of the desks.
Fake marble almost everywhere. Scagliola, a technique that costs more than marble now. When you look up close you see hairline cracks throughout.

Twin ceilings in the house and senate.
Nice lounge area with very comfortable and nice furniture.
Two flat screens play a 20 minute on the history of the Capitol.
I liked this lamp. It provided indirect lighting above and below without any blinding light in your eyes.
Nice historical film.
The only security we saw was this locked door, you had to be buzzed in.

Very lovely.

Fine cracks in the scagliola.

We were moving fast to stay ahead of the very loud and energetic kids.
Nike, winged victory. A gift from France post World War II.
Gold leaf gilded statue of George Washington.
From the fourth floor.
Prisoner work.
On display, nice work.
13 big stars and the rest represent Idaho’s entry into the US as the 43rd state.
All the skylights and windows represent enlightened and moral leadership.
Enlightenment coming in.

Underground meeting rooms and Representative offices added and placed underground so as not to disturb the Capitol mall with unsightly expansion.

Gift shop offerings.
At last, spring.
Between the small bushes are the skylights that light the hallways of the underground addition.
Our Capitol selfie.
So proud of her parking job.
Edie is so proud of herself. She hates to parallel park and did this on one try.

We left and decided to turn in the book on tape – “Nemesis” by Catherine Coulter. It was good but had a lot of different things going on. Had to really pay attention to what was happening. Anyway, we found a nearby Cracker Barrel, had linner, and turned in the tape.

Good bargain, two stories in one.
Linner and return the book on CD.

We’re gonna miss not having books on tape from Cracker Barrel but knew this was the last one as there aren’t any in California, and I don’t think they have any in Nevada that we know of.

After linner we headed to our home for the night – Inn America, near the cute Boise airport.

We are very close to the Boise Airport.

The room is clean, spacious, and comfortable. Seems pretty quiet too. I got it from hotels.com and probably spent way too much but…. (about $75.00).

Pretty standard and okay comfort.
Nice TV and work station.
Standard tiny bathroom.
Nice closet
Nice vanity across from the bathroom.

Anyway, that was our day. Hope yours was great!