Idaho surprised me

Dear Friends,

I wish I had drawings and paintings to show you Boise, Idaho, but I don’t. Yet.

I got back home Sunday after a long Idaho weekend with my high school friends Carol and Susan. Carol and her husband Dennis have lived in Boise many years.

Boise (Pronounced BOY-See) was more beautiful than I expected. On a guided trolley tour Friday we learned the city began as a stop in the Payette River Valley for gold miners and fur traders and is now the fastest-growing region in the Pacific Northwest. It has volcanic soil that depends on irrigation from the rivers and, yes, grows lots of potatoes, many of which are sold to McDonald’s. Albertson’s grocery store started here. There's a big Basque community. There are lots of new homes and shopping centers and budding tech activity; Boise is the headquarters of Micron Technology. Yet Carol says there’s a feeling among old-timers that growth is unwelcome. 

Here are some photos. Oops! I didn’t take any of the city itself, but Boise is a lovely place. These  photos are from our Saturday drive to the resort town McCall, Idaho, two hours from Boise.  Carol said she’d drive us two hours north to McCall or three hours east to the famous ski resort Sun Valley; Carol said Sun Valley has higher mountains, longer and possibly more challenging ski runs, and more celebrities per square inch.  Susan and I chose the smaller, closer resort. There was even a little snow on the ground when we got to McCall. We celebrated Carol’s birthday at the Cutwater restaurant in the Shore Lodge on Payette Lake in McCall. 

And if you’re really interested, here’s a link to a map of Idaho:

Love,

k

Boise is a city along a river 

Around it is a desert
It's called high desert

After the desert, trees begin to sprinkle the hills

There are a lot of farms 

Farming is 20% of the gross state product