The weather was perfect for sleeping in and lazing about the next morning, as it had rained overnight. So we stayed at the rest stop, watching shows and hanging out inside. Lisette has been binge watching Borgen, a Danish political drama, since Utah, and has whizzed past the first 2 seasons (there are 4, and each episode is about an hour long). She'll probably be finished in no time at this rate!
There was a gaggle of Canadian geese honking outside, and the road and grass was paved with their green-tinged poop as Lisette and Sheila went for a morning walk. The rest stop where we slept was nice as there was a path leading to a wildlife sanctuary and lake. No sight of the marmots though from yesterday evening; the rain must have pushed them back underground.
We left around midday and had a brief stop at the Thousand Springs State Park and Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center, which had a few fascinating fossil displays, including the ancestors of horses from 3-4 million years ago! It was too grey and wet for us to hike, so we figured we'd continue on to see a couple of Crater Rings formed a couple of million years ago. Unfortunately, the road was rather rough, and our RV, being the low clearance vehicle that it is, stumbled and swayed from side to side as we navigated a lot of gravelly road. Plus there weren't really any other cars around us. So we gave up our quest, also skipping the Big Idaho Potato Hotel, a potato-shaped hotel that's an AirBnB, with a lone cow also living on the property. We figured we couldn't see inside it anyway as we didn't have a reservation and there could be guests there, plus we'd already seen a big potato structure in front of the Idaho Potato Museum.
Visiting An Old Prison
The Old Idaho Penitentiary is a fascinating look into what prison conditions were like--the prison was open for just over a century, from 1872 to 1973. It costs $8 per adult, with an extra $2 for a guided tour (which we didn't do, as these had finished for the day when we arrived, but there are plenty of placards for a self-guided tour). Upon entering the grounds, there is a beautiful rose garden, which adds some warmth and color to the otherwise drab and grey buildings, cement blocks, and barbed wire that you'd expect from a prison.
It's also eerie to think that the site of this garden was where 6 prisoners were executed by hanging in the time that the penitentiary was open. We saw the execution room and were curious about what the sign was for the "drop room", only to quickly realize that it led down to where the body fell limply from the trapdoor and room above, after it had been hanged. Absolutely macabre.
The other buildings we wandered into included the warden's office, the commissary, dining hall, hospital, laundry room, and various cell blocks. While the cell blocks were already miserable and somber, with little more than a hard bed, toilet, and sink in a very confined space, the solitary confinement area would have definitely driven those who had to stay in them for weeks or months on end insane, as the width distance was from one arms length to another, and prisoners were in complete darkness.
Within different buildings there were different exhibits detailing the lives of the prison guards and prisoners, including the multiple riots that occurred over the years in the building from prisoners complaining about their living conditions (and how the prison guards would beat them back into submission). It was also a surprisingly international prison, as there were prisoners who were originally from countries including the Philippines and Australia! Some of the crimes that people were locked up for would not be considered offenses today, like adultery.
In addition to the exhibits about prison life, there's a separate and unrelated exhibit in the penitentiary, that's a personal collection of historic arms and military memorability, called the J. Curtis Earl Memorial Exhibit. It's an extensive collection that includes arms from the Bronze Age, various civil and World Wars, and those used today for sport, law enforcement, and military purposes. There's even a Maxim machine gun, built by Germany for Argentina, from 1898, and is one of less than 50 that exist.
Just outside the main penitentiary, there's the Women's Ward dormitory, that was built in 1920 out of necessity (women prisoners were previously in the warden's old house, and didn't have separate quarters to the men). There are seven 2-person cells that also were very restrictive, bathrooms, a kitchen and a day room.
To match the vibe of the prison, it had been raining when we entered, and it started to be sprinkle again as we left. Next door there is a botanical garden where people were gathering to watch an outdoor concert, the first to kick off the warmer months, but it was definitely a cold and rainy start to the season!
Meeting Friends and Seeing Downtown Boise
We have friends that live in Boise, Mike and his wife Leticia, so we drove to meet them, parking near their home and then heading downtown to have dinner in the Basque Block. et friends living in Boise – went to The Basque Block neighborhood for dinner. Starting in the 1800s, many Basque immigrants arrived in Idaho, and there are about 16,000 people with Basque roots that now live here. There are Basque flags, restaurants, and historical buildings in the neighborhood, and there's even a Basque festival called Jaialdi that happens every 5 years. This year is one of the years, but unfortunately we were in Boise too early (it's on from July 29-August 3 this year).
After a lovely dinner and hopping over to a bar nearby for some Basque-style food (croquetas and flan), we wandered over to Freak Alley Gallery, the largest open-air, multi-artist mural gallery in the US northwest region. We love checking out murals, and there were a few very specific to Boise, including a "Breaking Boise" one that was a play on the popular "Breaking Bad" TV series.
We walked around downtown Boise, where we also stopped by "Gentle Breeze", an art installation of a metallic pink tree that stands 23 feet high, and was created by artist Mathew Mazzotta as part of the city's public art collection. There are also 3 park bench swings that hang from its metal branches, and its metal leaves flutter in the wind.
Near this park, there's an area called JUMP (which stands for Jack's Urban Meeting Place), a community center that includes a pyramid-shaped climbing structure, a fun-looking spiral slide (apparently it lights up when someone slides down it at night, but unfortunately it wasn't on that evening), and a couple of colorful, big bird sculptures. It had started to rain again, so we made our way back to home, sleeping to the sounds of rain pitter pattering on our RV roof that night.
Biking Around Boise
We slept in a bit the next morning and had a bit of a relaxing day. Near Mike's and Leticia's home there's the Marianne Williams Park, a lovely park where we could ride our bicycles around the perimeters of the park (with Sheila attached to Michael in her dog trailer). It seems that Sheila is becoming more accustomed to being in this trailer--she was very well-behaved and seemed to be enjoying the view as we rode around! The park is 72 acres, located on the Boise River, which features a couple of large ponds, paved walking paths, a gazebo, picnic area and of course lots of wildlife, including plenty of ducks, geese, and other birds.
In the evening, we hung out with Mike and Leticia at their place, eating dinner, sampling ice wine from Idaho (basically a dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen naturally on the vine), and playing with their dog, Atticus, who absolutely loves playing fetch with his ball, so much that he even ignores a full bowl of food to do so (Sheila would never!). Leticia works at a zoo and their home is an ode to animals--we also met 3 amazing turtles living in their own little aquariums.
RV Realignment and Final Errands
Our last day at Boise was an errands day. When we were in Vernal, Utah, we'd learned that we needed to have our RV realigned, so we took it in to get it fixed so that we'd no longer have the issues with the steering and wheels wearing on the inside. It was going to take several hours to get fixed, so in the meantime we walked to a cafe to try an Idaho favorite, huckleberry pie (apparently one of the state dishes). It was good that we shared a slice, because the top of the pie was a creme brulee rather than pastry, and Lisette found it way too sweet for her tastebuds!
For lunch, we ate at a Mediterranean restaurant that was at the back of a grocery store. Unfortunately, we found the wraps to be very small and very expensive for what they were. Boise does have a few restaurants from different ethnicities, but it certainly is nowhere near the melting pot of cultures and options of other cities.
A few hours later, our RV was finally fixed! What a difference it was to drive it, and for Michael to feel that he wasn't battling the steering wheel on the road, particularly when there were bumps or it was windy outside. After a quick grocery shop, we drove on, back to rural life!
Rolling Green Fields to Absolute Wilderness
As soon as we left Boise, the landscape quickly changed from city buildings to open fields. We saw more birds and cows than people and buildings, including seeing a bald eagle! We also saw nothing but rolling green fields, which had not a building, car, or sign of life in sight.
Eventually we crossed into Oregon, where Lisette expected the time to change from US Mountain Time back to Pacific Time (an hour earlier), but it turns out that Oregon has 2 time zones, with the eastern part the same as Idaho! There are quite a few states that also have a couple of time zones like this--who knew?
We continued driving through thick forests, with densely packed, towering trees, and it was definitely wild, wild wilderness. That night, we found a place to stop that was in the middle of the Malheur National Forest, parked alongside a running and peaceful running stream. We are certain that there are bears and other creatures in the forest, although we didn't see a soul that night! This definitely felt like one of the most remote places that we've stopped at for the night, so far on this trip!