Boise, Boise, Boise and thoughts on finally being off the road.

Our weekend trip to Boise wrapped up on Tuesday.

It was a whirlwind experience and a great time.


We spent a little time house-hunting, attended a lovely wedding (I'll let Charlie fill you in more on that later), and had the chance to get a feel for the downtown and north end.

First impressions? Friendly and dry.

Everyone we met in Boise was so nice and was eager to share suggestions and recommendations for future residents. Though it's hard to get a good impression of a place from a 24-hour stay, my first impression of the folks who live there is very positive.

The climate, however, is going to be dry-dry-dry. Though we heard this tends to be a "greener" time of year there, to our eyes (accustomed to the lush, verdant jungle that is western Oregon--"Please! STOP GROWING and give me a chance to catch up with you, LAWN!"), everything seemed brown and burnt-out already. I predict that, for me, this has the potential to be something that will take a while to get used to. As I told Charlie, I was virtually raised under a toadstool in the Seattle area, and my later move to Portland hasn't done much to dry me out. My gills still function just fine, thankyouverymuch! I've never much needed to use hand lotion or chapstick--I predict that soon may change. I also predict that when we move to Boise, you'll be able to often find me prone, under the sprinkler, trying just as hard as the grass to absorb a little "green."


But, that's just the landscape--and I can get used to that.

The food we had the opportunity to eat there was fantastic--we had lunch at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant in the downtown area. It was delicious. The downtown seems to be thriving and lively--lots of restaurants with outdoor seating, and lots of people out and about everywhere. Lots of bikers and joggers, and people enjoying themselves. And finally (perhaps most important!), plenty of coffee shops to keep Charlie and I awake and alive.

We looked at a house for rent. It was adorable and in a good neighborhood. We were ready to rent it, and even called the woman back to say so--in the end, though, it ended up not quite working out. They say things work out the way they do for a reason, and I think this may be an instance of that. Even after we'd called, the more we thought about it, the more reserations we started to have. What? You want to sell it after a year? What? You want to remodel the whole kitchen when we're "out of town for a weekend" (seriously: tile the floors, replace the cabinets, new counter, new dishwasher, etc. Unrealistic goal!)? So, we're back on the house hunt again, this time with a few more options in hand before we head on our next trip east.

Even though we didn't get it, we're still so, so excited to find something together:


Anyhow, overall it was a great trip, and we'll be back soon with more stories I'm sure.

I'll leave you with a great photo from Charlie's dad of the big wind turbines in the Gorge. Even more impressive than the shot, is the fact that he took it from the backseat while we were driving down I-84!


Windmills in the Gorge, photo by Dan Varland.