Boise, ID

Hey Guys! The next three weeks are going to fly by for us! We are officially on our way to Florida for the winter. We’re making some big jumps with the next three states so we can spend some time back in Missouri and Texas before hunkering down in the Sunshine State for the cold winter months.

After two very long drive days we finally made it to Idaho!! When we first started this nomad life thing, we did really long drive days all the time. It was just part of the life since we were trying to jump our way out of Tornado Alley during tornado season. After we got back from Alaska where we had a week of twelve to fourteen hour drive days through Canada to get back to the lower 48…well, we decided those long drive days weren’t working for us anymore and I started planning shorter drive days. So, the two really long drive days to get to Boise, Idaho had us…I don’t know if reminiscing is really the right word…more like dredging up how we felt about all of those super long drive days we used to have.

We were only in Idaho for one week, but we crammed us much in as we could! Our first stop was the State Capitol Building. I loved all of the marble used in the Idaho SCB. We, actually, ended up visiting the Idaho SCB twice. The first time we went the stamp I need for my State Capitol book was locked up. We didn’t get to take a guided tour, but we were able to poke around on our own.

Y’all know I love a great staircase. This is one of the main staircases in the Idaho SCB and is made of marble! We enjoyed the Idaho State Capitol Building. There are a few things I tend to look for at SCBs and a great dome is pretty much at the top of my list. The Idaho SCB’s dome is simple, but beautiful. It’s an apt description for the entire building. Simple. Great colors. And Beautiful.

We always look for different things to do in each area we visit so when we found out about the old Idaho State Penitentiary, we planned a day to go explore it. We were lucky enough to get there right before a tour started.

Before it was an Idaho State Penitentiary, it was an Idaho Territorial Prison. The building in the picture above used to be the kitchen. It burned when some inmates started a riot over…bacon. The Great Bacon Riot of 1973. That should totally be a book. Or a movie.

We got to take a look in the cells of the isolation building called Siberia. No heat, no AC, no bathroom…it earned it’s name when some of the inmates froze to death while serving time there.

According to the docent, there are parts of the old prison known to be haunted. The cell in the picture above is one of those areas that more than one person has claimed to experience something paranormal while near it. We were allowed into several of the cells in this area, but this cell was locked tight. Are you interested in a ghost story? Well, according to the docent, each year during Halloween the old penitentiary holds a haunted prison. It’s like a haunted house. They hire actors and local college kids to help in the haunted prison. One of the girls hired started screaming for someone to let her out of the cell about an hour into her shift. The others thought it was part of her act, so they didn’t go investigate. By the time her shift was over, she was curled up in the corner crying. She claims that there was a thick shadow that kept following her around the cell and crowding her. Several other actors throughout the years have had similar stories about that same cell.

The Idaho Territorial Prison was built in 1870. In 1872 it was turned into the Idaho State Penitentiary and was open until 1973 when they opened a new State Penitentiary that was bigger.  In the over 100 years the Old Idaho State Penitentiary was running, it received over 13,000 prisoners. Only 213 of those inmates were women. Back when the prison was first opened, they had the women and men inmates in the same facility. Our docent kept all of the stories she told us to PG, but she did hint at more than a few…unsavory things that happened during the lifetime of the prison. I think the experience was eye opening for the boys. We all hear about prison, we see it on televisions and in the movies, but to actually walk the halls and see the cells of a real prison and to hear real stories about real people who were in those cells and halls…it’s different. It’s real.

We found an overlook of More’s Creek. It was a gorgeous day! We’d just spent several weeks in smoky areas of Oregon and Washington without seeing a blue sky so you can imagine that this amazingly blue sky was a very welcome sight.

We found the old Diversion Dam. Back in the late 1800s the Territory of Idaho built the Diversion Dam to help with farming. We were going to walk down this cute boardwalk until we noticed all of the spiderwebs. There were so many webs! So. Many!! And most of their residents were home. I wanted to kill them all with fire, but we didn’t think Idaho would appreciate that. So we drove on.

Let’s talk foodies! We found a pizza place that landed firmly on our top five list. Nicholas will tell you all about it in a Pizza Street post, but I will say this…the spinach artichoke dip with those little bread bites…I could have easily eaten my weight in them. I might have done just that. Maybe.

We also found a…well, a fry place that serves their fries with a side of burger. Seriously. The Boise Fry Company had so many different kinds of fries! Different types of potatoes are offered in different cuts of fries. My faves were the little po’ balls. Little scoops of mashed potatoes deep fried…it was like little balls of deep fried heaven. The potatoes available change seasonally and the cuts offered per potato change daily. And…check out all of the different kinds of dips! You didn’t really think a place that specializes in fries would only offer ketchup, did you? We had to try all of the dips and several of the shakers. They ranged from savory to sweet. We would have totally eaten at this place again! It was a fun find.

We were pleasantly surprised by the top-notch foodies offered in Boise. We definitely didn’t go hungry.

It was hot and toward the end of a dry summer when we were in Boise so there weren’t many pretties. We saw quite a few of these flowers along the roads though. The bees were thoroughly enjoying them!

We enjoyed Boise, ID more than we thought we would. We have plans to go back to Idaho next year to do some more exploring!

See y’all down the road!

#westernloop2018