Boise Idaho Day 3

The last day of our lovely visit to Idaho...

We have a light breakfast at La Quinta, check out and decide to do a little shopping.

Meridian has some wonderful outlet shops.
So we headed over there for a little retail therapy.

Steve scored BIG at the Nike Store.

They had a pair of his longtime fav shoes that he had recently worn out.

Since they are old stock and very hard to find, he had basically given up on ever finding them.

Not only did they have a pair in his size, but they were half off!

Yes, please!

Then we opted for Chikfila for an early lunch.

Really good, just as I remembered!

So, we refill our drinks and get on the road.
Taking in a few last views of farmland...

like this...

and this...

So lush and green...

  

 For miles and miles...

then all of a sudden...

we wind through a canyon...

and emerge into Oregon..

We find a lovely little ice cream/coffee shop and we stop for a spell...

in Jordan Valley to be exact...

Our last view of green grass for a while...
(and civilization)

Suddenly the terrain changes...

And we find ourselves back in the desert...

On this lonely highway...

Gazing out the window...

And snapping away...

Amused by all the quirky signage...

Our view for miles and miles...

Oooops... Blowing Dust...

Yes we are in the middle of nowhere...

And finally entering McDermitt on the Nevada border...

Bye Oregon...

 Hello Nevada...

and antelope...

 Driving through Tribal Land...

On Open Range...
and yes there were cattle loose on why 95!

Leaving Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Reservation...

Watching for Elk...

Nope, didn't see any elk or much else for that matter...

No flashing lights today...

Just an abandoned Trailer Park in Paradise Nevada...

And a very empty bar, lol...

Winnemucca is just over the Summit ahead...

Finally we are almost home!

I'm already dreaming of my deep sleep in my comfy bed tonight!

Boise Idaho Day 2

It was relatively easy to decide what to do on Day 2 of our short trip to Boise, ID.
We originally just had the intention of shopping, dining, and banking today.
We grabbed a light breakfast at La Quinta and took care of business by mid morning.
So now we have the whole day for sightseeing.
We loaded our backpacks and headed into downtown Boise.
It's a lovely town with parks and a ZOO!

We love the outdoors and we love animals!

So, here we are at Zoo Boise...

http://zooboise.org

First impression...

I was disappointed at all the concrete...

and all the tight enclosures...

but the animals seemed healthy and happy...

There was a nice walk through Kangaroo exhibit.

And the penguins really put on a show...

But overall it was disappointing as compared to the Wildlife Preserves/Zoos that

We have visited in other states.

It may just be a lack of funding (not desire) 

As I think this zoo has good intentions! 

Totally worth a visit if you are in the area!

And the best part of the day...

The amazing Butterfly exhibit!

We really enjoyed it!

The butterflies were really active!

Fluttering all around us and even...

landing on me numerous times!

That was worth the entrance fee alone!

We ended our visit by walking across the parking lot...

To a lovely garden...

at Julia Davis Park

wonderful fountains...

and gardens...

love this guy...

and this guy too...

I had to stop and smell the roses!

Now onto more urban adventures...

like lunch and sightseeing the capital...

and of course ending our afternoon with a Sonic!
Winding down our little excursion tomorrow on Day 3 as we travel back to Nevada!

Boise Idaho Day 1

Whenever Steve has a block of days off,
We try to take advantage of our temporary stay here in Nevada by sightseeing as much as we can.
So, on 7/19 we had that chance again.
It's always nice to get away and explore a new city.

Every town we visit has something unique about it.

We love to just sight see the land, experience the food, watch the people...

But we are still not too adventurous in the food department, lol.

We have taken some chances on sampling the local cuisine in many cities

but 90% of the time we are disappointed.

I hate that empty hungry feeling from that moment when we were optimistic 

and sadly unfulfilled. 

Well Boise did not disappoint us!

It's a pretty good size city, compared to most out here...

And bustling with a good strong college.

Boise State

http://www.boisestate.edu/

This only means one thing...

Good Food!!! lol
We had an uneventful drive through the desert for most of the morning
when all of a sudden we crossed into the most lush farmland.
Seriously the view was breathtaking!
Idaho is so lovely and GREEN!
Lots of farms, Mennonite and Amish too!
We pulled into the Cracker Barrel in Nampa, ID about noon and it was packed!
Packed with families...
I even chatted with a sweet Mennonite woman as we were entering the restaurant and then saw an Amish family with children shopping in the country store.
They wore traditional dress and their children were named Silas and Nathaniel.
How lovely!
Of course I respected their privacy and held myself back from taking pictures of them!
Trust me it was not easy as they were such a lovely simple family!
Anyway...
We thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing lunch with satisfying familiar food.
So so good!
Now onto our roomy suite at La Quinta in Meridian!

complete with a full kitchen!

Total comfort! 

Just ask Spencer! lol

This is the way we prefer to travel!
We totally indulged for 3 days of blissful eating, sleeping, sightseeing...
This is just one of the many restaurants we ventured into
The RAM Brewery...

http://www.theram.com

YUMMMMMMM! 

Of course I order the fried prawns...

And they were perfect! 

huge and tender!

Steve ordered fish tacos, he said they were great!

Spencer ate another burger!! lol, his regular, but he said it was really good!

Then we had a real treat for dessert! 

We went to Fred Meyer (Kroger) and found this... 

 Umpqua VANILLA BEAN Ice Cream!

We got addicted to this yummy goodness when we were living in Washington,

 so we were really excited to find it in Idaho...

We took it back to the hotel room and ate half of it! lol
We are full and exhausted but,

We enjoy day 1 and look forward to filling up on more amazing meals,

Mingling with humanity, 

Shopping for a few necessities,
Visiting a zoo,

Picture taking and just good old fashioned sightseeing.

I'll blog about our Zoo adventures tomorrow!