Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Boise, etc.

Got to Boise early Sat. p.m., 7/17, and found our RV park in Meridian, a suburb on the west side of Boise.  Went to see Susie's HS classmate, Melinda Madsen, and then to dinner with her.  Here are the two Vegas girls -- that's Las Vegas, NM, for the record.


Melinda really keeps up with her HS classmates, so she and Susie had a lot of stories to update.

Melinda runs a staffing agency with offices throughout the NW and is house-mother to a gaggle of Yorkies.  Here's a picture of a picture that's a bit fuzzy and poorly aimed, but you'll get the idea. 



These are show dogs and Melinda has been long active in the Yorkie world and been successful in the showing and breeding arenas. 

Sunday morning we attended the First United Methodist Church in Boise, grandly named "The Cathedral of the Rockies."   



And, grand it is.  Built in the cruciform style of European cathedrals, with high, vaulted ceilings and gorgeous stained windows, it is awesome.  You can read about its architecture here. It is also a very active church -- five Sunday services and lots of outreach programs. 

Here are a couple of window pictures copied from the church website.





The sanctuary was beautiful, but I couldn't find a picture that captured that adequately.

Monday was my chance to go whitewater rafting -- on the South Fork of the Payette River, about a half-hour north of Boise .  Melinda has a cabin in this area and we had lunch and stopped by her cabin before I left for the raft trip.


I'm the second yellow helmet from the left.  We were on the river about two hours and successfully negotiated about a half-dozen category IV rapids (class V rapids are the max) something like this one.  Our guide, Dustin, coached us well.  Didn't lose anyone overboard or come close to capsizing.  It was a blast.

Dustin talked about designing his ideal Idaho bachelor house.  (Right now he says he lives in an old school bus, which I gather is a beginner Idaho bachelor house.)  The front profile would have four doors: on the left a large, two-story door into his shop.  Next to that two garage doors, then a single walk-in door.  The shop would have a hydraulic lift for storing boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, etc.  The two garages would house more essential Idaho vehicles.  In the living quarters he'd have a large freezer for storing game, a microwave, a couch, and a TV set.  The folks on his boat expanded this idea to a subdivision of similar houses, circled by a white-water course (moat) powered by a diesel engine.  Etcetera.  The other passengers on my boat (there were three boats in our group plus a kayaker scout) were an Idaho couple, their son, and his girlfriend.  The latter two were on leave from their military posts, Army for him, AF for her, in Georgia.  We also had a guide in training on board, learning the rapids and the stories. 

Next.  North to Canada.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob

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