DAY 2-4 ~ BOISE, IDAHO (May 19 – 21)

We are spending 3 nights in Boise.  We stayed here on a previous trip.  So we visited our favorite sites.  IDAHO BOTANICAL GARDENS is a garden in progress.  It is in Boise’s Old Penitentiary Historic District and on the grounds of the State Penitentiary (now a historic site).  We last visited this place 6 years ago and today we don’t recognize it.  The garden has matured and expanded and it’s beautiful.  This time of the year the iris are still blooming as well as several spring and summer flowers.  It’s a world of color and peace.

We had lunch at a restaurant called the Reef.  We ate there 6 years ago and really liked the place.  Sadly the food is no longer as good as I remembered it.  But we sat upstairs on the roof patio and had a relaxing meal.    
                                
We walked down a few blocks to the capital building and on the way enjoyed some “Street Art” where the utility boxes on several corners were painted by local artists.

On our last day we visited the ZOOBOISE.  We saw lots of improvements since our last visit.  It is a small zoo that had several species but only one of the Big 5 (lion, elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, and leopard).  The term is used by most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The members of the Big 5 were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved.  

 


What was fun for the kids is the several robotic dinosaurs on display throughout the zoo.  They moved, growled and spit. 

Also scattered about were some nice animal sculptures made with glass mosaic tiles.   

Meeting Mr. Mac was a thrill.  He is a 94 year old Aldabra tortoise.  He was sleeping when we meet him.  I think he does that a lot. 















Oh yeah, the one Big 5 animal at this zoo is the lion.

Nearby was the BAM – Boise Art Museum.  It was senior day today so we visited for free.  

As we were leaving the gallery for ‘home’, the dark clouds that were gathering all day opened up and we had strong thunderstorm for the next several hours.

Tomorrow we head for Northern Idaho.

DAY 1 ~ SPARKS, NEVEDA (May 18)

As you drive through Sonoma County and into Solano County, you can see summer is coming.  Our beautiful green hills are turning golden.  The scenery of the Sierra’s on Hwy 80 is always spectacular.  You can still see snow on the high mountains.  On the pass from Truckee to Reno, we saw the start of a forest fire on the mountains and a firefighter staging area in a field off to the side of the highway.  Thanks to our dry winter, welcome to fire season.

We did an overnight stay in Sparks.  We went to the Sparks Nugget for an Italian and Chocolate buffet for only $9.99.  We got our money’s worth.

PART I ~ ON THE ROAD AGAIN.....

We are off on a new adventure!  This will be a two month trip through the Northwest US and into Canada.  We will revisit some of our favorite spots in Nevada, Idaho, and Montana.  On the way back we will go through Washington and Oregon.  In Canada we will be revisiting Alberta, British Columbia and the southern end of the Yukon.