It's been a YEAR (!!!) since I've been to Idaho and that's way too much. It was high time for a visit. Unfortunately, I had jury duty this week so travel plans were totally up in the air. I made my last call on Thursday afternoon and when the answering machine recording told me that I was done with my service, the lovely Miss Jessie to the airport. I landed two hours later in Salt Lake City and despite being able to get onto the Boise flight, I decided to stay in Salt Lake with Megan, mainly because (other than seeing her as an obvious perk) rental cars were $100 cheaper. Nice.
I spent the night at Megan's very cute little house and hung out with her and Thad for a little bit. I saw Zachary the next morning (cutie!) and then headed out onto the open road.
Arriving in Boise five hours later, I got some coffee and then headed to one of my favorite spots- the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial. I drank my coffee in the warm sunshine, read my John Adams biography, and relaxed. I had plans to meet up with Brooke and Bailie that night for dinner so I hit up all the good downtown Boise spots- the Record Exchange, various boutiques, a new bookshop, the Capitol, Thomas Hammer for some water. Eventually I headed over to the Flying Pie where I met up with the Godwins (Kevin joined us later) from some delicious pizza. It was soooo good! Definitely got a good night's sleep that night.
Saturday morning I got a chance to sleep in and then headed out to the Boise Farmers Market. Not like the British markets but still great- I wish I could have picked up some amazing breads from Great Harvest or Zeppole or some of the amazing fruits and vegetables but what would I have done with them with no permanent fridge or anything? Oh well. I eventually headed over to Parilla Grille in Hyde Park. There was an open area with a bar and tables and chairs and after picking up some yummy burritos, Alexis and I watched Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 to get third place in the World Cup. It was an interesting game but we had a good chat while watching.
It was such a hot afternoon so I headed back to Brooke's and played in pool (well, I lay on a floatie raft and read) with Bailie and her friend. That night we all ended up staying in and Brooke, Bailie and I played Sorry! and then Monopoly. And never again will I sniff at Baltic and Mediterranean. I made BANK on those two properties (with their houses and hotels). Excellent!
Sunday I went out to Sterry to see the church folk, which was lovely. And they took me to lunch which was nice. And then even better afterwards, I met up with Miss Dori and had a great time chatting with her and drinking coffee. So good to hang out with her and an hour and a half was NOT enough time.
I had dinner again with the Godwins (avoiding all televisions and radios and facebook in order to not find out what happened in the World Cup final) and then finally got a chance to go and watch the match. I was able to watch it in the theatre room- HUGE screen! Love it! Bailie kept me company and I eventually became a human canvas fro her. I needed a few drinks to get me through the game- but luckily SPAIN came out victorious! VIVA ESPANA!
Monday was a CHOCK-FULL day! I had coffee with Sue at this sweet coffee house in Caldwell called Jolts and Juice. Loved the decor there and chats with Sue are always fantastic. That led to a three hour lunch with sweet April at yummy Imeldas (and I ran into Mark Smith walking into lunch). I headed back into Boise and had coffee with the newly married Alisa (London roomie!) and then had dinner at Shige and my favorite Ace Pear Cider at HaPenny with Yosh. He sent me on a quest to answer three questions for him so if anyone knows why national team managers don't have to be from the country they are coaching, let me know. Thanks.
Tuesday was also chock full! I had coffee with Emily at the Library Coffee House in Meridian and got some great book recs from her, then headed over to Caldwell, popped in to say hello to the Education professors and then went to have an afternoon with Mary. She made me a delicious huckleberry smoothie with a bunch of delicious fruits and we sat and looked at the beautiful view while chatting. Then it was back to the same coffee house to hear how Jocelyn's year was and catch up with her.
Kristen and I had dinner together at White Water Pizza and had a great meal (minus me spilling water all over her). We took the classy route afterwards and headed over to Wal-Mart to buy St. Chapelle Special Harvest, Twizzlers, ELFudge Samoa cookies, and cinnamon graham crackers. So yummy. We also got Shutter Island and watch it, which was interesting. We probably should have gone to dinner afterwards but instead ended up being up until past 1 am to look at peoples facebook pages and laugh at Awkward Family Photos. I love laughing with her- it was a blast!
Wednesday morning, I had some free time before heading over to Nampa so I went to the new Blue Sky Bagels and sat out in the sunshine reading. I eventually went over to Nampa and had another good chat with Dori- lots of story-telling and laughter and book exchanges, as per usual. Around 2:00, I hit the road for another long drive out to SLC, which was made all the better by graham crackers, Twizzlers, grapes and singing loudly to We Will Rocky You, my favorite childrens songs, Sarah Brightman and some Glee. I went over to Molly's and when she came home we sat on her porch and exchanged stories about bad teaching experiences while drinking boxed wine. Love it. Had such a great time seeing her and chatting with her about everything.
This morning I got home no problem and am now in relaxation mode before AXP on Saturday. As soon as Pysch is over, it's outside to enjoy the sunshine, my books and the rest of the Baddiel and Skinner World Cup podcasts. Love it!
