June 7, 2010
~ Marsing mini-vacay ~
Before I get into this post, I wanted to properly draw your attention to the above map and ride data, which I included in my previous post about the Hardtrigger ride, but which did not show up on Google Reader. With my new cyclecomputer, Garmin provided some embedding code for a quick snapshot of my ride data and map, however, the code is not compatible in Reader. I've figured out a workaround and it should work for the future, but I was disappointed to discover that the data for my awesome ride did not go through to my Reader folks. Anyhoo, click on the image and it will take you to my Garmin site, where you can check out some interesting graphs and an interactive map, etc.
Now for today's post...
Marsing Mini-Vacation
As I indicated in my previous post, Josh and I celebrated my 30th birthday in Marsing and riding bikes in the Owyhees. We actually drove up on Friday morning and stayed the night through Saturday.
Marsing is a fun little town, and has more going on than one might initially think. For example, despite its population not quite cresting 900 people, it has a number of places to procure a cup of coffee, a taco stand, an actual Mexican restaurant, a nicer restaurant, a diner, a biker bar, several thrift stores, a hardware store, a grocery store (equipped with hunting and fishing gear, of course!), a senior center, a smattering of religious establishments, a field office for the Bureau of Land Management, and even a motel.
Ahh... the motel. If you recall, Josh and I took a mini-vacation to Marsing a few years ago and found that the motel, coined the "Whitehouse Motel", was not what we had expected. Josh and I normally stay in one or two star accommodations, usually picking either the cheapest hotel or the second cheapest. In fact, no one could ever argue successfully that we are hotel snobs. Or even very picky, for that matter. Mainly because we prefer to spend our travel money on dining and other experiences of DOING things rather than on the hotel. Another reason for our selection of the cheapest hotels is because one can sometimes find a gem among crapholes. Take, for instance, the Whitehouse Motel in Marsing Idaho.
Arguably, the Whitehouse Motel bears a somewhat misleading name. For whatever grand structure the name "Whitehouse" conjures, the Whitehouse Motel is, quite simply, a doublewide trailer. Below are a few photos from the previous trip.
The Whitehouse Motel is, however, $36 a night, has plenty of hot water and has insanely comfortable beds. Also, the plywood roofing produces soothing sounds during a wind or rain storm, which we have experienced during both our stays there.
Unfortunately, the Whitehouse Motel is not as clean as I would prefer (and I have realistic cleanliness standards when it comes to my one star motel accommodations) and the water smells like sulfur. Really, really bad sulfur. And definitely not drinkable.
Other than that, it's a great (and only) place to stay in Marsing.
On Friday afternoon, Josh and I did a mountain bike ride over by the S. Jump Creek area of the Owyhees. It was just an out-and-back and wasn't anything to write home to Mom about. But it was a good warm-up for the next day's Hardtrigger 25 mile ride.
We set out with no expectations about the ride. Friday was very cloudy and windy, with severe storms going on in the Valley (that was the day there was a funnel cloud in Boise!!!), so Josh and I expected that we would have to cut a ride short. Of course, because my life is nothing if not ironic, we didn't apply sunscreen before the ride because it had been absolutely dark and cloudy all day. Then, not long into the ride, the sun poked out. And the previously cold weather turned to hot. And I had to take off my long sleeve jersey because I was baking, and proceeded to worry about being fried in the sun.
We rode for about an hour in the sun, and I did not get a sunburn.
It was, however, incredibly windy. So windy that I was literally blown off the trail several times.
There were also a lot of cows, a prelude to our Hardtrigger bovine experience. At some point, while we were climbing a section, we crossed paths with a very very pregnant cow who was so pregnant that she couldn't scamper away from us like the others and instead she had a massive diarrhea explosion in response to our presence.
We turned around shortly thereafter, in part because of the cows, but also because the road was difficult to ride with the deep hoof prints from the cows, because I was worried about being in the sun for so long without sunscreen, and because of the strong winds.
Behold my data and map! Click on it to see more.
After the bike ride, we got cleaned up and had dinner at the Sandbar, which is the slightly nicer restaurant in Marsing, down by the Snake River. We ate there on our previous trip, dining on delicious steaks. This time, I dunno, it was a little disappointing and I don't feel like dwelling on the experience.
Then we had a lovely stroll through the park along the river (where we had a few run-ins with some geese) and through some cute neighborhoods. We ended up at the biker bar where we shared a pitcher of Coors Light, downed some shots of tequila, chatted with the bartender (who took a shot with us), and played shuffleboard.
After a good night's sleep, we had eggs, toast, and hashbrowns at the diner next to the motel and then did our big Hardtrigger ride. After the ride, we rushed home to clean up in time to make a friend's wedding reception, where we mingled and had a lovely time.
March 28, 2010
~ Weiser Mini-Vacation ~
This weekend, Josh and I took a mini-vacation over in Weiser for some relaxation and road riding. While I realize that Weiser might not be a popular location for weekend vacations, we had a wonderful time. We had been considering taking a weekend mini-vacation for a while and had mulled over various small Idaho towns. Our decision criteria included: limited driving time (1-2 hours max), scenic road riding opportunities, cheap motel, and that the town have a few options for dining. Our first choice was actually Hagerman, which is the cutest small town, nestled in the scenic Hagerman Valley, and rich with road riding opportunities. However, as I was calling around to hotels in the county, there were no vacancies anywhere because of a Cowboy Poetry Festival going on that weekend. As a result, it was at the 11th hour that we decided to go to Weiser.
Weiser is a little over an hour drive from Boise. It is situated in an area with rolling hills and is at the base of some larger hills, with winding country roads ideal for road riding. While it might seem like a dive motel from the outside, on the inside the rooms of the affordable ($50 a night) State Street Motel had THE MOST COMFORTABLE BEDS, plenty of hot water, free wi-fi, and room to stash two road bikes. As for the food, Josh and I ate well throughout the trip - - and each dining experience was a memorable adventure.
We arrived early Friday afternoon and spent the first few hours wandering around town. We had lunch at Fawn's - - Josh had a French dipped sandwish with horseradish and I had a grilled shrimp sandwich with tomato basil soup. Both were extremely delicious. After lunch, we continued to wander around town, eventually exploring the area around the railroad tracks. We went into each downtown business, where we put some dollars into the local economy.
Later that afternoon, we set out on our road bikes and pedaled along some country roads heading west. There was a significant wind blowing from the Northwest, making the ride feel slow and difficult. The ride was 20 miles, and we were chased by four different dogs. The being chased by dogs bit is the primary reason that I have withheld some love for road biking, particularly along these otherwise delightful country roads, where dogs are left un-fenced and free to chase road bikers.
That evening, we had dinner at the Homestead Cafe and then got drinks and played darts at a local bar.
The next morning, we had planned to get coffee and a morning treat at the Huckleberry Cafe. When we arrived, however, we discovered that they were hosting a funeral service and we felt obliged to seek our coffee and breakfast elsewhere. And it was back to the Homestead Cafe.
Having felt that we have canvassed Weiser on the previous day, we decided to drive south for 12 miles and explore the town of Payette.
We had lunch at a local pizza establishment and then visited the Payette County Historical Museum.
That afternoon, we went on a truly amazing road ride. We headed in an Easterly fashion before ultimately hitting Mann Creek Road. The ride was 36 miles total. Mann Creek Road was a glorious country road winding through ranches and farms, at the base of some larger hills. If you look at the satelite imagery, it is a sliver of green.
View Larger Map
We were having too much fun riding to stop and take photos - - the photos that we did take do not do the ride justice. The road was perfect for riding, little traffic, glorious scenery, and rolling hills. Josh and I had a spectacular time sustaining speeds over 20 mph despite the side/headwind.
Josh said that it was one of the best road rides he has ever done, and we agreed that it would be worth going out there again. In particular, farther north across the highway, is a reservoir, and it might be fun to try and extend the ride.
That evening we had dinner at the local Chinese Restaurant. While it was far from authentic Chinese food, it was delicious. We returned to Boise the next morning, after a fun and affordable mini-vacation. More photos on my photoset.
June 19, 2007
~ mini-vacation Salmon, Idaho ~
I have found that when one has the opportunity to embark upon a spontaneous mini-vacation, that it is generally in one's best interest (of having a splendid time) to take advantage of that opportunity. Last week, Josh and I had such an opportunity - - he had the rare, so to speak, chance to take a three day "weekend" (being that his normal weekend is Friday and Saturday, it became a three-day with the additional day off of Thursday). It turned out to be a perfect week for me to cut my hours short by two days, despite the short notice of taking Thursday and Friday off on Monday. We then had two days to come to an agreement about how to spend our mini-vacation. Now, I don't know about all you other couples out there, but occasionally Josh and I find ourselves engaged in heated negotiations to agree on something. With regards to the mini-vacation debate, we each had our hearts set on a certain place, only for the other person to articulate a number of reasons in disfavor of that location. Eventually, the night before we were planning to set off on our adventure, we found agreement on the location of Salmon, Idaho.
According to Mapquest, the drive from Boise to Salmon is estimated at 5 hours and 11 minutes. Josh and I had established approximately 3 hours as the maximum time allowance for driving, so it's surprising that we decided to travel somewhere with almost twice the travel time. To compensate, we decided to stop at about the halfway point for a big bike ride. We stopped several miles before Stanley and completed a 20 mile loop around the Knapp Creek area of the Sawtooths.
The Knapp Creek Loop was pretty fun. When we arrived at the trailhead, there was a big bright yellow sign indicating that the area was "BEAR COUNTRY" and advised trail users to make noise so as not to startle any bears. Now, I have read enough reports about people in Idaho being mauled by bears to take a sign like that seriously. Which is why, for the majority of the ride, Josh and I were singing and humming nonsensical tunes for to not startle bears. For me, however, it was a nice change to fear being mauled by a bear than to be afraid of some aspect of the bike ride. Indeed, there was nothing about the ride that could have frightened a 'fraidy pants like me. It was labelled as a beginner/intermediate ride, the only reason for the intermediateness about it being a wee little bit on the technical side and the length (20 miles being nothing to shake a stick at). Personally, I was loving the wee little bit of technical action on the trail - - one does not see much technical spots on the Boise foothills - - and it was a nice challenge that made the ride more interesting. Another interesting factor about the ride were the number of creek crossings we faced. There was quite a bit of water running down those mountains, sieved nicely into streams and creeks. The first major creek crossing I peddled my way through no problem, despite my feet and ankles dipping fully into the water. The other major crossing was more of a river which was far too deep for peddling. Wow, ice water from the mountains can sure make one's feet lose all circulation quickly!
The last few miles of the ride got a bit old for me - - we left Boise at 9:00 in the morning, started our bike ride at 1:00 in the afternoon, and that was a long time for me to go without a full meal. At mile 17 of the bike ride (which was around 2:45), I was officially about to faint from starvation. We had all kinds of energy bars and calorie drinks, but I needed FOOD. After returning to the car, we quickly made our way to Stanley where we had a big meal. The last leg of the drive was a bit more tedious and uncomfortable, as our butts were in the process of withering up and dying from sitting in the car for so long.
But we made it! The night before, we made reservations to stay at the Greyhouse Bed and Breakfast (see above photo), which is 12 miles outside of town along the Salmon River. We stayed in one of the cabins for a very reasonable rate. Our cabin was nice and odd. It was a good solid cabin with a comfy bed...and it was decorated with a simply ridiculous amount of fish motifs. There were stuffed fish everywhere, several on the bed as pillows, some on the chairs as cushions, and even some sticking here and there for mere decoration. The walls had a wide assortment of fish in various format, everything was fish, fish, fish. Whatever, the bed was comfy and there was plenty of hot water.
After settling into our fishy cabin and taking showers, Josh and I decided to drive on over to Salmon for some groceries. It was about 8:00 by the time that we hit the road again. We took a quick tour of the town, which is super cute, and stopped by a grocery store for some food items, and beer. We then sat on our porch at the cabin, snacking and drinking our beers. It was very nice.
The next day, we rose at 8:00 and had breakfast with our fellow bed and breakfasters. We also procured a map of the area and began to ponder our adventures for the day. After breakfast, we went back to the town for some real exploring. We walked up and down Main Street, visited the Lemhi County Historical Museum (where Josh and I were both conned into picking up solidified hair balls from cows' stomachs - - those Salmonites have questionable senses of humor). Josh took the opportunity to question several individuals about possible mountain biking trails. There were several options and, ultimately, we decided to ride Twelve Mile Creek for the reason that we would not have to drive to get there (it began a block down from the Greyhouse Bed and Breakfast).
Twelve Mile Creek is a forest service road that travels up and up into whatever wilderness area. I think that we were forewarned that it is a rocky road, but it's difficult to know how much weight to give various warnings. You know, Josh and I have been warned about mountain biking on this or that trail by all sorts of non-mountain bikers, only to discover that there was no need for any kind of a warning. This Twelve Mile Creek forest service road was just like the warnings we heard... ROCKY - - and I don't mean there were some rocks on it, I mean that the entire road for miles and miles is nothing but big loose rocks, such that it was quite a challenge to ride. And it was HOT. The grade did not seem like much, but after looping around the first switchback, I glanced down into the bottomless void from which I had ridden, and realized we were climbing much more than it seemed. We stopped at several of the streams coming down the mountain and stuck our heads in the icy water to cool down - - did I mention that it was HOT?! We made it about 9 miles up before we gave up - - we were hoping to arrive at some scenic meadow area, but with each switchback going higher and higher, our hopes diminshed. And the rocks were making for something of an unpleasant climb. It was not the nice technicals of the ride the previous day, it was frustrating rockiness that was just a pain in the bottom. So after 9 miles of butt pains, we turned around. I had been a little wary about the prospect of the downhill on such a rocky, deceivingly-steep road with a massive drop off into a deep void off the side of the road (see: fraidy pants). So I started my descent focusing on my proper biking form, not looking at the scary drop off next to me, and trying to not wipe out on the rocks. At some point, I thought about how one could really fuck one's self up by crashing on such a road. Somehow, in spite of all these scary factors, I was having fun! I hit a massive rock head on, unintentionally, and it was absorbed into my shocks and my descent continued uninterrupted. As I continued down, carefully engaging my breaks at the proper times (not in corners, not as I hit big rocks, not as I rolled through loose sections of rocks) and let my wheels carry me through the sketchy sections, it became really awesome. Soon, I let go of the breaks all together and only used them to keep my speed from getting out of control. According to my computer, I was going 15...18...20...22...25...27 miles an hour down a steepish rocky road, faster than a car would have gone, with my shocks absorbing all of the rocks so that my ride was cushy and comfy. For a good while, I was even seated, with the rear suspension making for a smooth ride. After a while, I started riding over the bigger and looser rocks, just for practicing. At the bottom, the straightaway before the highway, I was going almost 35 mph, which is pretty fast for me. It was a great ride!
That evening, we went back into town for some dinner at a place called the Shady Nook. I enjoyed some blackened salmon and sweet potato fries and Josh had some kind of alfredo pasta thing and french onion soup. We then wandered around down by the river where Josh impressed me with his ability to skip rocks. I hypothesize that the skipping of rocks is some base animal instinct that dudes have retained over the ages in order to attract a mate. The rock skipping ritual lasted quite some time, it was as though Josh was showing of his vibrant plummage.
The next day, Saturday, was the end of our mini-vacation. We had breakfast at the Greyhouse and loaded into the car for the drive back. We opted to go the LONG way so that we could see Craters of the Moon. We biked a 7 mile loop around the area, and saw lots of volcanic stuff. I'd never been there before, so it was nice to have that opportunity.
Also during the drive back, we opted to stop in several of the small towns along the way for a quick walk around. In Mackay, pop. 500, we found a number of yard sales to peruse and managed to skedaddle out just in time to miss the town parade. I don't parades. We had lunch in another little town, Carey, I believe. Also, I had quite the giggle as we passed through Arco, the first community in the world to be lit by nuclear power!
The great misadventure of the trip was while we were driving along this remote highway after leaving Mackay, at 65 mph, and all of a sudden Josh (who was driving) looked in the rearview mirror and screamed "Your bike is gone!" I practically had a heart attack as I looked back at the trunk rack to see no Minty Fresh (what I named by brand new expensive bike). Immediately, we turn around, thinking that the bike must have flown off the rack (because it was on the rack when we left Mackay). The amazing irony being that this was a brand new fancy pants rack that Josh arranged for us to use specifically for this trip. For years, I've used this trunk rack that my dad found at some thrift store for $5, and it has served me well (no bikes flying off). This rack that I've had, however, has just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. The manner in which it fastens to the car is questionable, and Josh and I are always going to great pains to secure the bikes to the rack. So for this big trip, Josh wanted to have the piece of mind of using a high quality brand new bike shop recommended rack. It attaches to my car so much better, and it has wonderful pads and straps for the bikes, to hold them securely. So it was quite the shock to look back and see that my bike was no longer on the rack! As we were driving back from whence we had came, I was scanning the sides of the road, expecting to see my brand new (expensive) bike, having been crushed and run over by the traffic, all bent up, broken, and sad. Boy, was my heart rate up. We did not drive for very long when we began to wonder if perhaps the bike was somehow dragging along behind us. Josh pulled over and I ran to the back, where I discoverd my bicycle dangling by the cheap cable lock that we had used to lock the bikes to the rack while in the thief-ridden town of Mackay. Somehow, the straps securing the bike to the rack came undone and the bike flew off the rack, but the lock held. I cannot find the words to describe my relief that my bike was not only NOT bent, broken, and sad along the side of the road, but that it appeared to be undamaged. I was so glad that we had randomly decided to put the crappy cable lock on the bikes, which would have done nothing if a thief had really wanted to steal our bikes, but which managed to hold the bike up enough so that it wasn't even dragging along the road as we sped along at 65 mph. There is not even single a scratch on sweet Minty Fresh!
Whew!
Anyhoo, here's a link to my flickr set on this mini-adventure.
April 9, 2007
~ Marsing ~
This weekend, Josh and I went on a mini-vacation to Marsing, the Gateway to the Owyhees. We have been through Marsing numerous times, having thrown some money down at their eating establishments after a hike or bike ride in the Owyhees. While Marsing might not seem like the most amazing place to go on a mini-vacation, it holds a warm place in our hearts and is much more quality than a superficial view conveys. We left Boise on Saturday morning, after procuring some good coffees for the road. Josh had made reservations at the only hotel in Marsing, the Whitehouse Inn. I suppose that from the name, I had expected something slightly more grand than what was the reality. Somehow, the name "Whitehouse Inn" compelled me to assume that we would be staying in a beautifully renovated historic building with a view of the stunning Owyhee mountains. Yet, as I pulled up to the front door, I was a tad surprised to find that the so-called Whitehouse Inn was nothing more than a trailer park, with trailers that had been sectioned off into multiple "hotel rooms." After seeing our portion of the single-wide trailer, I was greatly relieved that we would at least have our own restroom. While I may be harshly judgemental, I'm not much of a snob and I don't insist on existing always with a silver spoon crammed into yee olde netherparts. At the same time, I found that staying in a converted single-wide trailer was to be one of several white trash experiences.
After settling into our accommodations, Josh and I hit the town. We walked "downtown" where we got some very affordable soft tacos from Freddy's Taco stand (a joint that we've eaten at a few times before). Freddy's Tacos is wonderful. It appears to be a family-run establishment that offers affordable food at incredible quality. Ah, just the thought of my tastey tacos makes my mouth salivate. Josh, who is WAY more social and outgoing than I, chatted with some local Marsingians, found out how to pronounce some Spanish words, and through the interaction I was able to get my hands on some homemade salsa for my tacos. I probably applied too much of this homemade salsa, but it was amazing! Zing! Then, we located a park and had all kinds of fun. We swang on swings, teeter-tottered, slided, and I managed to persuade Josh to let me into his fort which he was protecting by throwing rocks and twigs at all of the enemies.
Then, we went down by the lovely and radioactive Snake River. Marsing is also a check point for motorcycle enthusiasts. At the river, there was some kind of motorcycle congregation which we took pains to avoid. The ground was littered with goatheads and I spent several moments plucking them from the soles of my shoes. The most notable landmark in Marsing is Lizard Butte which is basically a hill with some volcanic rock that looks like a giant lizard. It's pretty cool. As you recall, Easter was on Sunday, and while neither Josh nor myself are big followers of Easter, we had planned on joining the locals at the top of Lizard Butte at sunrise for their Easter Sunrise Service. While we were walking along by the river, we took the opportunity to people watch some of the locals as they were fishing in the lovely and radioactive Snake River. Now, it's not as though I am this neat-nick clean-freak, but the polluted waters of the Snake River is not the source from which I would like to get my fish.
On our way back to the "hotel", we stopped by the grocery store, where I was a little surprised at the numbers of dead animals hung about. The entire Marsing adventure had undertones of white trashedness, but this grocery store which displayed dead animals alongside food and beverage for sale was the second clear demarcation of a white trash experience for me. You know how when people hunt and kill animals, they display the dead animal carcass as though it was a trophy...I've never much understood that. Above the greeting cards, in this grocery store, were moose and elk heads, above the candy and pre-packaged baked items, stuffed turkeys. Along the cereal aisle, there was even a dead mountain lion. I know that it's hard to judge taste sometimes, but I prefer to not live around dead animal carcasses, so I've never quite understood the many people who choose to swathe their walls with dead animals. I mean, why not display a family photo or a replica of some famous painting? What is the appeal of dead animal carcasses as décor? …Yet another mystery of life.
That afternoon, we utilized Marsing's Gateway to the Owhyees, to enter into the Owyhees for some mountain bike riding. We went to someplace a bit west of Jump Creek and explored some motorcycle roads. It was a lot of fun. At some point, we rode up to this plateau to take in the view. Josh noticed, in the distance, that the wind was causing a mighty dust storm. And by the look of the clouds, and the smell in the air, it was apparent that we were about to be caught in a sudden torrential downpour. We immediately started to ride back to the car, but the wind was so strong that it proved to be a harbinger of the difficulty that lay ahead. Twice, the wind coming at me to the side was so strong that it literally blew me off the trail and the rain came very quickly. Rain plus strong wind made every exposed part of my person freeze, and then the wind would whip up the sand against my leg, which stung my frozen flesh. What is more, our lack of structured exploring made me feel slightly concerned that we would lose our way. Nevertheless, we made it back safely and returned to our trailer section for a shower before going out to eat.
For dinner, we chose Marsing's finest restaurant, the Sandbar, which is beachside of the lovely Snake River. The meal truly was lovely…it just took forever to arrive. I was concerned about gorging myself on the appetizers. The vegetable soup that came first was divine, and my salad that came twenty minutes later was incredible. An hour later, when my entrée arrived, I was quite uninterested in continuing to sit at the table. Yet, the food was good (though, Josh's was better than mine). Throughout our dining experience, there was a group of real and old school cowboys next to our table. They were having some conversation about the good old days of being a real cowboy, when you could herd your cows in the open range...or whatever. At some point, it was the most obvious thing I've ever seen, one of the cowfolk turned around, looked up Josh and I, turned back around and started saying something about "ferners." Again, I'm not a snob with a silver spoon, but sometimes it takes a bit to understand some of the regional dialects. It was very apparent that he had said the word "ferners" in response to seeing Josh and I, and I was able to deduce that he was poorly enunciating the word "foreigners." I thought it was rather rude. Anyhoo. After we were finished eating, we thought about going to one of the local dive bars, but didn't. We went to bed feeling fully satisfied. Ah…but I probably should mention that the freak torrential downpour which had disrupted the bike ride had not abated by bedtime. In fact, all throughout the night when I would wake up with insomnia every ten minutes, the torrential downpour continued. This put a damper on our plans of attending Easter Sunrise Service at sunrise on Lizard Butte. In fact, it put a damper on the rest of our Sunday plans, which had included a hope of returning to the Owyhees for more mountain bike exploration. Instead, we returned to the big city where I remained exhausted and lethargic all day from my lack of sleep.
You will be pleased to learn that I managed to post a variety of photographs of the adventure.
March 29, 2007
~ Parma, Nyssa, Ontario...ho! ~
On Saturday, despite the pain from my mountain biking crash, I had the opportunity to go on an exploratory adventure. Josh and I packed up our persons and drove West. Our first stop was his old stomping ground, Parma. As we pulled off the highway, we drove up to a replica of Olde Fort Boise, which is apparently the only thing to see in Parma. In front of the withered concrete structure was a sad looking model of Big Foot. At the base was an educational snippet about Big Foot, as though Big Foot were, you know, real. ...It was odd. Speaking of Parman education, while we were there, we stopped by Josh's old middle school where it appeared that the construction of a new building may have destroyed the hiding place of a time capsule that his class had burried beneath the earth. Despite his saddness, he was able to have some fun at a nearby park. Here's a sweet photo of the little apple of mine eye finding some joy in the day. 
We then drove our persons across the border to Nyssa, Oregon where the fun was simply overwhelming. The two-block downtown provided ample amusement for two young bumpkins like ourselves. We started the Nyssan adventure by entering a quilting store and wandering the stock of brightly colored fabric. There was a seemingly antisocial genderless being playing a game on a computer and Josh bought a small stuffed animal friend of the ground hog variety with top hat and bow tie which we named Half Chubb because of its resemblance to a semi-erect penis. Nyssa provided ample more excitement, including a video rental establishment with cheaply priced items and a "fashion" store which embodied the epitome of gaudy. 
View image
And so we found ourselves in search of further excitement in Ontario, Oregon. I might mention that before leaving Boise, we stopped by the record store for some new compact discs with which to listen to some musical tunes, which included the new Modest Mouse album. Josh had wanted to purchase tickets to their concert while we were at the record store, but he learned that the tickets sold out in seven minutes. So, no dice..or, no mice. Anyhoo, Ontario. Our hunger compelled us to drive around town looking for a tasty place to eat (rolling of mine eyes...a tasty place at which to eat, but we were so hungry that we could have eaten an entire establishment). After driving around for a good amount of time, we finally decided to enter a cheezy "Italian" restaurant whose decor I simply could not contain my disgust for. I dunno, call me Judge Mental, but I found their expression of the shabby chic with cheap "made in china" knock-off furniture along with plastic grape vines and postcard photos of Italy not the choices that I would have made if it had been my restaurant. We ordered some garlic bread and sauce which was veddy veddy yummy and some calzones which were alright. I wanted four beers but had water instead. After filling our bellies with authentic Italian food in an establishment that made me feel like I was on the streets of Roma (insert another rolling of the eyes), we wandered the streets until we came upon the local train station. 
September 24, 2006
~ Blue Lake in the Fall ~
On Saturday, Josh and I went to Blue Lake. As usual, it was absolutely stunning. I've never been there so late in the year, and I found the fall colors beautiful. We hiked around the lake and captured some views, relaxed a bit. Then we continued our journey up to the top of the mountains where we were able to see on both sides to the east and to the west. It was awesome. Josh spent a good time with his gazetteer to determine what all of the different landmarks were that we could see. What was particularly amazing was that we could actually see far enough to the east to see the tips of the Sawtooths, which were 58 miles away as a crow flies. Here's a link to my flikr set to view the photos. See if you can see me in the below photo.
July 17, 2006
~ Secesh to Loon Lake ~
This weekend, while Josh and I were camping at Upper Payette Lake in the Payette National Forest, we took a day trip to bike the Loon Lake Loop. We drove about ten miles from our camp to the Ruby Meadows turnoff from Warren Wagon Road. From there we asked for directions to the trailhead, as it was not readily apparent which way to go, and along with directions we also received some information about a WWII era bomber lodged at the far end of the lake. In my googling of Loon Lake information, I discovered someone who had taken photos of the bomber, which can be viewed here. We, incidentally, opted to not hike to the far end of the lake to view the bomber.
The first half of the loop, to Loon Lake, was amazing. It began as a road suited to ATVs and motorcycles, though all access, with fun banked turns and the sort of rollercoastery bumps that off-road vehicles tend to produce, which happen to be super fun on a bicycle. The trail took us through the area that was burned in the 1994 fire, and the effect was a graveyard of trees. Eventually the trail turned into a well maintained singletrack which had a pleasant combination of mild technicals and rolling intervals of ascents and descents, into meadows, forested hilltops, and rocky mountain slopes. There were several wooden bridges to cross as the trail wound through the meadows. These bridges were constructed with a series of wood panels jutting upwards into the center of the bridge. This created an effect similar to a rut. At some point, while I was navigating my bicycle tires in between the wooden bridge rut, my front wheel scraped the edge of the wooden panel causing a loss of control. I sensed that I was about to flip face-first onto the wooden bridge so I attempted to prevent falling with the use of my trusty left leg. As I was trying to catch myself, in a manner involving the wild flailing of limbs, I was stumbling along the bridge with my bicycle firmly attached to my right foot until I launched off of the bridge into the unknown. At either side of the bridge there was some thick tall grass, and it was impossible to see what was beneath the grass (whether water, rocks, mud, etc.). Fortunately for me, there was only soft ground, which provided that the only thing hurt was my pride. As I was hoisting my person back onto the bridge, Josh and I had a good guffaw.
We continued peddling until we reached Loon Lake, a name which I found pleasing, almost as pleasing, in fact, as the lake itself. Though, stunning would be a more appropriate description. Once lakeside, we relaxed and consumed some carbohydrates. I removed my socks and shoes, though not in that order, and noticed a very prominent dirt line divided my dirt and dust coated legs from my non-dusted and non-dirted feet. I placed said feet into some water, which I found somewhat freezing, and splashed them around.
For the second half of the loop, we took a different route to get back to the car. I have chosen to delete the second half of the ride from my memory. All that I will articulate is that I would not recommend that route to anyone with severe- to worse-than-severe phobias regarding narrow technical trails at the edge of steep rocky cliffs.
By the time that we reached the car, I was very happy to have reached the car. Frankly, I was kind of pooped. Back at the campsite, Josh and I inched our way into the lake for a refreshing wash - - and boy, did it feel great to rid my person of all the mud clumps, dust coating, dried sweat, congealed sunscrean, and smashed bug bodies. For the duration of the evening, I was in a daze of sheer exhaustion.
July 5, 2006
~ Idaho City Historic Independence ~
It would be an understatement for me to say that I appreciate holidays. Indeed, having had an insanely busy last week (working overtime and being overwhelmed with my workload), I was elated at having this Tuesday off of work for some national holiday. On Monday, I seized the day by getting up an hour early in the morning and having an entire morning experience before having to go to work. That evening, I bragged about this feat to Josh, while we were sipping beers on my stoop. On Tuesday, the national holiday, I had planned to get up at 6:30 in order to seize the day even though I didn't have to work. When I woke up, I saw that Josh had sent me a text message wanting to go on a mountain bike ride before the temperature hit the predicted 97 degrees. By 7:00, we were riding our bikes up Hulls Gulch. It was a short sweet ride, which we enjoyed in the cool temperature. There were quite a number of other people on the trails as well, hikers and runners, dog walkers. After we returned from our ride, cleaned up and all that, we met for some coffee at Java downtown, and I had some quality time with my laptop computer. Before the noon hour, we prepared to go on our main adventure for the day: to Idaho City for their Historic celebration for Independence Day.
Part of my desire to go to Idaho City hinged on its location to the north at a higher altitude. From my knowledge of its location, I surmised that it wouldn't get quite as hot as Boise (as I said, predicted at 97 degrees). Unfortunately, it was still really really hot in Idaho City. When we arrived, there were bucket loads of people everywhere. It was craziness. We began our adventure by walking up and down the two roads which comprise the non-residential part of the town. We walked into all of the antique stores (specializing in Old West stuff), weaved through the crowd of people, and I snapped a lot of photos. At one point it was real funny (hah!)...Josh was in the process of walking along this boardwalk thingie that had old saddles slung over the railing and a big wooden fish dangling over his head. I decided that it was an opportune moment to take a photo of the little whipper snapper. Snap! After I had taken my photo, this big sweaty man dressed in a cowboy costume wrapped his arm around Josh and seemed to want me to take a photo of Josh with the cowboy. A little weirded out, I brought up my camera and took another photo. Then the cowboy thought it would be great to swap hats with Josh and give to Josh his gun. Snap! Snap! Then the cowboy started asking us where we are from, wondering if we were tourists from some distant land where they don't have real cowboys such as himself. The heat was making me a tad cranky and I was annoyed that he thought we were tourists. I mean, I happen to have this new digital camera which is this great toy for me, but just because I am always taking photos of everything doesn't mean that I'm not from around these parts.
The Idaho City Library was having a book sale and Josh and I purchased a few books. Josh bought a collection of these "Myserties of the Mind" book series that were published in the early 1980s and contain funny photos of "paranormal phenomena". At 2:00 we wandered over to this place where some real cowboys were having a real Old West shootout. We gathered with a lot of other people in the heat (though we found a spot in the shade). There was a stage made to look like some Old West scene, with a jail, bank, and saloon. Before the shootout, one of the cowboys, the one who had posed for a photo with Josh, gave the audience a lecture on gun safety. Then they performed this skit about an Old West miner who had struck gold, a cowboy who stole his gold, and the sherriff who tried to restore the peace. The "plot" of the skit was quite brief and was punctuated by gunshots and a final "shootout" at the end. Not being much of a "gun person" myself, I found it rather alarming and every time that the loud bangs of the guns sounded, I let out a surprised scream (which was embarassing). The elitist in me found the whole display disappointingly amature (to me, it just seemed like three guys who put on some costumes and wanted to have fun shooting for pretend at each other).
After the shootout, we decided that it was high time to get some food. We located this establishment called "Diamond Lil's Pub and Eatery" and consumed some greasy bar food, pepsis, and beers. The establishment was something else, as may be evidenced by the photos just below this paragraph. There were rows of dollar bills (defaced by writing) hanging from the ceiling, framed collections of outdated currency from around the world, photos from someone's travels, politically distasteful decorations (notice the "slick willie" wall hanging behind Josh and I at the table...in fact, there were several displays of anti-Clinton throughout the town), and the bathrooms... When we first arrived, I overheard the bartender direct a small boy to the men's bathroom by saying to "go through the door with the pretty woman". Later, I discovered that the women's bathroom was the one with the shirtless man on the door. Inside, the walls were covered with photos of shirtless men with big packages...apparently the men's bathroom was covered with photos from Maxim. Belch. I was offended by such a blatant tasteless parade of heterosexuality, and not even just heterosexuality, but a very specific breed of macho heterosexuality which does not at all appeal to me. Honestly, why do people like that have to wave their preferences in my face? So, our bar food was mediocre but we had an excellent time. The air conditioning was cool, the suffleboard table was slick, and the beers hit the spot.
Anyhoot, I have uploaded many more photos onto my flickr account, which you can access by depressing your mouse button over the flickr photos on the sidebar to the right.
July 3, 2006
~ Bogus Star Party ~
There are several adventures and projects that I have directed my attention to remember as needing a blog post. I have some catching up to do in the way of my personal reporting. I have been busy lately... Screaming mad busy. Anyhome, I have selected the Bogus Basin Star Party as the first item on my list to recount.
The Star Party, which took place a week ago last Friday at Bogus Basin Mountain Resort, was (as might be inferred from the name) a party to celebrate the stars. There was a variety of astronomical nerds and aficionados, including their star gazing equipment, in attendance. The organizers chose, from all of the music in the world, the soundtrack to the Star Wars films to be the audio experience for the evening. Josh and I drove up to the Lodge in time to enjoy the last bit of a spaghetti feed. We quickly ate our overpriced and rather stale spaghetti and rushed to join a large group of people for a nature hike. The nature hike was annoying. The group of nature hikers had gathered next to some trees and were listening to a lecture on fire safety. Smokey the Bear was on hand to give a thumbs up to good answers to the fire safety questions posed to the attendees. At some point, my glory was stolen as Josh articulated to the group the answer to a fire safety question that I had mumbled so that no one could hear me except for him. Smokey the Bear provided Josh with a thumbs up which should have been mine! Some time later, while the group was still discussing fire safety, I got really bored. Josh and I wandered off a ways and took some photos of the view.
We rejoined the group once it continued the hike. This, however, was short-lived because they stopped again for another dull lecture, on some subject such as the solar power lighting installation at the resort. I suppose that solar power and fire safety are interesting topics, however, the manner in which they were presented in lecture format I found painfully tedious. At the point of our maximum tedium, we quit the group and went on our own hike. It was beautiful. We saw some lovely flowers and plants and stopped to watch the sunset. It was almost dark by the time that we returned to the Lodge. The party section of the Star Party wasn't quite underway, so Josh and I located some beers and drank them over some witty banter. When our beers were done, we made our way to the telescopes and proceeded to examine various objects in the night sky. Unfortunately, the objects were way too far away for the telescopes to pick up very much, so they appeared as not more than a dot. Nevertheless, it was a neat way to spend the evening.
