June 26, 2018
Day 9 – Boise, ID – Rest day
The only problem with our rest day was that it was way too short.
The morning was taken up with a late start for breakfast, a just-in-time laundry run, Judy loading up our Garmins with navigation for the next eight days, a cautious peek inside Meeting Room A to see if maintenance had cleaned up after our beer pong tournament and finally (for me) a much-needed professional massage. Oh yeah, and patching a few of my punctured tubes, hopefully, not to be needed for a while.
We finally emerged after one o’clock for a leisurely walk into town under a brilliant blue sky and a visit to the Idaho State Capitol. It was quite beautiful, with lots of marble, and virtually no security that we could see. We found the Governor’s office (answers to “Butch”) and walked right in. The receptionist greeted us with a big smile and asked if we’d like to go into Butch’s office. Uh, …sure. So we looked around and took turns sitting at Butch’s desk and looking at all of Butch’s memorabilia. I never met Butch, but I can tell you, Butch was one big fan of Ronald Reagan. Rugged pictures of Reagan were everywhere with featured quotes about the importance of state’s rights. (I guess that’s a big deal in Idaho.)
We capped off our walking tour with a visit to George’s Cycles, an enormous and amazing bike shop in town. Several folks took the opportunity to tweak their bikes, or in Tami’s case, get new handlebars and a “new old” seat. I decided I don’t have enough cycling jerseys (sorry, Joanne), and bought a George’s cycling outfit – mostly because it memorializes our presence here in Boise.
Italian or Basque? What do you want to do for dinner – Italian or Basque? Civil war was averted when we decided to split up. Turns out, Boise has the largest concentration of Basque Americans with approximately 15,000 living here. Boise is also home to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center and we picked a delightful restaurant next to it. The street had been blocked off for an outdoor gathering of a few hundred people attending an international conference from the power industry. Lots of dancing and fun.
Oh, did I mention? June is Idaho Wine Month.
At dinner on Monday night, we said goodbye to Mary and Bob, who were leaving the ride, and welcomed two new riders, Gina and Joe. They will join us for the next segment.
Click on the first picture below for an annotated slide show for more about today’s restful day and don’t forget to click on “Where’s Jeff” at jeffblye.com
[Note: photos for the Day 8 journal did not post originally. If you missed them yesterday, you can check back now. “User error” (mine) ]
Journey with Jeff 