Idaho

Idaho was not a disappointment. I always kind of wanted to visit it, probably because of its shape. It seems like the kind of place someone drew up when they were drunk, or maybe its left over pieces that the other states didn't want.

Idaho is a beautiful state, full of trees, mountains, rivers. Even when driving though it there are lots of things to see.  When I got to it I had just driven through Yellowstone National Park. I was still reeling from all the pine trees and snow covered mountains. It was lovely. There was a river winding around it and I followed it. I stopped and took pictures in a few places and I saw some deer, but this is not Idaho, this was still part of Montana and a tiny corner of Wyoming. Idaho was a lot different. The land sort of parted and there was mountains and a lot less trees. I was lucky with the weather, it got sunny and rained just a little here and there. The mountains were amazing, snow topped and I noticed every couple of miles there were historical landmarks. They were cute little pull offs that had metal and wooden placards describing the events that occurred in the area. Most of them were Native American spots, places were small battles occurred or where settlers traded. They are valuable parts of history. 

This drive was long. I had been going for about five hours when I arrived in Idaho. I was a little bit nervous because there was flooding in the area I was supposed to be arriving in, but there really wasn't, it was just wet. Some random lightening would go off in the distance, then it would disappear as my miles increased. 

One place which caught my eye in Idaho was the Lava Trail. It was a rest stop. The name was Hells half acre.  Seeing the land scape change in front of my eyes while I was driving made me know this place was something special. There is lava very close to the surface of the earth in Idaho. Geologists study this. The lava trail is where lava poured through fissures in the earth and cooled. Now different kind of plants and animals live there. They've adapted.  I was surprised to see cactus, I didn't know it grew this far north. 

J

Randy showed up in Boise my first day to surprise me and watch me run in the Famous Potato Marathon`s 5k. This is going to be a blog all by itself. We went to the capitol and took pictures, then wandered around downtown. It is a very busy little place. 

The rotunda in the capitol was beautiful. There was a wooden statue of George Washington carved out of Idaho wood.