BODO 1st Thursday

BODO is short for Boise Downtown and the 1st Thursday is a special event in the downtown area where the bars spill out onto the streets, the art galleries are open and free, and the streets are crowded with people.

This morning we had a pancake and sausage breakfast at the Pancake House & Christmas Store in McCall then we loaded up the RV and headed to Boise since the state park was kicking us out for Labor Day Weekend. It was a very scenic drive along the Payette River. At first it was mile after mile of wheat fields, some newly mowed and others still waving their heads of grain. Then it seemed we ascended into a mountain but quickly descended into a canyon with narrow sides and boulder strewn valleys. All the time the river was crashing down the canyons with huge cascades, deep waters and white caps and waterfalls. Once it leveled out some, we saw rafters enjoying the river. The starkness of the canyon walls was in sharp contrast to the blue river. The land was gold and brown the whole way with no green grass unless it was irrigated and no green trees unless they were at higher elevations.

We arrived in Boise and pulled into the Riverside RV park just after noon. It is located on the Boise River and the Greenway Walking and Bike Trail. In fact our RV is backed up to the trail. We couldn’t wait to ride the trail and learned that there was the 1st Thursday event in downtown Boise. The lady at the office gave us some good directions for using the trail and we took off on our bikes.

The trail runs on both sides of the river and through about eight different parks. Even in the downtown area they have well marked bike lanes so it was easy to get around. At one point John was on the street and I was on the sidewalk so John walked his bike over the intervening brown grass strip and picked up cockleburs in his tires. We parked and locked the bikes and wondered around, and ate dinner at a Basque bar. The Basque from France settled in this area because it was a lot like home with the mountains that were good for raising sheep. I had lamb, John had pork with pimento and we both tried the croquettes - a potato hush puppy.

When we got back to the bikes, both of his tires were totally flat! He rode my bike back to the RV (6+ miles), put the bike rack on the Jeep and drove back downtown to get me and his bike. It was not a nice ending to the evening!