Life and such: Day Eight - Idaho Falls (ID)

First day of a new week of travel. Day eight was pretty great, all things considered. Since we made good time getting across the country so far, we didn't travel a great distance yesterday. And a good thing too, since we had a lot of slow going through construction on Interstate 84. But I am ahead of myself once again.

One of the big differences between the low level motels in the Choice chain and the upper level ones is breakfast. In the former, it is continental. In the latter, it is fuller breakfast - with hot stuff! At this one it was scrambled eggs (not so great), sausage (ok) and waffles that one makes oneself. I had a strawberry one. With cream cheese! And a kiwi! Mom had a yogurt and a sausage link. But since neither of us eats breakfast all that much, we felt full!

Getting packed up and ready to head out is getting easier, or so it seems at least. And this place had a cart for me to stack so I only had to make one trip. But the car seems fuller for some reason. We haven't really been buying a lot of stuff. Collecting some paper - which will need to be handled at some point. And mom has been collecting pens. Three and counting so far. I wonder where her fear of not having enough pens comes from...

The trip was broken up with a couple of stops. The first was a spontaneous decision on my part to go to a scenic attraction mentioned on the highway: Shoshone Falls. It was a little out of our way, but what is a roadtrip without taking little excursions like that? Hmm? And I enjoy not always driving on super highways. We drove off into the countryside and eventually came to a park entrance - I didn't feel like paying $3 to drive through the park especially since we weren't going to linger. There was, though, a scenic overlook and mom and I looked over the scenic, er scenery. A very pretty set of falls on the Snake River indeed! Well worth the drive!

We also took a rest break at a rest stop. I was surprised that the Idaho Flag wasn't flying. Instead they had a POW/MIA flag - haven't seen one of those in a while. And of course, there was all of the slow, construction area traffic. We did, eventually, arrive in Boise. I found a shady spot to park in and called Choice Reservations. I spoke with a nice young woman named Angie who had moved from South Florida to South of Buffalo recently. She helped me to use my points to get a free night at the motel that evening! Yay! I like free! After securing a place to rest our weary heads that evening, we headed to a beer place for a snack.

Boise is making a much different impression on me this time than last time I was here. Last time, ten years ago, the place seemed kind of drab and unhappy. This time, it seems much peppier and more cosmopolitan.

The beer place we patronized was called Bitter Creek Ale House and it was in the middle of downtown. We actually, gasp, sat outside. I know, scary! Luckily we were in a shady spot. I had two samplers of local beer - all brewed within 5 miles of the bar. And we had a delicious sweet potato quesadilla. Lyndzee, our server, was very attentive, which I appreciated!

After a bit, we struck up a conversation with our next door table mates. Amy and Brett were fairly recent transplants to Boise (two and four years, respectively) and seemed to be happy about being there! We talked about this and that, and ended up talking about politics - Amy was curious if I really intended to run for president in 2024. It was great to actually talk about some of my political thoughts for a change. As we were getting ready to leave, Larissa, Amy's roommate joined them. Sadly, we didn't get to talk with her too much. Oh well. Life is like that sometimes. :)

Mom and I headed to the hotel and I was really pleasantly surprised. It is a 2 star motel but acts like a four star one! We had a teeny patio and I was able to unload the car (and mom) directly from the parking lot into the room. Yay! Less walking for mom and me too!

We rested up for a while in the room - I watched a couple episodes of Stargate Atlantis and caught up on some email. I even thought about Flippety a little. I need to add some credits someplace but not sure how I want to do that, yet. Eventually we headed out again.

Our dinner destination was Highlands Hollows - a place that was recommended for its food and beer. I ordered some clams and a dish of shrimp scampi for mom and me to share. Barbara, our server brought me a taster of 9 beers. Sadly, only one of them was remarkable - not in the sense of being awesome, but in the sense of being worth remarking on. None of the beers was terrible, they just weren't great. The ginger wheat was the most interesting one. Ok, the porter was pretty good as well. The artwork for the logos of the beer was pretty cool! I might try to get it for Flippety!

After dinner we headed to Goody's - suggested by Amy and Brett - an old fashioned ice cream parlor. We got there at the same time as about 15 other people, so we had a little bit of a wait for our ice cream. Mom had a coffee bean ice cream cone which she thought was good but not great. I had an ice cream bar that was pretty good. Loved the people watching there!

Back at the hotel, I decided I wanted to explore the attached lounge. I am happy I did. They had a decent stout on tap (can't recall what it was), music (which was pleasant) and a free, 4x8 pool table! Luckily, a guy named Trey was up for a few games! God, I am out of practice. Still, lots of fun!

Back in the room, I went to sleep pretty quickly and mom read for a bit. Yay!

All in all, a great eighth day! Onward!