Boise, Idaho

6/18

Saturday

Farmers Market is on the agenda, called due to RAIN. rode around Eagle and Garden City shopping for neighborhoods, and then bike riding, first we attempted to find the magical trail that connects Garden City to Eagle. there is a path on the south side of the Boise river, but it dead ends 1.75 miles, we went up over the bridge and down on the north side, and that trail cuts back and then after .5 miles BLAM, big fat 'no bicycle' sign, just pedestrians with their dogs. ;-( that sucks. so we turned around and tried to go towards Boise on the North side of the river, BLAM big private golf course blocking the path, so back to the south side and headed eastward. made it all the way to ann morrison park, turned LEFT and headed into town, pretty easy path until you actually hit down and then NOTHING to guide you, not a bike path, not a bike lane, nothing. we wandered around, using the sidewalks, and made it back to the Grove. a big fat line of people trying to buy tickets or to get in to see some event.

up the street to the LeParis restaurant for a bowl of soup and a desert. easily locked the bikes up outside the restaurant and was waited right away. the cream of mushroom was very good but had just some whipped cream piped on the top, not actually a cream of soup that Americans are used to. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars, Magnus has the potato / carrot / onion soup, I could only convince him to eat the potatoes, both he and Erik agreed that the carrots were not very good, the broth was very watery minimal flavor, that would have gotten a 3 out of 5 stars, and Erik had the potato / leek soup and while that had some good consistency, great taste, it was a little too salty, so it also got a 3 out of 5 stars (familiarity making up for salty taste) as for desert, I had the crème's Brule's and it was a mix, the topping was too hard and thick, wouldn't crack properly and what I did get broke off and into my mouth imbedded into my molars, so I opted to chisel it off and just eat the egg custard, that was very good. a definite 4 out of 5 stars, Magnus had a Bavarian cream filled pastry that was good but must have been to rich for his tastes he ate a little over 1/2 of it. Erik devoured a green custard filled pasty and was in heaven. not one crumb was left a definite 5 out of 5 stars in his palate.

pedaled back to the camp in the rain, not a hard rain, just enough to feel brisk, saw an amazing WHOLE rainbow with three bands, and for once, I didn't have my camera, rats. even Erik thought that I should go get it and get back, he would wait for me. ;-) total of 15.3 miles on the bikes. Erik is getting really good at this, hit the BMX trails and he went down the beginner trail and impressed the dickens out of a 10 year old that has been riding it for years, and then he tackled the Expert (black diamond) route without incident. what an amazing boy! Magnus wanted to exercise, he stretched, and then jogged, and pushed the cart, my bike and me quite a few yards. he is awesome. packed up the trailer to get ready to head back out in the morning for Clarkston for a visit.

car mileage: 2376.7+1245.9

bike mileage: 192.1