Day 66 (July 19). Lewiston to Boise

From: Lewiston, ID

To: Boise, ID

Miles today: 274

Total miles: 13656

Knowing that the day would be a scorcher, I got up early and was on the road by 8 am, trying to avoid the heat of the late afternoon.  I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go today, but pretty quickly the traffic and the heat clued me in that Boise was as far as it was going to happen today.  (By the way, the “s” is Boise is, in fact, pronounced “s,” not “z,” which I have been saying my whole life and which I think sounds better.  But it’s their town.) 

There is only one road, US 95, that runs between Lewiston and Boise, although there are two choices for the more southerly part of the trip.  All roads run through and between the big river canyons that Idaho is famous for, the biggest of which is the Snake River canyon. No roads through that one, but US 95 runs through the Salmon River canyon, and ID 55 (which I took at the southern end) runs through the Payette River Canyon.  The material that composes the canyons are hundreds of feet of lava, and sometimes large regions of volcanic ash.  The rivers that cut deeply though them (presumably due to the abrupt emptying of glacial lakes) run very fast in many places, due to the steep grade.  There were stretches of unending rapids for miles as I drove by.  Both the rapids and the calmer areas are very scenic; the latter are also supportive of rafting, swimming, and other water activities.  And therein lies the rub; these two-lane roads were just mobbed with people doing exactly those things.  Traffic generally managed to move along at about 40 mph, but the temperature was 100 degrees, and with the occasional stretches of road repair, I was exhausted by the time I got to Boise.

Payette River rapids along ID 55.  No rafters or kayakers here, but plenty elsewhere. 

I had hoped to catch a couple of museums, but arrived after most had closed (and it was Sunday anyway, so some were not open at all.)  So I checked into a downtown hotel, took a shower, got a bite to eat, and then set out for a half-hour walk around.  My plan was to get back, write my blog entry, and go to bed a little early so as to try to beat the even worse heat I expect to face tomorrow in Nevada. I walked past a nice little shopping area.  I heard unusual music and followed it to a Basque fair – Boise is a big Basque town.  I listened for a while, then continued on.  I saw the State Capitol dome and thought that might make a nice picture.  At an intersection was a theater, and on the billing it said, well, here is the picture.

I added the big red arrow. Boise, Idaho, 19 July 2015.

What day is July 19?, I asked myself.  Why, it’s today.  What time is it now?  Why, it’s a bit past 7:30. Was Graham Nash actually playing right there, right now? I walked over and asked – why, yes he was, would I like a ticket?  It’s general admission, sit anywhere you can find a seat.  Honest to God, I actually argued with myself for a moment about my plans to go to bed early.  But only for a moment. One of the nice things about going to shows alone is that, when there is just one, single seat available in the front row, you can take it.  I was 20 feet from Graham Nash playing two acoustic sets with one other musician.  He can’t hit the highest notes anymore, but the voice is still unmistakable, and very moving.  Here is a picture.

Graham Nash acoustic show, from my front row seat.

Looking around at the audience, I saw that others were recording the show, and no one seemed to mind.  It took me a while to figure this out and to get the damn thing to work right, but I recorded the rousing, sing-along second encore, "Teach Your Children."  The file size is more than the 100 MB allowed by this web site, so I'll try to find some other way to get it out there.   

OK, NOW I can go to bed.   I'll pay for this tomorrow, but it was worth it.