On to Boise

Day Four, from Ogden, UT to Boise, ID was pretty uneventful. We drove all day on the Interstate, stopping as needed for breaks, food, and gas. We arrived in Boise around 3:30 p.m. We were looking for the Flying-J that was purported to be down a certain ramp, about ¾ mile. It wasn’t there. After driving through part of downtown Boise we found a Chevron station and pulled in for a fill-up. Again, asking the cashier about any nearby RV parks, she told us of one near the fairgrounds.

We found the park, and its setting was very nice, along the Boise River greenway. It had grass and fairly large trees. There was no one in the office, and as it was a weekend I thought it was possible that the office wasn’t staffed. There were flyers about the park and how to find a spot, and envelopes at the front door. So we went ahead and pulled into a spot – another pull-through with a small tree.

A little later we noticed that someone was in the office, so I went over to confirm the site selection and pay. The man behind the counter seemed abrasive to me – perhaps it was me, as I was hot and tired, and didn’t want any hassle about getting the rig situated well. He said if I turned the rig to face the other way the distance to the services would be the same – or I could unhitch the trailer. I said I wasn’t going to unhitch for one night’s stay! At any rate, the way the site was situated none of my ‘leads’ would be quite long enough to the electric or the water. Luckily Doc had bought a 30-amp extension cord that I now got to use for the first or second time in its history. I also had to put two hoses together to reach the water, as the main one was about three feet short of reaching the water.

When I paid for the site I said I wanted water and electricity – didn’t need the sewer hookup. He said, oh, that’s a full hook-up site - $30 please, and you can have a 10% discount for cash – we don’t discount for club memberships (Escapees, Good Sam, etc.). With the discount it was $29 and change, after he added tax and other fees. I paid it because I didn’t want to have to move – but I wasn’t happy.

The door to the trailer was facing the western sun, and it was expanding to the point that it wouldn’t close properly – Doc and I had had a similar situation in Pahrump where the door would expand while closed so that you couldn’t get it open without a lot of tugging. It would be about four more hours of sunlight before the sun would be low enough to end the heat.

Liz and I had decided that we would grill the steaks we’d brought, and use our new grill. She was in charge of getting it lit and doing the cooking. After a couple of false starts we had it going. She cooked some rice pilaf as well, and we had some sliced fresh tomatoes. Yum!!! After the sun set and we sat outside a while, we watched another movie we’d purchased at a Flying-J stop – “A Soldiers’ Story.” I began to relax more, and began to sleep a little through some of the movie. So when Liz wanted to pause for a smoke, I went back to what I’d missed.

After movie, bedtime, and a good night’s sleep.