Mr. Potato Head?

 After Salt Lake City, I scurried across Wyoming and landed up in eastern Idaho. While in Idaho, I had an epiphany of a sorts. I know this will come as a surprise to many, but I think I am going to give up on my Junior Ranger quest. It is sad and unfortunate, I know, but the thrill is no longer there. I used to swell with pride every time I repeated the Junior Ranger oath and I felt a great sense of accomplishment. Now, after becoming a Junior Ranger over 100 times, there is no glow, no buzz. I guess all good things eventually come to an end.

I realized the truth of this when I visited the Craters of the Moon National Monument. I dutifully asked for a Junior Ranger book, opened it and said “nope, ain't gonna happen”. Some of this may be due also to the Craters themselves. While some people have describe them as “otherworldly” and “surreal”, I found it to be just a bunch of black rocks. I will freely admit that perhaps I was missing something, but still....black rocks. In fairness, let me say that Craters does have some superlatives – best example of rift cracks in the world with some of them being the deepest known on Earth at 800 feet. Not feeling it myself. Instead of being wowed by the force of nature, I just found it bleak.

There are many different types of rocks that get spewed out of a volcano. 
This is the most dustlike type.

More black rocks

On the other hand, I did get excited about the Museum of the Potato. Idaho, after all, is Potato Country. I learned that potatoes were originally from South America. I learned all about the life cycle of a potato and I learned how to make a potato gun. They also had a potato restaurant in the museum serving all things potato.

Many potatoes are stored underground.  Walking along a walkway, I looked down and there were these three.  They were motion activated and Papa Potato told me all about his life in the basement. 

Boise, on the other side of Idaho was such a nice town. I was camped right on the Boise River and Miko and I were able to walk everyday on the 26 mile Greenbelt. It was lovely, rushing water and greenery. The big touristy thing in Boise is the Old Idaho State Penitentiary. This was a functional prison for 101 years from 1872 to 1973. Even though the buildings were what you might call stately, living conditions were horrible leading to several riots over the years. I took a tour with an incredible guide who would tell stories about the people and the buildings. He really made the place come alive.

The Boise River
Doesn't it look peaceful?

Two men to a cell - their toileting options were a bucket

The Central Yard 
Looks almost like an Ivy League college

This was the execution square. 
Ten prisoners were executed at Old Idaho - six of them in this square

Downtown Boise

There is an alley in Boise called Freak Alley where they encourage street artists to show their stuff. For a whole city block, both sides of the alley had art.

The Basque region of Europe is located in northern Spain and southern France. When gold was discovered in Idaho, there was a mass exodus of Basques to the Idaho region. They soon found that it was more profitable to become farmers than to search for gold. Sheep herding became a big thing. Boise has a large Basque population and every year there is a Basque festival. The Basque Museum, while tiny, gave me a brief look into Basques in Idaho.

Took this on the Greenbelt along the Boise River.
It uplifted my spirits. 

***Special Note:  Michael - this blog post is now complete.