Sunday, November 2, 2008

Idaho Visit


This past weekend we had a very special visit from Bob, Aunt Marty, and Uncle Ray who traveled here from New Mexico. This was Marty and Ray’s first visit to Boise since I joined the family but if I remember right they’ve been to Boise before.

They all arrived on Wednesday on-time and with all luggage accounted for…even though there was some question as to whether some of the luggage carrying our typical fine New Mexico favorites would pass security. I’m not quite sure in what quantities we received the following items but non-the-less our orders were complete: tamales, green chili, New Mexico Pinon coffee, and instant Mexican hot chocolate. This is a pretty standard request from our visitors down south or is the typical grocery list of items we come back with when we go down there.

We kicked off the visit with a trip to the Pair. One of Boise’s finest establishments best known in our family for their martini’s and cheese plate. Whenever Bob comes to visit, the Pair has become a traditional stop. And this visit was no different. We all had a few martinis, a cheese plate and a couple dishes we had never tired before. Uncle Ray ordered the fish ‘n chips that came with a very unique cowl slaw. And Aunt Marty ordered a steak (can’t remember the cut) that came on a bed of sweet potato fries (loved ‘em) and a cheese sauce on top (again can’t remember the cheese…I’m sure Kris will since this is his department and he should be the one writing about the Pair!).

Thursday morning Kris and I headed off to work and Heather came to hang with the crew. They relaxed, ate breakfast and received a tour of Heather’s new school and apartment. Kris and I played hooky that afternoon and met everyone at Harry’s in Hyde Park (now known as Hyde Park Pub) for lunch. After lunch we gave everyone a walking tour of downtown Boise and managed to squeeze in our first Liquor store of the trip. Uncle Ray collects the liquor miniatures and was able to find a couple mini’s from some of the Idaho distilleries.

Thursday evening Marty and Ray were sweet enough to bring some of the red chili from New Mexico and make us some authentic New Mexico enchiladas…I say authentic because until I married Kris I had always been served enchiladas that were rolled up…in New Mexico they prepare them and serve them flat. with layers of chili, cheese and onions…delicious!

Friday morning we were up and at it again. This time we were able to squeeze in two more liquor stores before hitting the road. Once we hit the road we were on our way to McCall/New Meadows. Bob, Mary and Ray had never seen much of Idaho north of Boise or south or Moscow. We took them up Hwy 55 where they were able to take in Horseshoe Bend, Smith’s Ferry, Cascade, Donnelly and McCall. In McCall we did a little looking, a little shopping and a little eating. We met my dad at the McCall Brewery where we filled our bellies with some good food and good beer.

After dinner we made our way down the road and stayed the night at mom and dad’s cabin in New Meadows.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and hit Hwy 95 north making our way to Moscow for the UI vs. NMSU football game. This was quite the event filled day! We stopped in Riggins for a few pictures next to the river. The fall colors on the drive up were brilliant and beautiful. We cruised on into Moscow and ran to the ticket booth hoping we weren’t going to be watching the game from the Corner Club…seeing as it was U of I’s homecoming game. As luck had it we got tickets and were set for the game.

Kris being die-hard Vandal that he is made sure to take us all to the Corner Club for a “tub”. We were fans! Ok, maybe not all of us since the NMSU fans we were tagging along with stuck out like sore thumbs! But they were good sports and so were all the U of I fans… even though we got a lot of funny looks J

We made our way back to the cabin after the game and woke up early Sunday in order to make it home in good time. For dinner we hit Cool Hand Luke’s, a new restraint downtown Boise, where Heather works part time. We love the fact that they have good food, Pyramid Hef on tap and my all time favorite the Rouge Hazel Nut Brown Nectar in the bottle. The perfect end to a wonderful visit. We love you and can’t wait to see you again soon!

1 comment:

girlfriday said...

What a great post. This one made my mouth water.

I love how your family makes plans and actually executes them. Novel!