Summer 2011

Today we hitched our modern day Conestoga Wagon to our Oxen (well, with a whole lot of horses under the hood) and headed down the the Oregon Trail (I-86 and I-84) to Boise, ID.

We got up to a beautiful clear sky and the warmest morning (44 degrees) we have seen in over a week. The weather continued to be great with light winds and fair weather clouds dotting the sky. By the time we got to Boise, the temperature was approaching the upper 80s.

The first part of the journey was not on the Oregon Trail. We headed west on ID-31 out of the Teton Valley over the Pine Creek Pass into Swan Valley. Here we picked up US-26 which put us parallel the Snake River for the first time. The Snake River became our companion for a good part of the our trip today. At Idaho Falls we picked up I-15 which took us south to I-86 which connected to I-84 and west to Boise. Once we hit the Interstate, the terrain began to change from mountainous to high desert. The Oregon Trail parallels the route of I-86 and I-84 and all along the road are historic markers related to the journey of the settlers who headed west in the mid 1800s.

Our main reason for stopping in Boise was to get together with our friends Ronne and Charlie. Charlie was Susie's colleague at I.S. 71, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They moved to Boise eight years ago after Charlie's retirement. This afternoon we went to their home which is on an escarpment overlooking the Boise River Valley. The back fence abuts a segment of the Oregon Trail. After dinner we went to an outdoor venue to see the Idaho Shakespeare Festival's unique presentation of Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was a great evening with good friends and we thank Ronne and Charlie for making this a great day for us.