A Quick Day in Boise

August 29, Monday

We are off to Boise.  Got away a little before 9.  Stopped in  Cascade at Grandma's for breakfast and then to Harpo's for fuel and a couple of Diet Cokes.  I was in  search of the sub $2.699 price for diesel so I just put in enough to safely get to Boise and cruise around a bit.



The first stop was the Nike Factory Store where Sharon needed to get some new shoe strings, the dryer ate one.  While she was making her selection I decided to look around the store.  I was looking for some of those yellow shoes they were wearing at the Olympics, no luck, the people there said that they were too new and since they are a Factory Store they only get the old stuff.  So I settled for some ORANGE ones, not really close but maybe I can get up my nerve and ware them to some basketball games.



It was on to Kohl's to return a recently purchased Hoodie and then to Walmart to get some small propane bottles and a couple of Ozark Tumblers, similar to Yeti, but much cheaper.

Then I searched for Fuel.  The  best I could do was Fred Meyer $2.659.

On to Edmark GMC to get the truck serviced, oil change, top off the DEF and change the fuel filter.  I had and interesting exchange with a service guy there.  People around me in Georgetown give me grief about the color of my truck, the color of the truck in Sonoma Red.  I gave the service guy the keys to the truck and went inside to do the paperwork.  When he came in, he said to me, is that your Maroon truck, I said what, he said, is that your Maroon truck, I said No.  He looked at me funny and I did not say anything for a few seconds and then said, the truck is Sonoma Red, you can call it a Red truck.  I told him I was a little sensitive about the color.  While they were servicing the truck we made a walk around the area and found a sub shop, Port of Subs, for lunch.

After the truck service we ventured off to find Costco to exchange some stuff and get a few things, salmon and lettuce.  I think it was the first time ever we came out of Costco for under $100.

Then we headed back to McCall and got back a little before 7.  We were whipped.  Cocktails and then just sit and relax and watch a little tennis sharing an apple and a cookie.

It sure seemed like a long day.

Donna Mae and Don

Let's run a few days together since I did not take good notes and also we were mainly setting around doing nothing and enjoying the nice weather.

August 26, Friday

People came in next to us and we spotted what look liked Sharon's late Mother, Donna Mae; however on closer inspection it was only the white hair do.  Sharon did go over an speak to her and she was a very nice person.  She was with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.  He is an asphalt contractor working on various paving jobs in the area and they live in Emitt, near Boise.

In the evening we watched Joy, a very different movie than I had expected, but very enjoyable.

August 28, Sunday

Started with Sharon's wonderful breakfast.

I was setting outside enjoying the pleasant weather, reading and listening to the rug rats next door raise hell, scream, fight and yell, when Al rolled up with Mark and  invited me to join them in helping Don move and drink beer, so I was all in and we stopped by and picked up Franz.

Don was moving from a place near the river to a condo in the middle of town.  He had hired a heavy weight to do most of the work so we mostly drank been and no real heavy lifting.  His new place was built in 2008 and had never been lived in so he was able to make a deal.  The condo was on the third and second floor, and unlike when I have helped Williamson and others move, this place had an elevator and made things much easier.  Also there was no sleeper sofa to move.  The beer was cold
In the evening we golfed Cedar and I lost #13, actually I lost it twice but only found it once.  It was lost for good when I hit a three wood off the toe into the  into the extreme rough on Number 3.  The only good thing about the round was I  pared number 8 and birdied number 9.

Jug, Killed IT

August 25, Thursday

This afternoon Sharon and I went to TPH for lunch and split their Small Mountain Salad and enjoyed the flowers outside at the entrance.  These are some of the largest hanging baskets that I have seen.  Sorry about the colors, they just did not come out as well as in person.

This evening was the Jug Mountain Scramble.  There were 15 teams with any where from 4 to 5 players.  We were hot tonight.  Our team was made up of Skip, Al, Don Larry and me.  We did not start out so hot. Went birdie, par, birdie, par.  But then we caught fire and birdied the next five holes, just barely missing an eagle on number 2, a long par 5, the putt hit the back of the cup and jumped up and out.  Finished 7 under, our best score yet.  We were 1st in the Senior Division.

Carnage in McCall

August 22, Monday

Over 50 dead.  There appeared to be three survivors, 1 in the upper chamber, partially filled with water and 2 in the lower chamber which held the attractant, as we approached the scene.



Broke out the selfie stick yesterday and I am not sure I will be ever able to get the knack of it.  Maybe I should concentrate or others instead of me.



Golfed today, 9 at 2, then 9 at 5, where I played with Skip and Jim.  Best score of the summer I guess the golf gods were with me, at least hiding on the tree.  Lost ball #10  in the weeds on the right of Cedar 7.

7 Devils

August 20, Saturday

Had to re-gas today.  Seems that the new grill is requiring a bit more gas during its clean-up cylce.

We decided to try Tamarack today for lunch.  I was under the assumption that the food serving place was in the lodge, where the golf course was(closed), and they had a nice bar and a very comfortable dining room.  I knew they were only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning  at 11.  It is a very nice drive up to Tamarack, about 45 minutes through Donnelly and then crossing lake Cascade, which is fed by the Payette river from Payette lake.  During this time of year they are limiting the water coming form Payette lake and lake Cascade is shrinking.  When we arrived at the lodge, not much going on and no food in the Inn.  The front desk lady was very helpful and pointed out on the Resort map just where the 7 Devils Pub was, which was where they were serving food.  We were disappointed not to be in the lodge and even more disappointed when we saw the 7 Devils Pub.  In a nice setting on the side of the mountain, lots of mountain bikes and bikers around, but the lift was not operational.  Food was limited but adequate and the beer was cold.  But I can definitely say that the climb was not worth the view.

We, I, decided to come back to McCall the back way, also spelled Dirt Road.  Sharon was not too pleased and the road was rough.  It did have some nice scenery and views of the mountains and meadows that are not seen coming the other way.

Mask Mixup

August 19, Friday

TPH for breakfast this morning, felt like a little more.  Made myself a pancake sandwich and it was great.



As we were leaving there was a nice red truck in front of TPH.  Skip, who is a truck expert, said it was a 1949 Ford.(I said 1950)



My mask saga continues.  I ordered a new mask before I left Georgetown.  When we got to McCall I called and  they said it was not shipped yet and they would take care of that.  We discussed shipping it to McCall and not Georgetown.  Well it went to Georgetown.  I call and we had another discussion, we agreed that I would send it back when we returned and they would ship the new mask to Idaho.  Today was the day, the package arrived, I opened it and it was the wrong mask.  Called then again and we got the mask type figured, I agreed to send the package back to them and they agreed to send me the new mask to McCall.  So I sit brokenhearted tried to get and only faltered.

Great Sun Set

August 18, Thursday
 
Talked with Williamson today to see if we could arrange and end of the trip rendezvous.  He and Jan are in Ouray, Colorado waiting out the summer heat and enjoying Jeeping for a month and a half.  It looks like we can drop in a see them.  We are planning on leaving McCall the day after Labor Day and they will be leaving Colorado around September 15, so we will look to visit them around September 9.

Stax for lunch today, Thursday, not crowded.  Then we hopped across to My Father's Place for a baby cone.

Sharon did the laundry and I skipped out, after I loaded the clothes into the truck for her, for a little Nine hole scramble at Jug.  Not as good as last time, but good enough for second place.  Checked with the pro shop and I have $49 in credit, should be enough for a golf shirt at the Labor Day sale.

Great Sun Set tonight at Jug.

We had cocktails when I returned.

Shore Lodge II

August 16, Tuesday

Got a three-fur today from Amazon, all in one box.  I want to count it as three but Franz says, NO.  I am protesting and declaring that I am still ahead.

This afternoon we headed for Shore Lodge for lunch.  What a nice view and setting.  Fish and Chips make a good lunch and you don't over indulge if you share.  A nice cold beer helps some also.


While we are enjoying lunch at Shore Lodge, Al is suffering through Prep and at this age we all know what Prep is. This time Al said that he had some kind of special procedure that involved two bottles of Gatorade.  I need to find out more, he said it was great.



HH back at the park and I had a GCLB, green chile lamb burger.

Happy Birthday Marcia

August 15, Monday

Today is Marcia's birthday, we is ageless.

We decided that we would get rid of our previous grill.  Put a FREE sign on  it and set it out by the RV.  In no time we had two visitors.  First one, Gene, said really, what's wrong with it.  Right after Gene another camper came up on her bicycle and said that looks great.  I could have had a auction.  Gene was the eventual winner and walked off proudly with grill, said he was going to give it to a friend in  Boise.

Today we went to Subway for a quick lunch, no crowds this time.

I golfed at McCall in the afternoon with Lou, Bruce and Steve.  Only had time for 9 as Franz had invited us to dinner celebrating Marcia's birthday.

We started off with HH, complete with Manhattans using some very good Pendelton Rye.  Everyone was present and Franz and I really enjoyed our Manhattans.

Dinner was at Anchor on the deck enjoying the beautiful McCall evening.



I did not let the Skull and Cross Bones scare me away from that mighty good pork chop.



After dinner we all went to Nancy and Al's for desert and a little tug of war with Jake.

No Brunch

August 14, Sunday

Had a great breakfast planned, Brunch at Tamarack and we had invited Nancy to join us as Al had something else to do. I was getting a little nervous about the Brunch and decided to call Tamarack to see if we needed reservations.  When  I called all I could reach was a message machine that invited me to leave a message, not good.  I continued to search the  internet and all I could find was a brunch at Tamarack on July 31, Yelp and google searches were no more forthcoming only indicating that they would open at 11, not Brunch.  I called Nancy and asked if we could substitute the  McCall Golf Club, which she agreed to.  Did not want to go TPH because of the weekend crowds we had experienced the day before.  The Golf Club was great, quick service, with a Mimosa for Sharon, and a good solid breakfast.

Back at the park we discovered a faulty outdoor thermometer it was registering 94 degrees and it was no where near that.  We brought the sensor inside and it still registered 94, put it in the refrigerator and it went down  to 92.  Looks like a job for Amazon.

More waiting for Zoey

August 13, Saturday

I had my famous Frititta breakfast, my new invention, with Green Chili, Pace and Bacon.



Today Sharon's clip boards arrived, small ones.  She had developed a sore thumb from holding her circle books and she thinks this is the solution.  She will cut the pages out of the circle book and secure them to the clip board and thus reduce the discomfort she had from holding the circle book.



I had ordered an new state of the art mask for my snore machine and I hadn't heard anything, so I tracked it down.  I was still sitting in the suppliers warehouse awaiting instructions or something.  The lady I talked to said she knew what the problem was, it wasn't coded properly, so she fixed that.  I mentioned that I did not want the shipment to go to Texas as I was not there and it needed to go to Idaho.  She understood and said there was an address in McCall.  I told her that's where  it needs to go.  I got a message that said it would arrive today.  You guessed it, it did arrive today, but not in  McCall, Georgetown.  So much for communication and execution.  I will contact them on  Monday and  try again.

Remember it's Saturday and it's McCall and everyone is here for the weekend.  We forgot, thought we would go to Subway(with its signature totem, Mike, do you have one of these) for a quick sandwich.  Well, the line was surpertining out the door, looked like a three hour wait.  Stupid us, so we left, thought we would catch the Blue Moose which is a little out of town which should be much less crowded.  It was, it was closed.  Now, who closes a restaurant in a tourist town on a Saturday during the peak of tourist season?  Come to find out later that it had  been closed for a couple of days, can't find a cook.  Now, who in the world can't cook a pizza and pour a beer.  Must be something deeper.  If I find out I'll let you know.



Down the road a little bit more and there is was, Pueblo Lindo, the best Mexican food in  McCall,  busy but not over crowded, I had a fajita salad.

Today was the puppies in the oven due date and the puppy lady called.  They had arrived and they were all male and brown.  Sharon has her heart set on a black female so she told the puppy lady we would wait for the next batch and see what that brought.

Tonight Buttler's invited a group over for pizza and whatever.  We were all in attendance including Ballard, Berry and Yougi.  Hometown Pizza was the supplier of the pizza and salad.  Even had a little time for some tug of war with Jake.

Just Right

August 12, Friday

Had the other half of the  Reuben and it was just right.

Golfed with Al, Yougi, Skip and Ballard at McCall in the evening.

Too Big

August 11, Thursday

TPH for lunch  with Skip.  I had the Reuben sandwich, but it  was too big for one  sitting.  It will make a good  lunch tomorrow or some day.

No Jug golfing this evening everyone was too busy somewhere else.  Al and Franz took a motorcycle trip to Caldwell to view the water ski nationals and Don was out on the boat on the lake with guests.

HH with a limited crew.  Marcia went dancing afterward and we had dead chicken on the new grill.  Getting a little better each time.

39, Not Too Bad

August 10, Wednesday

42 degrees this morning, so it did not cool off much more after I went to bed.  I was expecting it to be in the 30's.

Off the the farmers market for a couple of juicy, sweet cantaloupes, but still not up to Pecos quality.

Golf this afternoon.  Played with Steve and Lou for a couple of holes till he ran off to find his wife playing on Cedar.  Steve had a good nine and carded a 39.  We were joined by Don and his friend Joe for the second none on Birch.

After golf we all stayed for drinks and dinner and were joined by our wives.

Skip's Limit

August 9, Tuesday

Had a Frittata today for breakfast.  Ran out of Atkins Farmhouse Breakfast so I had to try something  else.  Looks healthy but not a real substitute for Farmhouse.

This morning we played Disk golf, Jim, Skip and  I.  We were not very proficient at this sport. Hard to get any distance and also very hard to get it to go in your intended direction.  However; it was a good walk in a nice wooded setting and we managed to get in 18 baskets, played 9 baskets twice.  From the looks of things along the course it looks like they are making plans for putting in another 9 baskets.  Skip got his limit, thought he spotted a dear next to one of the baskets.  Yes he said, I saw it move.  Come to find out it was an old stump.

While we were finishing our round, I guess you call it a round, it started to turn cool, and did not stop.  Sharon and I decided to take lunch at TPH, split a nice big salad.  I threw in a bowl of Chili for the additional warmth, not that great, too many beans, but it did add some warmth.

Got cooler through out the day.  Too cold for HH, so we stayed inside.

Little porkies on the new grill tonight, not too cold for everything.  Did a little better job, but I still need some practice.

It was still cold after dinner, so we cheated and went to Ice Cream Alley.  No line and we brought it back to the park and enjoyed it in the warmth of the inside of the  RV.

It was 43 degrees when I went to bed.  Heater ran most of the  night.

New Grill

August 8, Monday

I got sucked into buying a new grill.  There was a good ad from Amazon showing this very nice, compact, Char-broil grill, similar concept to the on I have at home, so I thought what the heck.  It came in today.  Needed a small truck to bring it back to our site.

Yesterday we added to the dirt accumulation on the truck, which had not been washed since before we went to Seattle.  It also started to look a little maroon, so it was time to get it washed and refresh its Sonoma Red color.

For lunch we went to the big burrito place with F&M, KB Burritos, we will probably go back.

We had HH then cooked some salmon on the new grill.  Sharon thought it was a little over cooked.  I try to improve over time.



Starting to get a little more wild fire activity in the surrounding areas which requires support from the McCall airport.



Quite a contraption our neighbors have to haul around their pooch.

Hot Springs in the Old Town

August 7, Sunday

Sunday morning breakfast, which is always special.

We decided to take a little drive today to Golf Fork Hot Springs.  It's about 30 miles from McCall.  Turn off just outside of Donnely and head back toward the mountains to the east.  You end up going about 4 miles on a dirt road.  The place was pretty active with quite a few cars in the parking lot.  We did not go in the  water, but it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves.







Williamson, I found your old Hot Tub.



On the way back to McCall we stopped at the Cafe in Donnely.  A very basic bar, cafe where smoking was allowed and it seemed like everyone there was lighting up.  I had a basic Jalapeno burger and Sharon had chicken strips.



Back in town we went in search of a fold up vegetable steamer to fit in the new pot we bought in Boise.  No luck at the first two stops but we found one at the hardware store.

Later we had HH at Jim and Helen's.  Skip and I bugged out early to get in a little late evening golf.
It looks like Jim should have bugged out a little early himself.



It was the slowest 9 holes of golf I have played in a long time.  We started at 6 and the course was completely packed.  They have three 9's at McCall, but the couples had Cedar, and people were turning from Aspen to Burch, so we had to settle on Aspen.  We were behind a fore-some of ladies and there was a four-some ahead of them, none of them were proficient golfers.  There were three groups on a lot of the tees, which made in agonizing.  On number 8 Aspen, we jumped to number 8 Burch as the Burch group was lagging a bit.  We did not hold them up.  When we finished the ladies were just hitting there second shots on number 9.  Good thing we jumped, darkness was closing in.

Sit Back and Relax

August 5, Friday

Post Cruise let down, time to recover.

Lunch at Pueblo Lindo with F&M and Skip.

HH was here after which we had dead chicken on the grill with a nice white.

Happy Birthday Droop

August 4, Thursday

We had breakfast at TPH, a later breakfast, after 9, so the early bird specials were not available.

Today is Droop's birthday, he is now the Patriarch of the High School Class Buddies, the oldest living one at 74 years young.  I gave him a call and got a run down on his latest aliments.  This one was a freak one, he was playing golf, playing his ball from an uneven lie, took a big swing and ended up on his back.  Seems that he hit the ball while at the same time pulling his Hamstring. All he remembers is being on his back and a very sharp pain in his leg.  The rest of his aliments remain unchecked.

While I was away I received a delivery of my replacement latch for my 5th wheel hitch.  So I placed a call to my local handy man, Franz and made an appointment for him and his Yankee tool set to stop by.  This was a very straight forward project and was completed in no time.  I even contributed a small crescent wrench to the efforts.

Before and  after.

It's Thursday and that means the Jug Scramble.  The team was Al, Skip, Don and me.  We played just well enough, missed a couple of make-able putts and ended up 5 under, for 9 holes, which was good enough to win in our age group by two shots.

After a celebratory pitcher of beer and a little more, I returned back to the park where Sharon and I enjoyed cocktails.