Boise, Idaho - October 12, 2020

Well, I've never been to Spain but I've been to Oklahoma … think Three Dog Night.

But wait, yes we have! We have been to Spain. We just can't return there right now or virtually anywhere outside the USA and Mexico at this time. Stan and I, as much of the rest of the world, have been held captive by Covid 19. Like so many, we have tried to make the best of it. While we have been holed up in the state of Georgia since late March, we have explored state parks, done a little fishing and even camped out a night, but enough is enough! Vastly more important, Tessa, our only grandchild turned 17 and we just could not resist honoring her special day with a short visit. We boarded a plane.

Wow! The airport was much busier than expected!! No one is talking about it much, but a lot of people have resumed flying! Amazingly everyone wore their masks! Even little children obediently wore their tiny masks - they looked so cute!!! Fortunately, Southwest still maintains "no one in center seat" rule; and although every empty seat, tray table, arm rest, etc. is wiped down by the airline at each stop, everyone brought their own disinfectant wipes and did a thorough wipe-down too. And talk about hand sanitizer, we literally slathered ourselves with it!

It was worth it! We spent the evening prior and Tessa's actual birthday with her and Shea! What a gift. Just days ago the weather in San Carlos was hot and not long ago, the air was filled with smoke. Not on our visit! The skies were blue, blue like bird's eggs. And the air was dry, and temperate. We enjoyed our visit beyond description. All I will say is that we had a sweet, happy, intimate time with our California girls. Happy 17th birthday to Tessa!

Now on with the story . . .Boise. Who goes to Boise? Is that a destination? I don't know much about it yet, but I will say . . . after spending a perfectly lovely afternoon here, I can only advise it has a magnetic attraction. It is not San Francisco, not Missoula, Montana, not alike any city/state we have ever set foot in. On the plane as we began our decent, we could see brown flat lands to the west and mountains (they call them foothills) to the east. To those of us who spend our days under a canopy of trees, the wide open view was pretty spectacular.

The city is very modern and very clean and get this, very quiet. Jeff, Stan's brother, met us at the airport. Jeff has lived here about six years and seems to know every crook and corner. We saw Boise's City Center today, the truly beautiful state capitol building—which looks very much like the stunning state capitol building of Arkansas, and many well-preserved buildings from the 1800's put into use today as law offices, restaurants and museums.

Late in the afternoon after walking much of old town Boise,, we stopped at a bistro for a glass of wine for Stan and me and a craft lager beer for Jeff, at The Mode Lounge at 8th and Idaho Street. The pandemic has impacted our world so emphatically. Traffic on this ordinarily busy street has been blocked off so that bistros can expand their outdoor seating into the street which creates, actually, a great atmosphere. I doubt that the street will ever open again. Things have surely and permanently changed!