Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty.

On this day — April 22, 2020 — we celebrate 50 years of Earth Day.

And the tempo with which we interact with Mother Earth speaks to our own sense of how we like to interface with the earth as we know it. Some love a fast pace — cycling though byways, hiking national parks, zip lining through forests and preserves. But earth at a slower pace appeals to many as a time to take long walks, look more closely at a leaf, or drive through sparsely populated areas appreciating the landscape.

From 2015- 2017, I worked full time providing professional development for schools in various parts of the U. S. One day, after working with a group of teachers in Lewiston, Idaho, and mentioning that I love to travel, one of the participants approached me with a recommendation I’ll never forget: “Before you fly home, you should drive through the Palouse. It’s a region known for producing wheat, canola, lentils, mustard and other grains — one of the largest in the U. S. You’ll be out there, almost alone, driving through some of the prettiest country anywhere.”

So, I took that teacher’s advice and drove through the Palouse in the area around Moscow, Idaho, but also through parts that stretched into Washington. And not just once did I make that drive — but every time I visited the region. I felt it the first time: the fast pace of working with teachers during the day eased considerably as I drove through acres of farmland dotted with occasional barns and houses and harvesting machines. I looked more intently at the landscape. I felt content as I drove. And I was happy to be alone with this beauty.

Occasionally I would pull off the highway onto a farmer’s access road to take pictures of men operating combines or the movement of wheat as the wind blew through the fields or barns with tin roofs glinting in afternoon sun. The slower tempo renewed my love of the earth in its plainest, simplest forms.

With its vast undulating landscape, the Palouse offered me a reprieve from the rush of work days and a chance to recapture the calm that comes with being at one with the earth. I’m eternally grateful to that teacher who took the time to tell me about his world, the world of the Palouse.

Happy Earth Day 2020!

Rusha Sams

This post is one of a series of one-word prompts for April 2020 called Discover Prompts by WordPress. Enjoy!

Stillness along the Lewis 7 Clark Trail.

But on this day in 2013, we stopped along the Lewis and Clark Trail, Highway 12, for a brief moment . . . just to take in the quiet.  Stillness can be golden.

For more photos on Ailsa’s Travel theme: Stillness from her blog Where’s My Backpack, click here.

View from Lake Coeur d’Alene Scenic Byway

A stop at an Idaho tourist information rest area near Post Falls, Idaho, changed the course of our day. We thought we’d go into Coeur d’Alene, walk around the lake, eat at the resort, and take in the beauty of this city of blue waters.  But the lady at the tourist information center brought out a map and showed us Idaho 97, a route called the Coeur d’Alene Scenic Byway. She promised it would not only take us south toward Moscow, our destination, but would afford us spectacular views. How right she was!

Located in Idaho’s panhandle, Lake Coeur d’Alene is a glacier-formed lake spanning 25 miles with 135 miles of shoreline. Clear waters, access to beaches, and wildlife such as bald eagles and birds of prey make it a destination for many.  The curvy drive begged us to slow down and enjoy the springtime scenery — wide expanses of water, stately homes with beckoning docks, tall evergreens, full-blooming lilacs on bushes reaching roofline heights, and an occasional store like Hutton’s General Store offering travelers and locals a good sandwich and bottle of pop. Photo ops presented themselves at every turn, so we’re sharing with you what we stopped for along the way.  It’s a drive to put on your must-see list!

For more information, go to Visit Idaho at http://www.visitidaho.org/attraction/lakes-rivers/lake-coeur-dalene/

Barbacoa Grill

276 Bobwhite Ct.; www.barbacoa-boise.com

Go for the art, stay for the fabulous food, but arrive before sundown to catch the view from the windows.  Chef Enrique Martinez orchestrates dazzling cuisine in this artsy, eclectic, over-the-top gallery/dining room/museum of a restaurant. From the tableside-prepared guacamole to the sweet corn bisque to the Certified Angus Beef, you’ll think you won’t have room for the creations they call dessert, but force yourself!  It’s all good, and the evening will be way too short to take in the art (even in the bathrooms!) AND the gourmet dining experience.

Bardenay Restaurant & Distillery

610 Grove Street; www.bardenay.com

A distillery in a restaurant?  You got it!  On April 25, 2000, Bardenay’s served the first cocktail made in a U. S. restaurant with spirits distilled on site at its Historic Basque Block location — and still does!  Even the name Bardenay was a term loosely used by sailors for the word cocktail.  Watch distilling right near your table, and then sip away as you order from the creative menu with something for everyone.  Pair a chicken, beef, salmon, or shrimp satay (grilled skewer) with soup or salad, and with a Bardenay London Dry. Won’t find this dinner anywhere else.

Bar Gernika

202 S. Capitol Blvd.; www.bargernika.com

Standing on the corner of the Basque Block of downtown Boise, Bar Gernika has served authentic Basque food, wine, and desserts for almost 20 years.  In the tiny L-shaped space,  folks gather in tiny groups or power up computers or, like us, hang out at the bar and chat with the bartender. You can even watch ’em cook those legendary fries — crisp, flavorful hand-cut Idaho spuds — that you don’t want to pass up.  But then what do you do about the Basque food?  It’s what you came for.  So you order a Double Solomo Sandwich of piled-high marinated pork loin and pimientos and a side order of melt-in-your-mouth Croquetas,  (little balls of butter, chicken, onion, and milk) deep fried and golden.  And if it’s Saturday, you hope you get there before the beef tongue sells out so you can really get into that Basque thing in Boise.  Yep.  Boise.

Boise Fry Company

111 Broadway, Suite 111; www.boisefrycompany.com

We’ve written about this one, but what’s good bears repeating.  This fry place that serves burgers on the side takes Idaho’s best crops of the day, posts them on chalkboards, tells you how they’ll be prepared, and you choose.  If you want a side-order burger, they’ve got ’em:  free range, grass-fed beef or bison burgers or veggie burgers made with black beans and high protein quinoa.  Head over to the Seasoning Station for any combination of sea salts (flavored or unflavored), and then squirt some toppings like chipotle aioli or malt vinegar or seasoned sauce into little white cups and have at it.  It ain’t fancy — bar stools and shared spaces — but it is some good.  If you think a pile of fries can be a meal — and we do! — get there.  Burgers optional.

Cucina di Paolo

1504 Vista Avenue; www.cucinadipaolo.com

Look for the washer woman on Vista Avenue (Click here for more info.) as she scrub-a-dub-dubs, and you’ve found this intimate, seasonally decorated little gem of a shop owned by the gregarious and talented husband/wife team of Paul and Mary Jean Wegner.  Known for their take-out gourmet lasagnas (12 or more kinds) and chicken pot pies, the Wegners prepare on Sunday and Monday and then open for in-house dining or take-home orders Tuesday through Saturday.  Entrees and sides change daily, so check the board for what’s in, but you’ll definitely eat well on Chicken Fiori (chicken breast stuffed with proscuitto, spinach, and mozarella served over noodles) or Chipotle Meatloaf with Potatoes au Gratin or Chicken Penne Gorgonzola.  Whatever you do is really a don’t:  don’t skip dessert.  Get Paul to wax poetic on the virtues of peach pie made with hand-picked peaches from a farm in Emmett or peanut butter pie drizzled with chocolate or fresh rhubarb pie.  And that’s just shelf number one!

Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro

108 S. Capitol Blvd.; www.goldysbreakfastbistro.com

As you may have read in a previous post, finding Goldy’s was happenstance.  As we walked through snowy Boise in search of hot coffee and anything substantial one morning, we asked a well-dressed businessman where to find breakfast.  What ended up being a short recommendation (Goldy’s is the best breakfast in town!) became our morning home for three days of gluttonous start-the-day sustenance.  It’s hard to beat my first order of hash browns and basted eggs or my husband’s three-egg omelette, but when you get the chance to return, you also get to try the specials like a Cajun Omelette or the generously loaded blueberry pancakes.  Swift service, steaming mugs of coffee, and walls lined with awards from Boise Weekly make this restaurant a go-to for morning goodness.  Thanks, Randy and Wanda Martinat, for breakfasts that hold you ’til suppertime and hospitality Boise-style!

If you’ve got a favorite place to dine in Boise, Idaho, leave us a comment.  We hope to get back and try more great places to eat in the City of Trees!

For more on our travels in Idaho and Washington, check out the Page at the top of this post labeled Inland Northwest.

For more information:

Vista Washer Woman: http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/12/04/weekly-photo-challenge-let-there-be-light/

Large keys like this one unlocked cell doors at Old Idaho Penitentiary

It was almost closing time at the Old Idaho Penitentiary when I arrived in Boise after working in Idaho City, but this landmark I’d seen from the Idaho Botanical Gardens next door was on my list of must-see destinations.  One of four Territorial Prisons open in the U. S. today and designated a National Historic Site, the Old Idaho Penitentiary (1870-1973), now opens its campus and buildings to visitors seven days a week.

Setting sun over Old Idaho Penitentiary

When I arrived an hour before closing time on a coldish, early-spring day, I was a lone visitor taking what became a sort of eerie self-guided tour around the campus and inside the buildings.  As I walked from place to place (looking over my shoulders, uneasy about fully exploring open cells), I found myself imagining how life inside these walls must have unfolded day after day.  And coupled with that feeling of loneliness, I also noted the impact of dwindling afternoon light on my mood as I walked among the buildings into open doorways. Slanted rays of afternoon sun formed long shadows, making me wonder what impact the lack of light — as well as the lack of freedom — had on the residents at Old Idaho Penitentiary. Take a walk with me and see for yourself.

Old Idaho Penitentiary — Outside

Old Idaho Penitentiary — Inside Rooms and Hallways

Women’s Ward — Old Idaho Penitentiary

In 1905, male inmates built the wall with its signature tornado-like brickwork on the corners around the old warden’s residence.  In 1920, according to the Walking Tour Guide, the permanent structure contained seven two-person cells, a central day room, kitchen and bathroom facilities. Was I glad I went to Old Idaho Penitentiary?  Yes.  But enjoyment may not be the operative word here.  The only other prison I’ve visited is Alcatraz, and I had the same empty feeling there as I did at Old Idaho Penitentiary.  Reading the displayed accounts of inmates and wardens helped me put real faces and names into place.  But seeing stone and iron-gated exteriors, scarcely-lit interiors, and small, tight rooms made me wonder how prisoners lived day-to-day with so little of what I take for granted.  It’s definitely a tour worth your time if you’re visiting Boise.

For more information and to check on visitation times:

Old Idaho Penitentiary State

2445 Old Penitentiary Road Boise, Idaho 83712 208.334.2844 http://history.idaho.gov/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Idaho-Penitentiary/94920681668

To read more about our travels through Idaho and Washington, click on the Page at the top:  Inland Northwest.  Thanks!

A pile of fries from Boise Fry Company

Luckily, my husband Bert had lunch with a friend who lives in Boise while I was working — and then, as good husbands do, he took me to that same place the very next day:  Boise Fry Company!  Now you’ve heard of burger joints with fries on the side, right?  Well, not here.  Fries are the main attraction!

Be sure to check the daily menu for fries and how they’re prepared.

You line up at the counter and stand there reading the chalkboard.  (So many taters, so little time, if you ask me.) Available varieties for the day are listed along with suggested prep styles.  (Just pick one.  They’re probably all good.)

Order here!

In fact the website says, For too long restaurants have persecuted fries, treated them like second-class citizens, stuffed them with chemicals and preservatives and forced them to share fryers with hot wings and corn dogs. And why? Have not these beautiful, slender pieces of fried vegetable graciously accompanied entrées without condition or prejudice? Have not fries comforted, satiated, and delighted us? Are fries not entrée worthy? 

Burgers are on the side at Boise Fry Company!

And we think they are.  But burgers on the side at Boise Fry Company are special, too.  You have your choice of free-range, grass-fed beef or bison burgers.  Or you can try the vegan burger made with black beans and high protein quinoa.  All are served on homemade wholewheat potato buns baked fresh every day.

Burger options — from beef to bison to vegan!

Taylor and Zach walked us through the ordering part.  (Guess they’re used to “foreigners.”)

Taylor and Zach understood our order — Southern accents and all!

But that’s just a start.  You then take your fries to the bar where sauces await.

Sauce bar — Boise Fry Company. (Yes, they have plain ol’ ketchup, too!)

And you’re still not through.  A line of shakers a yard long multiplies the options, making the act of deciding almost impossible.  So do as we did: try a little of a lot of them.  No telling what you’ll end up with, but it’s bound to be good.

Choices, choices, choices — all lined up

Boise Fry Company — where fries are fresh and crisp (peanut oil, they say) — and big, juicy burgers sit on the sidelines. With three locations in Boise and a food truck, too, you have no excuse for missing out on this Idaho fave.  (Couldn’t they take a road trip to Tennessee?)

Boise Fry Company

http://www.boisefrycompany.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoiseFryCo

Twitter: @BoiseFryCo

More to come on what to see and do in Boise — so check back with us at Oh, the Places We See.  For all our posts on Idaho and Washington, go to the Page at the top: Inland Northwest.

Pushing back from the table at Goldy’s in Boise, Idaho, where we devoured a bountiful breakfast on our snowy day off  wasn’t easy.  After all, the coffee was warm, and the server kept pouring!  (Read more about Goldy’s here.) But the urge to explore downtown Boise kicked in, and we found ourselves on Idaho Street intrigued by a sign that read The Original Ward Hooper Gallery & Vintage Swank.

If you’re in downtown Boise, head to 745 West Idaho Street to The Art of Ward Hooper Gallery.

Of all of Idaho’s artists, we were perhaps most familiar with Ward Hooper whose colorful graphic posters of national parks had struck our fancy at gift shops across America.  But an art gallery in downtown Boise?  What luck!

Interesting mix of vintage suitcases, postcards, and old metal lighting greet you at the entrance to The Art Gallery of Ward Hooper

The gallery itself exuded vintage vibes.  Filled with carefully arranged vignettes of collections — softballs, suitcases, old metal toys, fish camp stuff, and you-name-it — the shop forms a most appropriate backdrop for the stylized drawings we admire from Hooper.

Collections fill the walls of The Art of Ward Hooper Gallery

Camping memorabilia from fishing creels to mounted deer and clothing fill a side room in Ward Hooper’s Gallery.

Collections of metal toys and old boxes fill a bookcase.

In fact, the gallery itself could be a stand-alone antiques shop if it weren’t for the main attraction — Hooper’s art.

Dark green walls showcase the art of Ward Hooper displayed alongside found objects

Against a backdrop of a vintage bicycle, Ward Hooper’s prints stand ready for review.

Ward Hooper himself was in that morning (more good fortune!), busy wrapping a canvas for shipping.  We talked to him briefly, sharing our appreciation for his creativity and productive volume of work, and he replied with comments about the Idaho he loves. We picked up on one of his favorite subjects for art:  McCall, Idaho, a resort on the Payette Lake, known for its Winter Carnival and ice sculptures, a place we had recently visited.

Ward Hooper takes time out from preparing a canvas for shipping to talk about his art and gallery.

A collection of canine art hangs next to two vintage leather jackets — an interesting mix of art and antiques!

But a closer look at his collections revealed his vast repertoire.  We even found artwork celebrating events in Tennessee — Moon Pie festival in Bell Buckle and Mule Day in Columbia.

Art commemorating two Tennessee festivals: the Moon Pie Festival and Mule Days.

It was hard for two lovers of vintage collections and tasteful displays to get out of there before wearing out our welcome, so we took one last look.

A collection of baseballs in a glass cylinder stands atop a vintage bookcase

A central eye stares out from this shadowbox collage

And loved what we saw. It’s safe to say this is one of our favorite all-time art galleries — colorful, approachable, and reminiscent of simpler times.  Not only that, there’s something in every price range from magnets, postcards, stationery, and giclee prints to full-size canvases.

A collection of magnets reveal Hooper’s love of dogs and cats

On the website, artwork for sale is grouped by collections:  Across America, Dogs & Cats, Collegiate, Personality and Portraits, McCall, and Boise.  In fact, if you’re a fan of either the Boise State Broncos or the University of Idaho Vandals, Ward has you covered! Don’t see what you’re looking for?  The artist works on commission, too.

Cards with the art of national parks by Ward Hooper

Before we left, we asked Ward about his current projects.  I’m working on a piece for the local Red Cross chapter, he said.  And we wondered if this, too, might become something with national connections.  Remains to be seen.

Don’t wait ’til you get stranded by a snowstorm in Boise.  Just head to Idaho Street and check out The Art of Ward Hooper Gallery.  We dare you to leave empty-handed!

The Art of Ward Hooper Gallery

745 West Idaho Street

Boise, Idaho

208.287.8150

Website: www.wardhooper.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artofwardhooper

For more on what we’ve stumbled upon in Idaho and Washington, click on the Inland Northwest page at the top of this blog.  Thanks!

Idaho 55 almost abandoned except for snow plows and a few travelers

The rewards, however, of seeing forests, farms, and streams covered with snow far outweighed our initial question of What are we thinking — traveling to McCall in a state we hardly know and in a car we’d only rented the day before?

A few of the abandoned structures — aging, dilapidated, empty — reassured us that we had done the right thing.  Where else and when else would we see such a contrast of abandoned buildings with fresh, untouched snow?

For more pictures of this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Abandoned, click here.

We’d love to have you follow our blog.  Just click on the button in the right column above.  And, oh, the places you’ll see right along with us!

Rusha and Bert

The marina at The Coeur d’Alene Resort

Whenever I think of Coeur d’Alene now, I think of the color blue, a color that defines this lovely town built on a dreamy blue lake in the middle of Idaho, a state known for its forest greens and soft brown fields of grain.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort

Looming large over the downtown area is The Coeur d’Alene, a classy resort and marina where boats rest easy on the lake while vacationers and residents dine in the restaurants, enjoy recreational facilities, and walk the world’s longest floating boardwalk.

The world’s longest floating boardwalk!

So surprised was I to see a sand beach in Idaho that I snapped this picture and quickly posted it on Facebook for my Tennessee friends to see!

Imagine — a beach in Idaho!

This fall, I brought my husband Bert to see the city on the lake where we just happened upon an adventure.  While strolling City Dock at Independence Point, we spied a poster advertising Brooks Sea Plane.  The owner said he had just had a cancellation, and we could go up, up and away, if we were ready to fly right then.  We jumped at the chance.

Bert, on right, boards the plane for a flight over Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The 40-mile, 20-minute flight took us over 125 miles of Lake Coeur d’Alene’s shoreline where some of the city’s residents and a few of America’s well-known stars maintain homes we could only dream of seeing — like John Elway of the Denver Broncos, Dennis Franz from NYPD Blue, and Wayne Gretzky of National Hockey League fame. A bird’s eye view of paradise, Idaho-style!

At the end of the flight, we dined at Dockside in the Coeur d’Alene Resort while watching the sun set on the marina.  Coeur d’Alene looks good from the air AND by the sea!

A sunset view from Dockside restaurant

For more information:

Brooks Sea Plane: 208.664.2842; http://www.brooks-seaplane.com

Coeur d’Alene Resort: 800.688.5253; http://www.cdaresort.com/

For more posts on the Inland Northwest, click on the Page at the top of this blog.

This post is #20 for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) 2013.

The Palouse as seen from Steptoe Butte

Traveling from Moscow, Idaho, I drove west through Pullman and then headed north on Highway 195 to Rosalia, Washington, passing through an area of unparalleled scenery — undulating hills, painted barns, and amber fields of wheat and lentils and quinoa. It’s a peaceful place of a little more than 200 miles once traversed by wagon trains and railways years ago. The Palouse now boasts the greatest concentration of wheat in America and over 30% of the world’s lentils.

I fell in love with the quiet, the occasional glimpses of tractors at work, and the landscape of curved, contrasting patches of light brown and dark brown, with waving grains in some areas, stubble left by the harvest in others, and a full sky complemented by puffy clouds and the occasional spinning blades of a wind farm on the horizon. May you, too, enjoy the journey as I saw it that day in The Palouse!

For more on the Inland Northwest, click on the Page at the top of this post.

This post is #18 for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) 2013.