Boise: Days 7-9
Day 7 started with me losing my fan and water bottle in the crevasse. This is what I have named the deep, very hard-to-reach space between my loft frame and the wall of the camper. I have been able to reclaim everything so far, but it’s a total pain in the ass. Future trips will be better protected from this kind of oversight. It’ll help once I can move all my crap out and into an apartment. The camper will be soooo much more enjoyable to use when it’s cleared out. Quick note about the fan I dropped, it’s definitely on my must-have list for anyone doing vanlife: it’s USB rechargeable, lasts 5 hours, and it made a world of difference the one really hot night I used it.
I’m condensing days 7-9 because I spent a big chunk of all three days writing, so it seems logical to condense the highlights into a single post. Writing about writing would be like watching paint dry. Though I did spend a lot of time getting mean mugged by their cat Zoe while I blogged, man that thing has the best resting bitch face I’ve ever seen on a feline. Wasn’t able to quite catch it on camera, which is too bad. It rivals Grumpy Cat for the accidental unhappy appearance award.
I spent most of the morning on Day 7 wandering around Mike and Lindsey’s neighborhood, they live in what’s referred to as the Bench. Not sure what that means, but it’s an up-and-coming neighborhood and I was floored when they told me how much their (nice but not that nice) house is worth. (I tried to convince them to cash out and buy 2 or 3 houses in Philly). A few streets back from them is a busy thoroughfare with all the trappings one would expect from an inner-ring suburb: McDonald’s, Wells Fargo, blah blah. But the really fun stuff was what was nestled in between. Food Land, obviously, but also this large thrift store, Thriftology (which, weirdly refuses donations) an appointment-only antique gun shop, and a whole lot of murals in the alley. This alleyway artistry was a good primer for the evening’s activities.
Sad Bart, lol
No walk-ins, only shoot-outs
How a business dependent on donations can afford to not take donations, I will never understand.
Fast forward, it’s evening now and Cousin Braden came over for a bit. We played his dad’s video game emulator, he built it on a Raspberry Pi and it has EVERY old school system and game. Even old arcade games. 12 year old me was losing his shit. And losing to Braden. My button mashing was no match for his actual skills. Though I kicked his ass in Mario Kart. Take that cousin Braden!
Getting to play the arcade version of X-men, with INFINITE lives was uh-mazing. Made it further then I ever did with a pocket full of change in the old Penn student union. I don’t understand why they never translated this version to any of the home consoles. It was vastly superior to the Sega Genesis version, which I think was only single player and really lame by comparison.
After dinner, Mike and I went out on the town. First stop: Freak Alley.
I don’t understand why Walter White and Jesse Pinkman are Batman and Robin. Aaron Paul (Jesse) is from Boise, Mike’s seen him wandering around town. Maybe he can ask him sometime. Also, Mike and I overheard this lady loudly proclaim that the tribute to the late MF Doom was the Mandalorian “Look, Star Wars!” It was the whitest thing ever.
One thing that really struck me as I made my way east was that the pandemic appeared to be over. I interpreted this as having entered a land where the pandemic never existed, you know, Chinese Hoax. Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming; aside from occasional remnants of signage reminding folks to wear a mask, it was like the whole thing was just a bad dream. Bars were packed, people crowding the streets. Bros zipping around on electric scooters like idiots. No masks. Life was… normal. Which was weird. I wondered if it would be more closed down the closer I got to the other liberal edge of the nation.
We stopped at a bar that Mike’s old neighbor, Justinian, a circus performer who dresses like he’s from the 1920s, had decorated. It was pretty cool. I really liked the Bunny Room.
This drunk lady called out to me from her table “Isn’t it great! It makes me feel like I’m on drugs.” Sweetie, alcohol is a drug.
Next stop was the Basque section of town. Essentially one block of subdued, yet distinctive, architecture housing Basque restaurants, stores, an old boarding house, and an indoor handball court. The handball game they play, forget the exact name, is apparently pretty dangerous. The ball is made of wood and they smack it around at upwards of 50 mph. Supposedly people die while playing. This is just a part of the sport.
We got some curious fried dough balls at a little restaurant. They were decent. Saw this guy while we were standing outside eating.
It was very Eugene. We definitely have some version, multiple versions, of that guy.
We got a tour of the basement of one of the buildings. To me it was boring enough not to include any photos. Though Mike seemed to think it was special that we got let in, a sentiment shared later by Lindsey when he recounted it.
We wandered by the capitol building, which was designed to look identical to… the capitol building. No need to reinvent the wheel, I guess.
Mike took me to where he works, the VA. Its surroundings bore a surprising resemblance to a university campus. Beautiful old brick buildings, large lawns, etc.
Made our way over to the Boise Co-op. It was closed by the time we got there, but I knew I’d come back, a friend suggested I check it out.
More cool art around town.
Annnnnnd Jackie Chan!
Next day not much happened. Mostly writing. Watched Those Who Wish Me Dead with Mike on his gigantor TV. It was dumb. Not the tv, the movie. Entirely predictable, way too over the top. So many stupid moments where Lara Croft should have died. Too bad, it had a lot of good actors in it. Including Little Finger from Game of Thrones. Still reeling from that terrible last season. Boy, they really screwed that up. Allegedly they rushed the final season of GOT because they were trying to move quickly onto all of their spin-off projects. BUT… but, but, but, everyone HATED the final season so much it killed all the spin-offs. Don’t count your chickens. Don’t take your audience for granted. Do your art justice.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. Only slightly more interesting than writing about writing.
Day after, we took a trip out to Twin Falls. Got dinner with Auntie Janet and Uncle Glennard at Elevation 486. Really good to see them, especially since this was my one chance to do so. I had intended on going out to Idaho Falls (4+ hours away from Boise) but they insisted on saving me time and meeting halfway. Twin Falls, the town itself, is nothing special, but holy crap the big ravine in the middle of it sure is. Evel Knievel tried jumping it once and fell in. Whoops.
Restaurant was right on the edge of the cliff, which made for a stunning view.
So great to see my aunt and uncle. They’re a couple of characters.
After dinner, Mike and I drove into the sunset.
We talked a lot on the car ride, both ways, about life, culture, music, and movies. Mostly about the Matrix. We’re both very excited for the 4th one. Mike happens to be friends, and a frequent collaborator, with some of the creative team that has been involved in all 4 films. They’re artists in their own rite, friends with the Wachowskis, and do work all over the world. I’m not at liberty to say too much, but Mike dished out some juicy insider knowledge. What I can say is that these folks have seen a print of the film and it’s incredibly ambitious and it will polarize the audience. SHOW ME NOW.
In hindsight, these were pretty special days with people I love and now feel even closer to. Thank goodness my car decided to throw a fit.
The adventures are far from over. Stay tuned.
