Idaho

Of the two most significant small towns in southeastern Idaho — Idaho Falls and Pocatello — I enjoyed Pocatello the best. There are much more hills which almost completely encircle this town and demographically — with the students of Idaho State University comprising a significant portion of the population — it has a much younger feel to it. That said, much like Idaho Falls, the foothills of Pocatello are brown and devoid of trees; the town feels abandoned at times; and aesthetically, it looks somewhat run down. Here are more impressions: Continue reading »

The bad photo shown here is the only photo I took of Idaho Falls. Why? It is not a bad town, but not what I would call beautiful. First off it is very flat, with foothills to the distant east. These foothills are completely barren. Secondly, aside from the smallish downtown, the commercial areas are primarily fast food stores and chain stores, lining wide rough roads. The ho-hum aesthetics and lack of character gave me little reason to stay here except to eat, wash my car, and use the downtown library free wi-fi.

That said, the town does have a few redeeming qualities: Continue reading »

I once had high hopes for Boise, Idaho’s state capital. Those hopes were quickly dashed when, just 25 miles from the city, the evergreen-laden hills had given way to depressingly barren desert scenery devoid of any trees whatsoever. This seemed odd considering how Boise (in French) means “City of Trees”. Continue reading »

McCall is a mountain town in Idaho with only 2,000 residents — a town too small for me to live in. I promised a friend, however, that I’d check it out for him on my way down to Boise. It turned out to be a very nice town with quite a few recreational opportunities, though it was certainly catered to the large retiree population (average age of the residents: 42.4 years). In many ways, it reminded me of the town of Sisters, OR. Continue reading »

Two years after Ironman Coeur d’Alene, I got to visit my friends Deborah, Bob, and Taylor, who had cheered me on during the race (thanks!) I loved Coeur d’Alene back then, and I still think it is a great town although it sure felt different without the two-thousand or so Ironman triathletes prancing around on the streets. Continue reading »