Boise and beyond

I had a very emotional morning.  Boise has an Anne Frank Memorial, which is also dedicated to Human Rights.  Well, as soon as I saw the Memorial I started crying.  It just hit me in the gut and then I started reading all the quotes that were written on the walls that surrounded the main part of the Memorial.  I was a real wreck, sniffling and wiping my eyes.

After that I went on an Historical Tour of Boise.  It was really cute.  We took an old trolley around town and were shown great neighborhoods.  The neighborhoods were very eclectic in style and they had excellent examples of almost every architectural style up to the 40's.  They even had a Sears house, which was remarkably complex looking.  Hard to believe that you could order them out of a catalog.  We drove by the Capitol building and heard all about their corrupt politicians.  We also went through the Basque area of the city.  There is a very large and healthy Basque section of Basque restaurants and stores, even a historical museum and sports club.  There used to be a Chinatown but it was torn down many years ago and there is no trace of it left.

Next I moved on to Hagertown for the Fossil Beds.  The Fossil Beds are a National Monument only you can't see them because they are too fragile.  You can only get about a mile from them and look in the correct direction.  It is the silliest thing I have ever seen.  Oh, it is also along the Oregon Trail and you are supposed to be able to still see the ruts made by the wagons.  I'm not sure I saw anything but I decided I did so there trip wouldn't be a total loss.  It was a laugh if nothing else.  The Visitor Center did have fossils so I did actually see some.

All in all it was a very good day.