To Boise and Back

There's no way a weekend trip to Boise can top a weekend trip through the National Parks. But, good ole Idaho offers a few attractions as well. Last May, Shoshone Falls was flowing like never before. After a few warm days, I was hoping the snow melt would have the falls at full force once again. However, I was a little disappointed since the falls were relatively dried up, but they are still a sight to behold and a good reason to escape work.
There's not much color to them...
...and even less when you turn the camera to black and white.
But you could still catch some pretty reflections in a random pond above the falls...
...as the setting sun shone it's rays.
This isn't too far from where Evil Knievel jumped the Snake River.
Don't worry Mom - I wouldn't be trying any such tricks today. Thinking the sunset would be hiding behind the clouds, we continued West...
...driving straight into a fiery furnace.
Actually, that was the last post. This was just a magnificent sunset made blurry through a windshield and high speeds. (Although the check marks from oncoming traffic were a cool touch.)
The picture through the sunroof was only a little crooked. We'll have to work on the sunset pictures at slower speeds.
The next day we opted for the long and scenic route back to Idaho Falls. This took us through Idaho City, an old mining town (where old is relative to Western, not Eastern cities.)
Doing some hard time...
...before escaping, looking around to make sure no one sees him. In reality, I could hear shooting and felt the bullets hitting the wall behind him. After seeing all the holes between the slatted walls, I decided jail was no place to hang out.
After rounding the corner, we discovered what all the shooting was about. There was a real life shootout going on, except they were shooting targets, not people, well, except for the kid that unknowingly stood on the other side of the wall in the Idaho City jail!
This was a real competition with some young, some old, and all of them wearing some serious cowboy garb! You'll notice that some of them even had their nicknames, like "Old Buzzard", imprinted on their holsters.
I gave the guy in the yellow leather shirt 5 points for good form.
Moving on, we meandered through the mountains...
...stopping for lunch (not bad for 234,000 miles eh?)...
...along the river.
A view of the Sawtooth Mountains west of Stanley.
Stanley is one of the prettiest places in Idaho, whether it's in color...
...sepia...
...or black and white. Our timing must not have been very good because we missed most of the wildlife along the rivers between Stanley and Challis. But after a quick hike back to Goldbug Hot Springs for another great sunset, we headed home, maneuvering around all the deer and antelopes grazing on gravel. Check back tomorrow as the next weekend would bring me to the most beautiful place on earth...