7-10-2020 Caldwell and Eagle, ID Part II

The Time is flying with Ada, Bob and Jake and I am falling woefully behind on my stories.  On Wednesday, pickleball lessons were on the agenda and we weren’t invited.  WELL!  A good opportunity to make it a “wash day.”  So we hurried to get that done, then drove to the Basque district in Boise to pay a visit, have a beer and stop in at the market to do some financial damage.  Jakey invited us to dinner at his house in the evening and Ada made excellent seafood lasagna.  When she writes the recipe to me, I will pass it along to you.

Ada takes aim with a 45

The Marksman

Indoor pickleball - a new one!

Thursday morning, we loaded up clays, cans and various firearms and drove out into the foothills to do a bit of shooting.  Bob was a competition marksman, a law enforcement officer and a hunter so he put us all to shame.  But he was also a wealth of knowledge and we amateurs welcomed his help.  We wore ourselves out in the heat and with our last molecule of energy, we were off to the pickleball courts for 2 hours.  Rob and I have never played indoors so that was an interesting experience.  The courts are impressive:  Modern, indoor, air-conditioned courts fully fenced with netting where tournaments are often staged.  (FYI, this did not improve my game.)

Two Rivers Grill in Crouch, ID

Friday was our last day with these good folks and they had scheduled us for lunch in the rustic little village of Crouch.  It was a pretty drive into the mountains past blue alpine lakes and impossibly tall ponderosa pines reaching for the royal blue sky.  Crouch is a tiny, quaint community which sprang up during the gold mining days.  Now, it is mostly gift boutiques and antique shops.  We found an outdoor table at the Two Rivers Grill, a kind of log and knotty wood affair with wonderful food.  In my memory banks, the best item on the menu was the side of unusual dipping sauce for my shrimp.  It looked like red jam, made with local cherries, horseradish and lemon.  Delicious!

Just to be absolutely sure we had used up every last fraction of an ounce of energy, we were scheduled next for whitewater rafting down the canyons of the Payette River.  No class 5s on this river at this time but it has been a while since Rob and I have run a river so class 3s and 4s were challenge enough.  After gearing up and mentally filing all of our river and safety instructions, we launched in the six-seater, inflatable, self-bailing rafts.  I was surprised at how much I had remembered from earlier times but also how much I had forgotten and how rusty I’ve become in my old age!  Our boatman, Wyatt, about 1/3 our age, was an expert and navigated our raft dead nuts through the most exciting parts of the rapids, missing the boulders and skirting the holes.  The water was cold splashing on us but it was refreshing in the hot sunshine.  I even got to jump off “Jump Rock,” about maybe 15 feet up, plunging into 15-20 foot deep, cold, current!  We laughed, hooted and hollered and had a glorious day!  In the end, we were soaked, whooped and grinning from ear to ear.

Wyatt doing what Wyatt does best!

That little red dot on the right is Lindy's head!
YAHOO!

Driveway concert

We arrived back in the evening and after a cocktail and appetizers, we grabbed our lawn chairs and walked down the street to a “driveway concert,” another new one for us.  Rock Dee House, (consisting of Bobby, the incredibly talented piano man, and his drummer) echoed through the neighborhood.  We all slowly began to fade.  At last, Bob and Ada hugged us tight, we headed for home and fell into bed exhausted.

Tomorrow, we travel along to Challis, Idaho.

Gallo Gold Yukon Jake, Senior Hunter
(aka Jakey-Doodle💖)

Rob and Lindy

Jake's parents - Bob and Ada