Friday, May 2, 2003 - Day Three - Mountain Home, Idaho
I slept well but should have asked for another blanket. I heard some brief clicking and whirring in the night but didn't know what it was or what time it was. It later turned out that they'd suffered a power outage, and what I'd heard was a printer resetting when the power was restored.
Meanwhile, Allen had to get ready for work by candlelight and Diane was fretting over all the food in the refrigerator, but the outage only lasted a half hour, and things got back to normal.
Meanwhile, not knowing any of this, I got up about 7:00 a.m., caught up with my notes, reviewed and labeled some of my pictures, then went to the kitchen and made some toast, poured some juice and watched CNN for a while.
Diane got up and had some breakfast, we talked a while and evalulated what the weather looked like. It didn't look too good for Saturday and Sunday.
I wanted to take a little ride into Boise, so I rode west (or was it north?) on Interstate 84 for about 40 boring miles. Wait, it wasn't that boring. They had a five mile odometer check to keep me alert. It was interesting to note that Idaho drivers seem to know about driving on the right and passing on the left.
I followed Diane's advice and took Exit 52, Orchard Street, heading for the Harley-Davidson dealership, but stopped first at Walgreens for some LPCs, a small gift for the hostess and directions to the post office.
You know the commercial where the woman steps into a barber shop asking for directions to the nearest automated teller machine? It was kinda like that.
Then I stopped again at Flowerama (Orchard at Franklin) to look at plastic geese and wooden lighthouses (don't ask), then continued north on Orchard Street, over the bridge into Garden City, and stopped at Cycle Nuts & Bolts Harley-Davidson for a picture. I was unable to find Fat Boy logo tee-shirts. They did have a nice shop with a number of bikes for sale and bikes for rent, but were unclear on whether they were in Boise or Garden City.
I got a couple of Garden City photos, then returned to Interstate 84 for the ride back to Mountain Home. I stopped just off the freeway for a photo at the Boise airport post office, then again at a Chevron Station near Exit 57 for fuel.
On the way back, I saw a motorcycle officer that had pulled over a car, but could not tell what agency it was. (Dark blue or grey motorcycle.) As far as I know, if this was an Idaho State Police unit, it was the only one I ever saw the whole time I was in the state.
Back in Mountain Home, I took the 1st exit and rode down Main Street, stopped at Albertson's for soft drinks, went through the detour, and stopped at McDonald's for a "premium salad," then got back to Casa Noggin at 4:20 p.m. I took a shower and put on clean clothes before lounging around the house.
About 6:30 p.m. Randy S. arrived on his black Electra-glide Standard with white "cop" bags (telltale "hockey-puck" handles on top). He'd had a 549 mile ride from Oregon. I'd met Randy before but Diane had not. He put his stuff in the house and sat down to relax with us.
Then about 7:30 p.m., Chuck and Barb L. arrived from eastern Idaho, on four wheels due to the impending wet weather. I'd met them both before and they'd visited the Noggins a few times since they'd been in Mountain Home.
Sometime around here, (someone) popped the cap on a bottle of Coors and downed it in honor of Snarl, who had been unable to attend. There was some discussion, and the bottle was set aside for later.
Soon thereafter, dinner time was upon us. Diane had prepared pasta with sauce, meat, salad and garlic bread. Oh, and I think there might have been some liquid refreshments. Dinner was excellent and there was plenty, due to folks who'd had to cancel.
After dinner we sat down in the living room and caught up on the events of the week, the month, the year and the decade. We heard part of the story of the formation of the Pacific Northwest Brotherhood of the Slug, although nobody could remember all seven of the original members, even though two of them were present! But again, I guess I mentioned that there may have been some liquid refreshments consumed.
Sometime after dinner, there was a need for a plunger in the Tennessee bathroom. Fingers were pointed, blame was assigned and culpability was denied. After a cursory search of the house and garage was conducted, to no avail, it was decided that a road trip to Wal-Mart was in order. Chuck drove the Tahoe, Allen navigated and I ... I ... sat in the back seat and looked out the window.
We parked out in the south forty to avoid the dreaded door-ding, walked into the store, found the household plumbing section and selected an excellent specimen of plunger for the princely sum of $3.97 American. On the way out we stopped for an Idaho atlas and gazetteer for Allen. We took a slightly different route back to Casa Noggin, avoiding the downdown detour.
After a proper and successful application of the plunger, and the cheers that attended, the wide-ranging conversation continued in the living room, interrupted only by the presentation of pie for dessert! Aaaahhhh!
Between tall tales, stories of world travels, and peeks at The Weather Channel, we had a great time. I tried to listen more than I talked, but at one point I got caught up in the moment and related a story that took us from deer in Korea to (no) cows in Japan by way of Doc Wong, resulting in my being awarded/saddled with the title "King Of The Obtuse Reference # 1."
I headed for guest room # 2 about 1:00 a.m. Mountain Time, where I found a nice warm blanket at the foot of the bed. I don't know what time the others hit their pillows, but Randy was to sleep on the couch in the living room, so odds are that he persuaded them to wrap it up before it got too late.
Miles for the day = 101. Miles for the trip = 902.
Tomorrow: A trip to Featherville.