Nose to Beak

Boise, ID   High 60  Low 47

Sometimes we really luck out when we go to see an exhibit. Such was the case when we visited the World Center for Birds of Prey.

This is a very small bird sanctuary but it houses the world's largest captive flock of California Condors which are housed in nearby breeding chambers to raise young for release to the wild. They have built the Condor Cliffs for the birds to hang out in when they are old enough.

The California condor is the largest bird in North America. It has a  wing span of nine and a half feet! The bare head is an adaptation for hygiene since they eat dead and rotting meat and must stick their head into the carcasses to feed.

The California condor population steadily declined during the 20th century until there were only 22 known to exist in the world. The last of the free-flying condors were taken into captivity in 1987 in order to save the species from extinction. There were no California condors in the wild between 1988 and 1991, but reintroduction efforts began in early 1992 and continue today. As of May 2013, there are approximately 435 California condors in the world, about 237 of which are free-flying in California, Arizona and Baja California, Mexico.

The other bird that they have helped to bring back from the edge of extinction is the Peregrine Falcon. The Peregrine population was decimated in 1950-1970 because of DDT poisoning (which was banned in 1972) and were declared an endangered species. They were removed from this list in 1999 because of the hard work of the Peregrine Fund.

A beautiful view of Boise from the outdoor amphitheater.

The Peregrine Falcon is a very fast flier, averaging 25-34 mph in traveling flight, and reaching speeds up to 69 mph in direct pursuit of prey. During its spectacular hunting stoop the peregrine may reach speeds of 200 mph as it drops toward its prey.

Powerful and fast-flying, the Peregrine Falcon hunts medium-sized birds, dropping down on them from high above in a spectacular stoop.

This is where we really lucked out. Normally they only do bird flights on the week-ends but they had two young birds that they were training and we were there to see it.

One of the birds was a Peregrine Falcon who had been raised by her handler from a very early age and was five months old. Monica put Cinda through her paces as she is teaching her how to kill her prey. Monica used quail meat and would swing it around like it was flying so Cinda would dive for it. She would try to keep it away from the falcon but as soon as the falcon hit the prey she would drop it to the ground and let Cinda enjoy her prize. It was fascinating to watch.

The hood is used to keep her calm and to stop her from trying to fly away. However, if she should take off, that is a GPS tracker that you see on her back so they can go get her.

The second bird was a tufted owl (closely related to the Great Horned Owl). Wally was gorgeous to watch in flight and has been trained to fly to different perches with food placed on them.

Just look at those eyes.

Beagles, Blue, Basque, and Freak

Boise, ID    High 60  Low 43

Todd and Michaela – you need to check this out. This BnB is located in Cottonwood, ID. Your room is in the belly with a loft in his nose. Their website - http://www.dogbarkpark.com/

We followed Highway 95 south through Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge, We also had to climb White Bird Summit at 4,383 feet which meant we had to come down an eight mile 7% grade. It was a beautiful drive but Jim was glad that we broke it into two days with an overnight in Council, ID.

My nephew and his family live in Emmett, ID and we stayed at an RV park in Sand Hollow called Country Corners RV Park. The owners are the nicest, most accommodating folks we’ve ever met. Highly recommend this park if you are in the area.

Boise is about 35 miles from the park and, of course, everything I wanted to see was in Boise.

Our first stop was at Boise State University. I had read about a Sports Humanitarian Exhibit that I really thought would be interesting. It no longer exists but we were still able to have our picture taken with the “Blue”. It was the first non-green playing surface in football history.

Next on my list was the Basque Block in downtown Boise. The volunteer at the Blue is a Basque and he recommended that we eat at Bar Gernika pub and eatery. After looking at the menu I was glad we weren’t there on a Saturday. My Grandmother would have loved it.

I had a chicken kabob and Jim had a chorizo sausage.

We stopped into the Basque Museum but they do not allow any photos taken. In this picture you can see how small an area the Basque homeland is. They don’t have their own country but inhabit the area surrounding the Bay of Biscay in southwestern France and northern Spain.

The Basques are a genetic and cultural anomaly in Europe and speak a language unrelated to any other known tongue on earth. The Boise Basque population is the second largest in the United States with Bakersfield, CA being the largest.

After leaving the Basque Block, we went to Freak Alley. At least we tried to but traffic was horrendous and there was no place to park. So here’s a picture from the truck.

Time to head home and feed Skitz. She’s going to think we’ve totally forgotten about her. After taking care of Skitz, we went to my nephew’s house for dinner and didn’t get home until 10:30. That’s really late for us old folks.

Lewiston, ID

I can’t remember what the temperature was when we were there.

We left Coeur d’Alene and ended up in Lewiston. Well actually in Clarkston, WA where the RV park was located. You can probably tell from the town names, that Lewis and Clark came through this area on their expedition.

I had several things for us to see and do while we were here but first we headed out for some lunch at Roosters which had good Yelp reviews on seafood. Jim ordered oysters and shrimp and I had cod and chips. About two hours later Jim was really sick. We decided the oysters must have been bad. Needless to say we didn’t get any sight seeing done.

We did take a short drive to a nearby park with a Lewis and Clark memorial and found a vintage trailer rally. Took a few pictures and needed to get home.

The Snake River

We spent a couple of days in Clarkston letting Jim recover and then we moved down to the Boise area.

Moose Sunbathing

Coeur d’ Alene   High 79  Low 54

It’s been awhile since Jim was on the water and the weather was perfect so we went for a boat ride.

We had an enjoyable time but we sat in the back of the boat on top and could not hear what the guide was saying all the time.

These houses on the west side of the lake are huge and many of them can only be reached by boat. Notice the mailbox in this picture, Mail is also delivered by boat.

This place even comes with a two boat garage.

There is also a house built on a rock.

But the most unique thing about Lake Coeur d’Alene is the floating 14th hole on the golf course.

The Lake Coeur d'Alene course boasts the world's only floating, moveable golf green. And if you manage to land your ball on the bobbing green, you'll have to catch a boat out to take your next shot.

Players tee off from shore, then board a small electric passenger ferry known as 'Putter' for the trip to the floating green of the Par 3 hole. A boat attendant assists the players and caddies on and off the boat and on the return trip, a certificate of achievement is awarded to players with their name and score in calligraphy.

However, one of the absolute highlights of our cruise can be seen in this picture. Just relaxing at the water’s edge. Our captain told us he’s been doing these tours for ten years and this is the first time he has ever seen a moose.

Peaceful and relaxing. We enjoyed the ride very much.

I was not impressed with the rv park we were at. Tamarack RV Park is a Passport America park and I’m really glad we didn’t pay the full price of $42. They sites are close and I was glad we weren’t in a big RV trying to maneuver around the trees.

Also, we lost our power because the guy in the site next to us was leaving and turned his power off at the post. The park is wired so that when he turned his off, ours went off as well. Not a very good design in my opinion.

Anybody Out There Have a Buck?

Coeur d’Alene, ID    High 77  Low 54

Hey Jeri – if you’re ever in this area, we found a restaurant for you. We had dinner here and I think you would really like it.

Jim brought home scallops.

So do any of you own a Buck? Jim does.

Our next stop was in Post Falls, ID at the Buck Knife Factory for a tour. It’s a free tour and they did not allow any pictures taken in the factory. You also have to wear closed toe and heel shoes. I did get this one of the gorgeous lobby. The chandelier is made from antlers. They also have a small museum and we were allowed to take pictures.

Jim is ready for the tour with his safety glasses, headphones, and tour badge. I was disappointed in the tour. They give you headsets and the tour guide talks to you through the headsets. But there is so much noise in the factory that we couldn’t hear most of what she was saying. Jim enjoyed the tour much more than I did because he had a better understanding of the process to begin with.

 

In 1902, Hoyt Buck, a 13-year-old blacksmith apprentice in Kansas, was experimenting with ways to temper steel so it would keep an edge for longer. His intent was to use the technique to heat treat the steel in garden hoes, but he would later use this same method to craft his knives.

When Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, Buck began hand making knives using worn field blades. When Buck heard there was a scarcity of knives available for troops, he purchased an anvil, forge and grinder and set up a blacksmith shop in a church basement, where he began producing hand-made knives for the military.

in 1964, the company introduced the Model 110 Folding Hunter knife, which became one of the most popular knives ever made.

The 110 had a 3 ¾ inch blade. The handles were typically made of wood and the bolsters constructed of brass. Its staple features were its high-tension lock and low-pressure release. The 110 was so successful that it turned 'Buck' into a broad term for all folding locked-blade knives.

Buck relocated from San Diego to Post Falls in 2005.

If you own a Buck you can tell how old it is by the symbols on the blade. This is a code chart. Jim’s Buck was made between 1961 and 1969.

Jim brought home a new fish fillet knife made in 2016.

Pappy Boyington

Coeur d’Alene, ID  High 79  Low 53

The following is from Stephen Sherman at Acepilots.com.

‘Undoubtedly the most colorful and well known Marine Corps' ace was Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, commanding officer of VMF-214. Stories of Pappy Boyington are legion, many founded in fact, including how he led the legendary Black Sheep squadron, and how he served in China as a member of the American Volunteer Group, the famed Flying Tigers.  He spent a year and a half as a Japanese POW, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was recognized as the Marine Corps top ace. Always hard-drinking and hard-living, Pappy's post-war life was as turbulent as his wartime experiences. “

The Pappy Boyington Field Museum is just up the road from our RV Park in Hayden, ID. Pappy Boyington Veterans Museum is dedicated to preserving local aviation history and the efforts of veterans and aviators who have sacrificed and contributed to preserving the integrity and peace to which the United States has been graced.

The museum is very well done but there are so many exhibits it’s hard to take it all in.

Here are a few pictures of the many exhibits.

One of the exhibits was donated by the children of a WWII veteran and one of the things they documented about their father was that he never talked about his time during the war. My Dad was in the Army during WWII and he also never talked about it. Hard to imagine the horrors they saw.

Jim and I are listening to the book, Unbroken, about Louie Zamperini who was held in one of the same Japanese POW camps as Pappy. These guys really were strong if they survived the horrors of those camps.

Falls and Time to Relax

Sandpoint, ID  High 74  Low 52

We stopped at the Kootenai Falls and thought we would take the time to view them since we were only going 80 miles.

Skittlez was invited to go with us and her little legs were ready to go. We walked down to the overlook.

The next part of the trail was considered moderate but it turned out to be too much for my ankle. We made it down to the bridge that goes over the RR tracks and Skittlez freaked out when the train went underneath her.

Then Jim saw all the steps and I knew I was done for. So we turned around and headed back to the truck.

We stopped for the night at the fairgrounds in Sandpoint, ID and didn’t even unhitch. Just took the time to relax. No TV so we didn’t have to watch the debate. (Can you tell I’m way behind on posting blogs. We are in Clarkston, WA and are headed for Council, ID tomorrow.)