One Year in Boise!

 

View from 8th Street Extension Trail 

A beautiful morning walk in the foothills 

This week marks my anniversary of living in Boise for one year! I can hardly believe that this time last year, I was arriving in the City of Trees, strolling along the Boise Greenbelt in awe, and taking photos of the river. In some ways, it feels inconceivable that a year has gone by, but in other ways, the amount of things I've done and places I've gone in Idaho this past year seem impressive. It seems like a common theme that individual moments and days can seem slow, but years fly by. 

In honor of my one-year anniversary of living in Boise, I jotted down a list of some of my favorite memories of exploring this city and state.  

Memories of this past year (in no particular order):

• Floating the Boise River twice
• Showing my parents Boise (driving up to Bogus Basin, running a half marathon, the farmer's market, biking the Greenbelt,  hiking Ridge to Rivers trails, etc)
• Learning wildflowers of the Boise Front (attending a lecture at the Boise Library and spending the spring photographing and identifying flowers)
• Making wonderful friendships and relationships that provide me a meaningful sense of love and community
• Adopting a dog (a red heeler cattle dog, who turns out to be a wonderful hiking buddy!) 
• Getting settled into my house, starting to garden in my yard, and discovering the joy in planting flowers and vegetables. 
• Making good on my goal of camping at least once a month during 2020 (so far, anyway!) and enjoying the outdoors with friends new and old. 
• Completing the Boise Grand Slam Peak series: hiking four peaks around the Boise area and eating a ice cream potato from Westside Drive-In as a reward! 
• Cross country skiing all winter at the awesome Bogus Basin trails and groomed trails near Idaho City. I love winter and was living it up this year! 
• Staying in a backcountry yurt in the Boise National Forest this winter. 
• Soaking in the hot springs in Idaho City.
• Hosting a Friendsgiving-style Thanksgiving with all of the traditional dishes.
• Road-tripping with my Dad on the move from Missouri to Idaho and stopping at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, a place both of us had always wanted to go.
• Leaving Boise several times to go visit family, and having a reunion with lovely dear friends in Denver and Wisconsin.
• Running and biking around Boise with friends. 

Writing out this list made me realize how incredible this past year has been, and how grateful I am to live in such an outdoor-centric town with friendly people! To many more explorations and adventures this coming year, cheers Boise! 

 

Enjoying Idaho in all seasons - even snow in June! 

En route to Mount Heinen, one of the Boise Grand Slam Peaks 

A splendid display of lupine

A river runs through it - the Boise River, a gem to run, walk or bicycle along, or even float or raft!