Road Trip 2020 Days 4 & 5

Well, the past couple days have been doozies.  Something I ate (or didn't) set off another round of gout during our last day in Missoula, so the drive from Missoula to Twin Falls took a bit longer than expected.  We had to make a lot of stops, and each stop I found my foot aching more and more.  When we got to Twin Falls, I could barely walk.  However, we took a rest at the hotel for a bit before heading to Shoshone Falls, which was beautiful to view.  After looking over the falls and getting a ton of pictures (many of which were almost the same with just slightly different angles), we went back to the hotel, stopping at Target (around the corner from the hotel) to get something to ease the pain.  Turns out that the icy/hot arthritis patches work quite well as a substitute for ice packs.  We then got dinner at KFC (not a healthy option, I know, but it was what was fast and convenient through the drive thru) and then went back to the hotel.  While relaxing in our room, I sent a picture of the Falls to my friend Heather who is a nurse practitioner in Boise and asked if she could see me the next day (today, actually).  Turns out, she had some free time in her schedule, which was awesome.  Got the meds I needed across the street from her office and we were on our way (after eating lunch in Boise at a Japanese restaurant).

On the way to Baker City, Oregaon (where I sit writing this blog entry), we stopped off at Fruitland/Payette/Ontario where I taught for a year in 2006-07 and where I owned a house that turned out to be a huge mistake (but we live and learn, right?).  So, the reason Fruitland is significant for me (not to belabor the details here) is that it was my first K-12 teaching job other than student teaching.  I really liked the school at Fruitland, but while

Noi standing at the Idaho Entry Sign.

Noi at Monida with the Sawtooths in the Background

This is Monida where 1/2 the town is in Montana and the other 1/2 is in Idaho.

This is at Monida as well.  Just a closer shot of the Sawtooths.

living in Payette I realized that there simply was no actual personality to the town.  Literally, NONE.  It was the most boring place I ever lived in my life with very few cultural activities that I was interested in and no actual dating scene for a single-father in my 30s (at the time).  I won't go as far as to say that I hated it there, but driving through there today made me realize why it was important for me to leave Fruitland after only a year.  It simply wasn't the place for me, and what I needed at that time in my life was to be closer to family and to a feeling that I was surrounded by cultural events. 

What was cool today was being able to see the story of my days at Fruitland unfold much as it did in 2006, for better or worse.  In essence, every day (minus weekends) went something like this:  Get up at 5:00 am and get ready for the day, get Caleb up and ready, then go to school by 7:30 am to prepare for the madness of the day.  I taught 7 periods each day with a 0 hour (before classes) prep and a 30 minute lunch (the only up side to that was no lunch duty) and then my 3 afternoon classes (2 Juniors and AP Senior).  I had to wait around the school until 4:00 pm, but because my classroom was blazing hot (no AC and 29 old computers blowing hot air), we drove over to Ontario before going home where I sat at Jolts & Juice (a coffee shop) for 30 minutes working on the next day's prep stuff while Caleb went to Game Stop for 30 minutes of video game playing so that he wouldn't be bored watching me prep.  Then we would go to an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for dinner (it was cheap and filled you up, and I didn't have to cook it) before going home where Caleb would do his homework while I worked for a bit.  We would then watch American Idol (to prepare for a play I was directing at the high school called "American Idol:  Murdering the Music") and then Caleb would either watch a couple shows or play some video games while I did yet more prep work and/or grading.  I would then put Caleb to bed around 9:30 pm before doing about 2 more hours of grading.  At around 11:30 pm or midnight, I would crawl into bed.  Repeat for the new day.  Sorry, that is longer than I had hoped, but it is what came flooding back to me today while I was taking pictures of the various sites.  If you want to read more about this, I will be putting much of this in more detail in a book I am working on.

Shoshone Falls at about 1/3 water capacity, according to the sign at the gate.

Noi admiring the falls.

Noi Dreaming about throwing me over the falls.  J/K

After taking pictures in the various sites, we stopped by Starbucks for some much needed caffeine to push through the last stretch (71 miles) to Baker City.  Once we got here, we checked into the hotel then went around taking a few pictures (more will be taken tomorrow) downtown.  They have the coolest statues all over the town of animals in various states of Corona-inspired dress (i.e. flip flops, masks, etc).  There were just a few too many to get in one round, but we will remedy that tomorrow.

This was my first K-12 employer, Fruitland High School (relatively near Boise)

This is actually the old Fruitland High School, which is a County Extension Office now (or something like that).

This was my house in Payette when I taught at Fruitland.  Then, it was blue with a big rose bush out front.  I understand why they cut the rose bush out, though.

Caleb's (my son's) favorite place to go after school.

My favorite place to go after school to get work done while Caleb played.

So the final point to raise tonight is that this trip is taking place over our Anniversary.  Seven years ago, Caleb and I made the long plane ride to Thailand for the most awesome wedding ceremony ever because I got to marry my most favorite travel/life companion ever.  It seems that most years we take some sort of trip (usually ends up being to Seattle, but that wasn't happening this year) or another.  We also go on a trip during one of our birthdays, but this year I think we will delay that one a bit.  This has been an awesome trip in so many ways, but it has also been a bit awkward having to wear masks everywhere and sanitize our hands ever 10 minutes that we are out of the car (or the hotel room).  I can guarantee we won't forget this trip any time soon (until I get Alzheimer's, I suppose--that book is coming within the next couple years -- aka The Stories I will Tell when I get Alzheimer's or My life in Multiple Dimensions).  I do, however, appreciate that for now, while I have most of my faculties, I get to enjoy these moments with an amazing person who makes my life interesting and fulfilling.

this is the Grand Hotel in downtown Baker City.

Noi visiting with one of the natives.  Notice the mask and flip flops.

There truly is a ton of cool history here in Baker City.  You should definitely make this a place to visit as soon as the pandemic is over with.

Baker City's downtown is just filled with cool buildings and so much more.

You have to be careful with this one.  He's got quite the over bite.

Even the storms are cool in Baker City.