Idaho, home sweet home

We are gradually unpacking and settling in to our new home in Boise, Idaho.  It took us 8 days and 7 nights traveling across the USA to get here. Our dog learned about motels, hotels and elevators. He was a very good traveler.

Except for the first day, the traveling was easy and the interstate highways clear.  We learned never to go near the metropolitan NYC area on a Friday. That was a nightmare. We detoured through Long Island so I could pray at my parents' graves.  We made it 15 minutes before the cemetery closed for the sabbath even though we had left early in the morning.  Then it took us another 3 hours to go 35 miles to get to our hotel in NJ.  We had picked a chain of hotels (Red Roof Inn) that accepts dogs and does not charge extra for them. We stayed in many of them along our route.

Leaving NJ, we went first to the cemetery where my husband's mother was buried.  Then we followed our GPS back to the main highways and onto Route 80.  For the most part we were on Interstate 80 across NJ, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming into Utah.  Then we picked up Route 84 to Idaho.  The GPS was easy, we set it each morning for the next evening's hotel.  We tried to do around 350 miles per day with the last day a big one of 497 miles so we didn't have an extra night in a hotel.  Altogether, we drove (taking 2 hours shifts) about 2900 miles across.  Even where there was construction, the traffic moved along.

The most interesting stop for me was in Iowa City, lots of public art. It is a lively college town.

I haven't found my oil paints yet, but I'm gradually unpacking all my studio items so I hope to get back to painting soon.  The piano will be tuned this week and I've already started practicing.  I unpacked all my sheet music already.

Our family has been stopping by to help and to say hello.  It feels really good to be near them.  I never expected to be moving at age 71, but I think this was a good decision for all.  We'll be going back east every summer and have an in-law apartment to stay in while we are there.  I look forward to that too.

I am gradually learning my way around.  After living in New England for so many years, Boise seems like a very big city to me, but I'm also happy to see the mountains surrounding the "Treasure Valley".  Once my knee is fixed (maybe in the fall), I'll be out hiking again.

We drove through the southern part of Wyoming and found it to be surprisingly flat.  After a while we did see some mountains.  We had been in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons before so I was expecting the same kind of scenery.  Nebraska and Iowa were mostly farmer's fields of corn, also cattle, both black and brown. I did see one antelope in Wyoming and thought of the "Home on the Range" song.

I'll try to go back to posting on a more regular basis now that we are settling in. This has been a big adventure for us seniors and a good one.

Moving on

My last mural in Manchester, NH. I painted the homage to Van Gogh on the left of this garage door on Litchfield Lane.  My paints and brushes are all packed now.  We sold our house in Manchester and bought a house in Boise Idaho to be closer to family.  We leave for Boise on July 14th so I probably will not be posting again for a while.

To see more murals by other artists of Friends of Art Manchester, check out the blog post:
http://friends-of-art-manchester.blogspot.com/2017/06/litchfield-lane-murals.html
I was very impressed with the work of all the artists, especially the lion painted by Christine Keenan. I don't paint in that style, but I would love to try a piece like that. It looks like it would be a fun painting.

We spent 10 days in Idaho, house hunting, and visiting with family.  The house we picked is one level (Yay!, no stairs - I need a new knee, but that has to wait a while) and has a family room which I would make over into an art studio.  I'm really looking forward to this move even though it is a lot of work.  Boise is a nice city, although I'm not used to city sprawl.  The city is on a grid system and I don't think it will be difficult to learn once I remember which main roads are east-west and which ones are north-south.  I noticed that the road signage was much better than what we have in NH.

Once outside the city, it looks like NH as well although the mountains are certainly much higher. My daughter and I walked around this park which is near our new home. There are bike trails here too and I'm looking forward to biking in our new neighborhood as it is flat, not hilly like here.

We visited a friend in Idaho City. He lives in a hilly area with great views.  

Great restaurant in Idaho City.  We had lunch there but did not have room for pie.  I want to go back at some time just for coffee and huckleberry pie.

Our new home with the Sold sign. I am bringing a sketch book on the road (it is about a 10 day trip across country). This is the first time we have driven this far with a dog.  My husband and I share the driving and have done other trips of 1000 miles, but this is closer to 3000.  I hope to have wi fi at the hotels so I may post something in between.  Have camera and laptop, will travel. :)