A Road Trip. Day 5. Salt Lake City to Boise.
It’s hard to say that there was really any particular place we were going on this ten-day road trip. We didn’t spend more than a night anywhere. We didn’t spend much time in any one particular place. Really, we were just driving, making a big ole circle.
If there was a “destination,” I suppose, it was Boise, Idaho. Boise was to be the furthest west we were going. It was the point where we would turn around and start heading in the direction home. It was halfway through the journey. And it was the home to the potato AirBNB, which was, originally, the whole reason for taking this trip.
Of course, as I said before, we didn’t end up staying in the Potato AirBNB. They cancelled our reservation because of some zoning issues. Still, we decided to stay on our original course, trek on, head to Boise and back.
On day five of our road trip we drove from Salt Lake City, Utah to Boise, Idaho.
Our first stop in Idaho was Shoshone Falls, THE NIAGRA OF THE WEST.
Apparently that’s what everyone calls Shoshone Falls: the Niagra of the West. Or, at least, so says the website and a sign on the property. Of course, I’ve never been to the Niagra of the East, so I can’t compare. But Shoshone Falls was still impressive, even on a “low flow” day.
And then, after the falls, we stopped at a Cowboy Muffler Man in Wendell, Idaho. He was pretty adorable.
And then, it was onwards to Boise.
Now, if I wasn’t going to get to stay in an AirBNB shaped like a potato I could, at the very least, enjoy another potato-themed attraction that Boise was known for: the Ice Cream Potato at Westside Drive In.
What is an ice cream potato? Is it a potato? Is it ice cream? Is it both?
Well, really, it’s all ice cream: a “potato” made out of vanilla ice cream coated in cocoa powder and covered in chocolate syrup (to mimic steak sauce), whipped cream (to mimic sour cream), diced peanuts, and cookie crumbles. It was such a mind trick that I grabbed a bunch of forks and it was only after a few messy, drippy, bites that I realized I should have grabbed spoons…
Boise was also home to another thing I was excited to see on this trip: my friend Nadia. Nadia and I grew up together and were friends in grade school and high school. I haven’t seen her since she moved to Idaho a few years back so it was exciting to see her and catch each other up on our lives.
We all met up at West Side Drive In and then headed to a place called Fork for dinner. I got a delicious Idaho Rainbow Trout served with farro and roasted red pepper purée and then got a side of mashed potatoes on top of that because, um, I was in in Idaho and wanted to eat a potato damnit (plus mashed potatoes are pretty much my favorite food).
After dinner we took a walk through Freak Alley Gallery, a whole alley devoted to street art.
And the night ended with more conversation and local beers (well, ciders and sours for me) before heading to our decidedly non-potato-shaped AirBNB to get a good night’s rest for our drive to Montana and the journey back towards Chicago…
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