Zamzow's WOW!

BOISE RIVERSIDE RV PARK

Boise, ID 83714

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RV LIFE:

We prefer to stay at one place for at least 2 weeks. This gives us a chance to settle and relax. We also get a chance to take in what the local area has to offer, such as restaurants, sightseeing, touristy stuff, restaurants, oops, mentioned that already, but that is high on our list.

But even staying two weeks at a time, we are still moving about 25 times a year. Which means packing up, securing loose items, etc.  Little by little, we are learning how to NOT have to pack up so much.

We started by using 3M COMMAND STRIPS, for many things, such as hanging framed photos, cross stitch etc. We haven't had to take any of our frames down or lost any from dropping either. They work great for that.  We used the "small wire hooks" 

to hang kitchen utensils on the wall under our microwave.

We've used the "bathroom hook" in our shower to hang the wire thingy to hold shampoo, shavers, etc. 

Command strips are a great product, doesn't put any holes in the wall and comes off without any residue.

The other thing we find essential is a PUTTY that goes by many names. I originally found it in an office supply store. It's also called "earthquake putty". It prevents knick knacks from falling off shelves during a minor earthquake. It's also called "museum putty", which holds museum items secure on shelves. 

This putty has been ESSENTIAL for keeping things in place during travel. It truly saves a lot of packing and unpacking. For example, you can see above, on my desk I have put putty under the Irish Setter mug pencil holder and the photo frame.  I never put these away during travel and they have never moved unless I want them to for cleaning. 

My next test will be to putty down my computer monitor! I'm hope I'm not sorry!

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Look what pulled up to the site next to us. Very cool and a work in progress.

The front grill and fender was all made out of wood. 

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STORE & PRODUCT REVIEW:

ZAMZOWS  Our rating 5 out of 5

Being from NJ, I never heard of Zamzow's. Wow, what a great place!
Went in for parrot food and $180. later came out with 50#'s of grain free, good quality dog food, a free rolling plastic dog food container, grain free biscuits, a dog toy with extra squeakers, and a cooling mister for myself.
If I bought 2 30# bags of their dog food, they gave us a dog food container FREE! I went for it. Having two dogs that add up to a total of 130#, we can go through dog food fairly quickly. I really wanted that "FREE" container.

Holds about 40#'s of dog food. Wheels so it's easy to get from under the cabinet and latching lead, so nothing spills it the container falls during travel.

The container fits nice and neat in the cabinet below our TV. This is the cabinet that many people have their "fireplaces" installed.
Staff friendly & helpful, great selection of dog & cat items including health items for hot spots, teeth cleaning, etc.
Did not venture into the garden center. I had filled my cart already.
Too bad this store is only in Idaho.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: 

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Great narration by Colin Firth. He seemed to get the feel for this depressing diary.
The best way for me to review this book is by simply QUOTING, Elizabeth's review...

"There are books that make you feel inadequate, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, something. Something in you isn't able to see, even distantly, what what makes the book powerful to others. It makes me feel broken.
It made me feel like everyone else has deep, aching emotions that I lack. It made me wonder if I just didn't get it. Am I simply incomplete in some way that this book didn't make me feel anything?"

Soooo depressing. This book is following a women's diary and her questioning what is love, hate, love and hate of God, which she questions is there a God? Very deep self searching, which I just couldn't care less about!
Maybe I don't care, because I am happy with my life, who I am and my spiritual or more accurately my lack of spiritual beliefs.


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BOISE RIVERVIEW RV PARK, Boise, ID 833714

BOISE RIVERSIDE RV PARK

Boise, ID 83714

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RV PARK REVIEW:

Our site A13

Sites: Gravel, level. The sites used to share a common hook up post, but now the adjacent site is used for parking your vehicle. Our site, is one of the less desirable, in that it is only 30amp, no grass and no tree. But we are at the end of the row, so no one is in front of us and we have a view of the treed bike path.

Bike path in rear amid trees. View from RV.

Privacy: Not much in the way of privacy, but the "nicer" sites with a patch of  nice grass and a shade tree, can make it pleasant.

Hook ups: FHU, some only 30amp.
Bathroom: Clean. Showers were also clean, but would like a little more privacy than just a plastic shower curtain.
Laundry: Nice laundry, choice of front or top load. Clean $1.50 per load and per dry (2012)
Cost: $27./day (weekly rate)
Pet friendly: Yes, many dogs at sites. Not too picky about rules. Some poop not picked up. Some dogs off lead with owners, but they were under control. A couple of people leave their dogs tied outside overnight, but the dogs were quiet and seemed fine.
WiFi: Free WiFi worked great. Pretty fast.
Verizon internet: Great. Didn't use much because of the good free WiFi.
Sprint internet: Great. Didn't use much because of the good free WiFi.
AT&T (Deb) cell: 5 bars
Verizon (Scott) cell: 5 bars
Sights: We are right next to the LES BOISE PARK, which is a horse race track. The bike path that we walk our dogs is right along all the horse stalls.
Town: Boise and the surrounding area reminds me a lot of where we lived in NJ before full timing. A lot of stores, strip malls, traffic.  NJ has "Jug Handles" (see below ), but Boise has loooooong lights.
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NJ Jug Handles: 
I have copied the well put and great description of NJ jug handles below from A STRANGER AMONG GUIDOS blog. Thank you for your help!

What's a jughandle? Why it's the most backwards way to turn left EVER! Instead of going left, you go to the right! Think of it as an interstate off ramp at nearly every turn. 


Often, the jughandle is on the opposite side of the cross street from you. That means in order to turn left. You must wait for the light, drive straight through the intersection, immediately exit to the right and then...WAIT FOR THE SAME LIGHT AGAIN, ON THE STREET YOU JUST CROSSED! 


If the point of a jughandle is to speed up the flow of traffic then how is that accomplished by increasing the amount time a car will spend navigating a single intersection? 


There are a few places where making a normal left hand turn is possible. But driver beware, you will never have the right of way due to the constant stream of traffic driving past you. You’ll probably end up making that left just as the light turns red. 


And because you made that last second dash to the left, someone will probably HONK and yell at you for making them wait 3/10TH of a nanosecond. For God's sake, don't bother giving them the finger…that's how we say hello in New Jersey...




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RV LIFE:
My morning walk with the dogs goes right beside the stalls for the horses. Very cool to watch all the buzz of the morning activities. Hundreds of horses 1 to a stall, with the ball of hay hanging for them to eat.

Some horses on that "May pole" type device that makes them walk around in circles.

Workers cleaning out the stalls, huge piles of wood shavings

Jockeys taking warm up laps.

There are a couple of Jockeys staying at this RV park.

Since we are right next to the horse park, we also hear the loudspeaker announcing the next race, etc. But it really is only short announcements, and not too annoying.

I'm not into watching horse racing at all. While in NJ, we were very close to MONMOUTH PARK Racetrack. Our Union annual picnics were held there because our Union President was a huge fan of the track.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:

Ancestor by Scott Sigler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Audio book narrated by the author, Scott Sigler. Most narrations by the author I have found are sub par. This is no exception. Although Mr. Sigler seemed to do justice to the character voices and was good during action scenes, his general narration was boring and monotone.
For Sci-Fi fans this was just typical. Scientist developing a unique creature who organs are compatible with humans & would not be rejected by humans needing transplants.  Of course things go wrong and good vs bad, etc. Not much imagination in this story except how the creatures were developed.
I struggled through this book, thinking it would get better with an interesting twist. Nope.


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Busy in Boise

BOISE RIVERSIDE RV PARK

Boise, ID 83714

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RV LIFE:

It's amazing how late it stays light here, both while in Declo and now in Boise. I think we are very close to the time change line to Pacific Time Zone. While in Declo, when Scott would walk the dogs at 10pm, he didn't need a flashlight...not even to pick up you know what.

Last night I was outside from around 8:30pm to 9:30pm finishing up my cardigan. You crafters know, weaving in the ends and sewing on the buttons. I finally had to stop at 9:45pm. It was still light enough to walk around without a flashlight, but I couldn't get that thin thread through that tiny needle eye for the buttons. 

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I'll review this park at a later date, after we've been here a few days. The one really nice thing about this area is we are right by (100 feet) the "greenbelt", which is a paved 25 mile bike trail along the Boise River.  Beautiful trail shaded by surrounding trees. The dogs love to walk along this trail. They pass horses, ducks, squirrels, and can also take a dip and drink from the fast flowing Boise River.

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Yesterday, Thur 6/14, was a great day. Maybe I missed civilization a bit. Declo had nothing to do. No stores, no restaurants, etc. Of course I thoroughly enjoyed just relaxing at the site with grass and shade trees around. But yesterday, I made of list of places I wanted to go

1. A couple of yarn shops

2. A couple of craft stores

3. A bakery

4. Dinner

I started out the day stopping by SUGAR RUSH CUPCAKERY (review below). Bought 6 cupcakes to go and a chocolate cupcake and coffee to eat in for breakfast.

Then headed to KNIT WITS, down the street. Very nice staff, but was disappointed in their selection of yarn. They had a couple of great display items that I definitely want to knit. One item made out of Noro, was a multicolored vest, but the pattern was by a customer of the store and they were all out. Saved some money there!

The other display vest is pictured below. I already have this in my favorites on Ravelry, and it looks even better in person!

On to the next yarn shop called Fuzz. I arrive at the address, but no Fuzz? But I do see a large sign that says "Brother". I have a Brother Embroidery/Sewing machine that needs repair. I head inside and ask 

Do you repair sewing machines-Yes

Do you repair electronic embroidery/sewing machines-Yes

Do you send the repairs out-Yes, but it is a local person and he comes in on Tuesdays. We were originally leaving Tuesday, so that wouldn't work.

They said they may be in the area and could call to see. Next thing you know, the wife of the guy who repairs the machines walks in!!!

Is your machine with you now? - NO

Will it be finished by Monday, since we're leaving Tues?- Yes, probably fixed by tomorrow.

Serendipity! She actually followed me to to our RV and picked it up and yep, it was back at the sewing/fabric store by the next MORNING! $50....that's it! Just needed a bobbin adjustment and cleaning.

I'll be testing it out this weekend. Any sewers reading this, if you are ever in the Boise area, be sure to stop by CALEDONIA FINE FABRICS! Very, VERY pleasant staff, authorized Brother machine repair, great selection of unique buttons, sewing lessons.

Never did make it to Fuzz, they moved to another location.

Now on to dinner at Bar Garnika (review below). Had a delicious dinner and a walk around the Basque area of Boise, with lots of historical buildings. The Basque community were mostly sheepherders and somehow along their travels ended up in Boise. Basque is located on the border of France & Spain, so they have a very unique culture and food.

Back home to finish the cardigan I mentioned above.

I had a great day.

Scott also said he had a great day. He played a game on the computer, went for a beautiful 12 mile bicycle ride and then on to dinner.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

BAR GARNIKA Our rating 4 out of 5 stars

This is another restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives TV show. Here's the BAR GARNIKA CLIP.
Very casual place. Waiter had long stringy hair hanging over his face and under a baseball cap, t-shirt and baggy shorts. Didn't bother me, was just surprised. This is basically a bar that has "expanded" into a restaurant also. Tables are pretty tight. No separate dining room, just tables in a room with a bar and also outside sidewalk seating.
HOUSE SALAD: Delicious, crispy with amazing house dressing which was garlic vinaigrette.
WHITE BEAN SOUP: Hubby liked it a lot. I felt it was fair, but only had a spoonful. Hubby said as you continued eating, you could taste more flavor.
LAMB GRINDER: Great bread, great au jus to dip the sanwich in.
FRENCH FRIES: Awesome! Real fresh cut, fresh cooked.
SOLOMO SANDWICH: Poor. Again, the bread is great, but the pork is supposedly marinated. It just tasted like a boneless pork chop in between bread. They added jarred pimentos also. The pork needed some extra flavor or at least some kind of special sauce to moisten the sandwich up a bit.
CROQUETAS: Awsome! Little one inch balls of a chicken flavor mashed potato center, breaded and fried. Absolutely delicious. The center mashed potato tastes like they use real cream in the mix.
RICE PUDDING: Very good, although I prefer a little more cinnamon & vanilla flavoring. This too seemed to be home made. Very rare to get REAL home made Rice pudding in a restaurant.
FLAN: At first I was disappointed, because it doesn't taste like that of your typical Spanish/Cuban flan, but once I accepted the difference, this too was amazing. Creamy, vanilla flavor. The caramel sauce was lacking in flavor. Again, I'm used to the Cuban darker, more "burnt" sugar caramel. But this flan was so delicious and flavorful, you didn't need a heavy flavored sauce to cover it up.
Would definitely return and try a different sandwich. It's worth the trip just for the fries, croquetas and desert.
They only serve beer and wine, no mixed drinks.
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SUGAR RUSH CUPCAKERY Our rating 4 out of 5

Clean open dining room with tables for 2 and 4 through out. Nice decor. Very nice display of the cupcakes.
Nice staff. This would be a great place for a knitting group to hang out. There are also electrical plugs along the wall at table height for your laptops, etc.
COFFEE: I just had a regular brewed coffee. Very good, smooth. Did not need to add cream or sugar.
CUPCAKES: I bought 1/2 a dozen to take home and 1 extra to eat with my coffee.
Great cupcakes. It's all about the icing. The cake part is fine, but really not something you'd really enjoy eating without the icing. BUT, that is good in this instance. The icings & fillings are amazing! They are not stingy either, so with that pile of sweetness on top, you really don't want a dense sweet cake also. The "plainness" of the cake part worked perfectly to tone down the delicious sweetness of the toppings.
Chocolate Ganache cupcake was great, although maybe too much sweetness between the chocolate icing and the dark chocolate ganache under. Definitely need a glass of milk with this!
Red Velvet with raspberry cream: Perfect! 
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CRAFTS:
Finally finished my Comfy Cardigan. Just used up some cheap stash, I couldn't bring myself to give away. This is acrylic yarn, so this sweater will be a great runaround and who cares if it gets dirty sweater. It's machine washable.

Here's a close up of the buttons. These are Reindeer antler buttons from Alaska. My ex friend who I've mentioned in previous posts, who keeps demanding payment for things that are not owed, gave me these. Hmmm, I wonder if she will now ask me to pay for her trip to Alaska, because that was how she was able to get these buttons that she gave me (thank you), but I did not request. Need to put in that disclaimer in case she's reading this blog.

Now on to new projects...

Melancholy

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT 

Declo, ID 83323

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RV LIFE:

Just about ready to pack up and leave Vlg of Trees. I don't want to leave. I really love it here!!!!! It's 9:45 and I'm still on the computer. I just don't want to get started on our leaving here.

Haven't even starting packing up, making lunch, fill ice water bottles, vacuum, etc.

If you are ever in this middle of nowhere...it is worth your time to stay at Vlg. of Trees. Sigh...

Goodbye grass

Goodbye shade

Goodbye MaMa horses and babes

Goodbye cute little girls with their puppy

Goodbye friendly brown squirrel

Sigh...

Lyla ready to go, "snug as a bug in a rug"

Onward to Boise, where there is lots to do...

Dog parks to explore

Yarn shops to peruse

Restaurants to enjoy

Lazy days

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT

Declo, ID 83323

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RV LIFE: 

So, we are in the last days of our 3 week stay here in Declo. We only planned for 1 week, but this is such a wonderful park and we had a couple of weeks free, so we extended our stay to 2 weeks and finally 3 weeks. There isn't much to do in this area, not even any interesting restaurants to try. This is why it's been some lazy days for us here.

Scott's been playing an on line game with other players from around the world.

I've been doing a lot of silly facebook games, such as BUBBLE WITCH SAGA, also crafting & reading. What a great life.

Yesterday, it was in the 40's again in the morning. Barely hit the 50's in the afternoon, plus add wind and rain off and on. This made for a great day to stay inside and "play sick". Meaning, watch TV, have soup for lunch, cuddle under the afghan, etc.  I ended up knitting in bed watching old "Trauma: Life in the ER" marathon. Great day!

About 4 days ago, two horses gave birth. I've been trying to take photos of the foals in the field near us, but they are always laying down. I guess they're like puppies and babies and sleep alot. I'm just not catching them during their play time.

White speck on grass on right is a 3 days old foal napping.

**Update: Got a few shots of the babies.

I'm finally starting to not feel quilty about "being lazy", which really means relaxing, enjoying what I want to do, instead of working on someone else's schedule. I keep saying, Scott & I are so lucky to be able to retire at a fairly young age and have the means to live this RV full lifestyle. Also, that both Scott & I think alike and have the same goals.

RV REPAIR:
I guess "honey do's" never end. While I was rearranging my side of our basement, I was getting dripped on. Above my head were the water lines. Uh oh! Did a hose crack? Did I poke a hole in one when I put some nails in the wall?
Honeeeey? We have a leak! I did check to see if it was leaking where it was dripping...nope! It was coming from inside....somewhere. I had visions of having to call someone in to pull apart our water line.  We knew this water line was from/to the bathroom sink, so Scott started by looking underneath the sink. Imagine how cramped working on a bathroom sink is in a regular house. Cut that space in 1/2 and now you're working in an RV bathroom sink cabinet.
Scott figured out that it wasn't the tubing or joints, but the faucet. Remember I said there's not much around Declo? Well that includes, no Home Depot or Lowe's either. Scott did find a local hardware store and we bought a cheap $25. bathroom faucet set. He installed and all is dry. We'll take our time looking for nicer faucet. We're not fancy people and can easily put up with this cheap faucet for quite a while.
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CRAFTS:
I have been working on the sleeves of the COMFY CARDI. So I'm very close to the end! Well, I was until I kept knitting & knitting & knitting while watching TV in bed yesterday. As I was about to shape the shoulders, I measured the length and ...I'm an idiot...the sleeves will end up down to my knuckles!  So, I will have to FROG (rippit, rippit, out) my sleeves to the correct length. I was so close to finishing. Now it will be a day delayed. The feeling is  like driving to your next destination and when you're 10 miles away, you realize you put the wrong coordinates in the GPS and now you have to drive another 100 miles! Oh crap. It's not much fun to have to frog your projects, but you'll be glad you did rather than leaving in a very noticeable mistake you could have fixed.

Today, I sat outside in the bright sunlight to see my knitting better (black yarn), while I frogged, my sleeves. After frogging to the right length, I was left with an unwound pile of loose yarn. No problem, I'll just be careful and I re-knit and eventually the loose yarn will be used up again. But, I didn't take into account that Devin would decide he wanted to play with Lyla and Lyla would come over to me to get away from him. Yep, she walked right through the loose pile of yarn, got her legs wrapped around it and around it. In the meantime, Devin is still trying to get to Lyla. Chaos!!!

Yarn all over!

Scott heard me yelling at Devin, so he came out to help. He's a brave man to enter into this screaming, chaotic situation. Poor Lyla could tell I was upset, so she wanted to jump up and get a hug from me. Oh, I also had headphones attached to my IPod and that also got tangled in. Thank goodness I was on my second glass of wine. Scott brought the dogs into the RV. I untangled my headphones, put them back on and started listening to STASH AND BURN podcast and calmly just proceeded to untangle and roll the yarn into a ball.  Fifteen minutes later, all is in order again.

Well, maybe not everything. I no sooner get my yarn untangled and then I had to untangle Devin.

FOOD REVIEW:
I tried a JAZZ APPLE the other day. Nice very crisp apple, with a slight sweet taste. Not as sweet as a McIntosh. I would purchase again.

Broccoli Salad: We first enjoyed a Broccoli Salad purchased from a PA Dutch Market in NJ. It was delicious. It consisted of broccoli florets, sweet mayo bases dressing, shredded cheese, sweet red onion, & raisins. Since then, we try broccoli salad where ever we can find it.
Albertson's Broccoli Crunch Salad is very good as is Walmart Broccoli Salad. I believe we tried Smith's, which was way too sweet.

Unpredictable weather

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT

Declo, ID 83323

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RV LIFE:

No sense to this weather. Yesterday it was so hot even in the shade, I decided to head indoors to the AC. It was about 80-85° outside. Around 7pm the wind started, it grew dark. Scott went out to secure the outside items such as chairs, bicycles, etc. He comes back in and says it's a dust storm! Well, that's another first for us. I stuck my head out just to "experience" it, even if for 15 seconds. We looked out to where we normally can see the Snake River and nothing visible. The storm left some downed small branches through out, which Devin is loving. He thinks sticks and branches are his own personal toy collection. The storm also caused a cold front to come through and the temperature has been dropping ever since!

This morning I woke up to 41°!! It didn't get above 55° all day and then quickly dropped back down to low 40's after dinner.

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CRAFTS:
Counted Cross Stitch: So after 10 years and aging eyes, I've finished my "I Love Dogs" counted cross stitch yesterday before it got too hot out. This cross stitch has given me MANY hours of enjoyment. While cross stitching, I love sitting outside in the bright sun light, listening to an audio book or podcasts, and enjoying the company of my dogs

So, now what to I do next? I THINK I brought a couple of x stitch projects. Do I want to dig around the basement of the RV to look for them? Nooooo. So do I just concentrate on finishing my worsted weight cardigan? I am definitely a project orientated crafter. I don't like to have too many things going at once. I like to have only 2-3 projects working at a time-an outdoor project, an indoor project, & a travel project.

Outdoor project can be pretty much anything except maybe a huge afghan that would be too hot to work on outside.

An indoor project is usually a more complicated knitted item, such as lace or cables, like in the photos below.

Cables

Cables

Lace & beads

 and then a travel day project means something that can be worked on while bouncing around in our dually pick up Ford 350. So cross stitch is out. Even if I didn't need a magnifier AND glasses to do this, I wouldn't be able to stick the needle in the right spot with all the bouncing. Same goes with a REAL lace project, meaning skinny knitting needles and fingering or lace weight (very thin) yarn.

Many times I just do a worsted weight crochet project, no worries about losing stitches. Traveling is a good time to do charity crocheting, which usually consists of hats & afghan blocks.

I do have my future projects pretty organized, with pattern & yarn together in a zip lock bag. 

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DENNY'S 50 STATE CHALLENGE: An exciting, interactive race across America, where the first person to check into a Denny’s Diner in all 50 states will win FREE GRAND SLAMS FOR LIFE. There are great discount coupons, souvenirs and badges to unlock along the way.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Here at the Village of Trees RV Park, there is a small restaurant called Village Grill within walking distance. Serving food from 8am - to about 9pm. They will deliver to the campground also.

We ate take out dinner the first night.  Good enough to enjoy and satisfy after a day of traveling.

We have since eaten breakfast there quite often. Nothing fancy, but good basic omelets, eggs, pancakes, and home fries. Plenty of food and a good breakfast.

We also ordered pizza hoping we'd be pleasantly surprised. Well...it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. I would actually order again if we didn't feel like cooking or going out. Not enough cheese and the crust was more of the frozen pizza type. Maybe I'll rethink that, I'd rather get a burrito than a poor pizza.

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COFFEE REVIEW:

My rating 5 out of 5: When shopping, we tend to purchase NEWMAN'S OWN products, because they are usually good and the proceeds go to a charity we like.

We tried Newman's Own Organics Special Blend Extra Bold k-cups.  It was too strong for Scott, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Very bold and smooth. Great for that first cup of coffee in the morning.

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BEER REVIEW:

My regular "go to" beer is Corona Light. I only buy a 6 pack at a time, because I don't drink beer very much. But, after a day of traveling and setting up, I NEED a beer, especially if it is a hot day.  It takes the edge off the day and the view of the new campground.  I can be quite critical of where we are staying, before I give it a chance. That is something that Scott has been very good about understanding and putting up with my first impression negative reactions. "Here, have a cold beer, Debbie" Yep, it helps a lot. I may very rarely have a beer on a hot day, so a six pack lacks quite a time. Well, here in this part of Idaho, it's difficult to find a six pack of Corona LIGHT.

The RV park store has a convenience store carrying a variety of beers. So had to try this one because of the name. Moose Drool! I have a lot of experience with drool. Lovely Lyla grows some long wiggly fangs of drool. I have to make it a habit to carry a bandanna with me, not to dress Lyla up, but to wipe the drool from her mouth.

This is a dark ale, but not real strong like many dark beers. I thought it was a nice, slightly robust dark. I could easily drink more of this.

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BOOK REVIEW:

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great read (probably just for women). It was like eavesdropping on the lives of a small village over a 10-12 yr span.
Loving the wrong person and eventually a very difficult life lesson learned.
Finding love with the right person.
Kids growing up into young adults and the wise & poor decisions made and the resulting circumstances.
Lots of strong emotions in the relationships.
I really cared and was very interested in each character.
I must admit, I had to write down all the characters on a paper to keep track of who was who and linked with who, etc.
Loved this book.


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I hate roller coasters!

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT 

Declo, ID 83323

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We had a very busy day today. 

4 wheelin

Out to lunch

Mountain Man Rendezvous

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PETS:
We made plans to go 4 wheelin' in our friend Don's jeep. Big decision, do we let Don take our life in his hands? Just joking of course. We had to decide whether to bring our dogs along or keep them in the RV. That would mean 8 hours alone in the RV. Poor Devin would be crated that whole time. Lyla would be fine, but after a while, I think she would get antsy and start barking wondering where we are. We rarely leave them for that length of time.
1st decision made...we'll bring the dogs.
Another decision, do we take Lyla on the ride with us or leave her in a strange house and hope she settles? Devin will be crated so no problem.  Lyla NEEDS to see us leave or she gets very upset.
2nd decision made...

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SIGHTS:
Don & I got to know each other in 2002, over a 2 week period, while in a training course in Oklahoma for the Post Office. We are walking down the hall and Don asks, "Where are you from?"
I say, "New Jersey"
Don: "Ohhhh, New Joisey?"
I turn and look him in the eyes with that welcoming look a Jersey girl can look, and say...
"DID I SAY JOISEY? THAT'S NOT HOW I TAWLK!"
Well, so much for making friends. We ended up "stuck" being class partners. After 2 weeks, 7 hours together daily, and then meeting for happy hour, then dinner together with other classmates, we did eventually become friends with many happy memories gathered.
We've kept in touch via email for 10 yrs. Scott & I have planned our full time lifestyle for 6 yrs, so I kept promising Don, someday we'll be in Idaho during our travels. Someday has arrived.
Don has sent me multiple photos of his travels through beautiful Idaho. We are now able to experience this beauty in Don's special way.

(Soapbox alert) We hop in his jeep with all the windows and roof taken off. Don decides to take us to CHINK'S PEAK renamed Chinese Peak. Oh boy now you've got me started again. I guess I should keep my thoughts on this to myself. I'll just put some links HERE ABOUT OFFENSIVE GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES. Let me say just one thing...
If you consider yourself "African-American", not "Black" nor "Negro", well, hell, then I'm "European-American", not "White", not "Caucasian". On last year's Census Bureau survey, I listed myself as "Other-European-American", because they listed "African-America", which is ASSumed to be "Black". There are "White" people who are "African-American"! I'm so disgusted with not offending anyone. Life is hard and we all have to learn to toughen up our thin skin. Let me get back on the main subject, 4 wheelin'.

Don was very reassuring, that it is safe...mostly. We make a left onto a dirt road and I assume we'll next be going straight on the dirt road, oh wait, Nooooo! We're heading left on that bumpy, boulder strewn, pot holed "walking" trail! So my favorite phrase for this ride up to the 7000' high peak was...

"Oh Crap, OOOOhhhh, CRAP, OH! CRAP!!!"

It was quite a bit of fun. Lots of rocking and bumping & laughing. There was only one spot that was really scary. As we neared the peak, the ascent became very steep, and rocky. It felt just like when you are ascending that highest, steepest part of a roller coaster ride, only there were no chains keeping the vehicle attached to a rail. Oh crap! We're going to flip backwards! Don is laughing with, well really at me, Scott is doing the same. Well I later learned he was quite nervous on that part also.

We get to the peak, get out of the jeep for some beautiful views and to make sure our legs have turned from rubber back to solid. Don notices that his jeep is leaking coolant. Oh crap. We've got to head back. We won't be able to go on some other mountains as planned today.

Hallelujah!!!

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:
We certainly built up an appetite after our wild ride. Glad we didn't eat before hand. We would not only be checking out Don's coolant leak but also cleaning his jeep after getting sick!
Don & Marsha go to this Greek Restaurant just about weekly.  We all ended up ordering the same thing. Delicious.

Our rating 4.5 out of 5

Being from NJ, we wondered if Idaho would ruin what we know as a Gyro.
Tables are closer together than I'd like, so I would suggest a booth if you can get it. Very casual outside dining, covered for shade.
We arrived on a busy Saturday afternoon. They were either short staffed or didn't expect a crowd. We could see our waitress was frustrated with having to be not only seating hostess, cashier, waitress and then back up waitress for the only other waitress temporarily missing in action. She did a great job, kept a smile on her face and apologized for any delay.
GYROS: We had the regular gyro with feta cheese added. I've never had feta cheese on a gyro before. What a great addition. The gyro was excellent. Sometimes in NJ at fairs, the food truck gyro is made with ranch dressing. The gyro at Grecian Key was authentic, made with a cucumber sauce.
Pita was soft and fresh. Meat spiced nicely and delicious. My only negative was I would have liked a little more onion (just my taste).
FRENCH FRIES: We ordered a basket of steak fries. Average.
I would love to return, but probably won't be back to Pocatello until next year.

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And we're STILL not finished with our activities today. When living in NJ after I retired, the joke at my "What's the Scoop" knitting group, was that I didn't like to do more than ONE social thing a day.  Today I'm already past my quota.
We now head off to Port-Neuf Muzzleloaders Mountain Man Rendezvous. This is a gathering where the group re-create life of the Mountain Man. Tents, cooking in cast iron pots over an open fire, knife throwing contest, muzzleloaders shooting competition, etc. Very nice event.

While walking around with our setters, checking out all the tent set ups, one of the pioneer women came up to me and said they have an English Setter. So off we go talking about English Setters and how difficult they can be as youngsters, but then turn out wonderful and it's worth all the work. We spoke for quite a long time. Talked about our RV adventure. Very nice couple. They live in UT and invited us to set up overnight on their property if ever needed. Thank you REX & MARISA & ANNABELLE.
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RV LIFE:
So, after this busy day already, I set myself outside with my knitting, put my feet up and trying to figure out where I left off.
Not 5 minutes into my knitting a couple come walking towards our site.
"Are you Debbie?"
"Yes"
"We read your blog!"
So, the tables have been turned. While in Santa Fe, I burst onto a campsite and said sort of the same thing to Brad & Suzanne of RVING & TRAVELS BLOG.
Now we are the "celebrities"! So we met Dave & Teri of FLIP FLOP VECTOR BLOG. I really have a terrible memory and I am currently subscribed to too many blogs. I had to start a spreadsheet to try to keep track of who is who and what they do, etc. I had to admit I didn't know who they were. They said I follow their blog and left a comment also. I did recognize their blog name, but couldn't place any specifics. We had an easy, enjoyable conversation for almost an hour. Too bad they were leaving in the morning.
After they left and I gave up my knitting because it was now getting late, of course I had to power up my computer and "snoop" around their blog. Oooohhhh, of course! These are the new full timers who have a great blog and Dave is a hilarious writer!!!! I can't get through a post of his without laughing. Their blog is a very good read!
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WINE REVIEW:
While in Santa Fe, we visited Don Quixote Distillery & Winery. (post of 4/21/12)
Don Quixote Te Amo SANGRIA
My rating 3 out of 5

Just an average Sangria, smooth red wine with just a touch of fruitiness and sweetness. It was refreshing served over ice on a hot day.
Would probably not buy again.

Around town

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT 
Declo, ID 83323
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LOCAL SIGHTS:

We went to breakfast in Rupert, about 6 miles from the RV Park. Review is below. After breakfast, we stopped at the Post Office to mail some post cards and a letter. One way streets in town, so we were forced to take a tour of their historical town center.

That's about it!

After our little errand was done and our historical tour complete, we headed back. Stopped at a local Feed store that sold dog food. Many of these places surprisingly carry better dog food and TASTE OF THE WILD, that we feed our dogs.No luck this time, but it was sure fun just walking around the store. Lots of cowboy hats, a little snack bar, and whole display of boot spurs and WHITE LEGHORN chicks for sale. I've never seen that in NJ. Although, working in the Post Office, we did often see chicks & ducklings shipped via mail. We enjoyed the peeping noises while the air holed box sat on the supervisor's desk to keep safe prior to delivery. These are egg laying chickens rather than raised for meat. They lay an average of 280 eggs each per year.

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PETS/ANIMALS:
I slept until 8am! Devin was still asleep on our bed by my feet! Did Scott drug him?
Devin has been enjoying our ever changing neighbors. This park is very dog friendly and Devin has been a gem as dogs pass on their walks. Some dog neighbors we've had this last couple of weeks, are a very friendly & not yappy long haired chihuahua, Springer Spaniel, Lab, 5 month Lab puppy. It's been nice for me also to meet new dogs.

There are about a dozen horses right next to the RV Park. I knew at least one or two were pregnant. Well the black horse gave birth to a beautiful black & white foul. So cute seeing it keep close to it's Mom. Amazing that is is out in the field hanging out with Mom when it is only one day old!

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Our rating 3 out of  5

Interesting architecture. The inside is a circular open floor plan. The waitress station is in the center of the room. Huge wooden rafters spread out from the center.
HOME FRIES: Good, nothing special. Just fresh shredded potato, fried on the grill till crispy.
EGGS OVER EASY: Done to perfection.
PANCAKE: Average, not great, but not bad.
SAUSAGE LINKS: Very good
FRIED SCONE: Interesting and huge. In NJ, a scone is like a tea biscuit. Here is is basically fried sweet bread, slight taste resemblance to funnel cake.
We did return for breakfast again.