Welcome to Boise... on the Western edge of the Rocky Mountains and the Eastern edge of a very large desert.
This is my town. It can get hot in the summer, and cold in the winter. The leaves change colors in the autumn and the hills are green in the Spring.
I'm writing this for those who have never been to Boise, have never thought about visiting here, and/or when you have gone on vacation to somewhere in the US have gone to either the East or West coast, somewhere with "Disney" in the name, or Las Vegas. Please remember, it's 3500 miles from Seattle, Washington to Key West, Florida.... and it's 3100 miles from San Diego, California to Brunswick, ME. Go ahead, map it yourself... those are the four corners of the mainland America... imagine all the people you've missed in between those four points!!
Case in point: My town of Boise:
This picture is looking towards NNW and you can see the blue and orange of the Boise State Bronco Stadium in the lower right corner. We have a WINNING collegiate football program with the best, and most humble, coach in Coach Chris Peterson.
From his bio on
Broncosports:
Success has come at extraordinary levels for Boise State head football coach Chris Petersen during his five years guiding the program. Petersen is the winningest active coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision, boasting a 61-5 record for a winning percentage of .924. The mark is the second-highest amongst active coaches at any four-year institution, regardless of division or association. He is also one of just six coaches nationally to have won multiple Bowl Championship Series games at his current school.
Under “Coach Pete” the Broncos have put together five-consecutive 10-win seasons, in addition to capturing four Western Athletic Conference Championships and winning three bowl games. The Broncos have gone undefeated twice under Petersen – 13-0 in 2006 and 14-0 in 2009 – capping each season with a victory in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Following the 2010 season, Petersen was unanimously selected as the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, awarded annually to a coach who represents the highest ideals both on and off the field. He was also recognized in the offseason as having the best Academic Progress Rate (APR) average the past two reporting years for FBS head coaches.
Petersen is also the only individual to win two Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year Awards, earning his first after his debut season in 2006 and his second in 2009. Boise State went undefeated during both seasons.
In addition to winning the Bear Bryant award in 2006, Petersen was a finalist for the 2006 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, a semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award and was named the Region 4 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. He was a finalist for the Liberty Mutual and Eddie Robinson Awards in 2008, and for the Joseph V. Paterno Award in 2010.
He was also named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2009.
Considered one of the most innovative offensive minds in the collegiate coaching ranks, Petersen and his staff have guided an offense that ranks amongst the nation’s best year-in and year-out.
The green swath of trees across the middle of the picture is about 2 miles of the Boise River. In the summer, you can bring or rent innertubes or rafts and float 5 miles of the river from Barber Park to Ann Morrison Park. If you do it right, this can be absolutely free!!! Otherwise, park your car at Ann Morrison park, take the River shuttle to Barber Park (it used to be $1, but may have gone up) and fill up your tubes and rafts with the air hoses then get in the river.
See those hills in the background?? In the summer and fall the hiking, camping, mountain biking, geocaching, hunting, fishing and just about any other outdoor sport is perfect up there. In the winter, downhill and cross country skiing is the sport du jour, but don't let that stop you getting outside for a walk.
Hotels are plentiful, from major chains to boutique hotels of all sizes and price ranges. Boise has a few guest houses and Bed and Breakfasts, and a year or so ago, Boise's first Hostel opened downtown, just a few blocks from the bus station and a block or two from the bus route from the airport, which is only 2.5 miles away.
So, are you intrigued?? Want to see and hear more about the area?? Well, of course you could Google the area, or you can pop over to
my podcast page and have a listen. Available on iTunes, you can subscribe with a click on the show picture. The show with the word "podcast" and the picture of the gnome in New Zealand is the Libsyn feed.
You can also go directly to www.boiseandbeyond.libsyn.com and listen there if you don't want to download the shows to a player.
Below is the new graphic for the show...
