WalkingWithWomen was started through coffee time with women because I was looking for friends following a recent move. I was a new widow that had just moved to Boise for a staff position at a local church in the Children’s Ministry. I discovered I was with young moms, and as a new widow in my late fifties, I was missing my friends back in Oregon. So I asked women to join me for coffee. And they did! Each week we had 3-17 women for a year and a half!
In that year and a half, we grew to connecting for dine-outs, day outs to explore, going to concerts and plays, and beginning a Bible study. Today, we have over 200 following us on various social media outlets and through a newsletter connection. We have continued our original activities while adding a few new ones: joinTheConversation; a ZOOM conversation for women to simply “talk”, walking 2 times a week, in addition to a weekly hike.
The amazing thing is, we never have the same people! There is always a new mix. We always have a great time! Best of all, in my opinion, friendships are being made!
Our most recent activity, a road trip, was this past weekend. We drove up to Idaho City, about 1.5 hours from Boise, and went snowshoeing. For most of us, this was our first time, a few our second, and one, it was the first time in years. We had a blast!
My husband and I searched out Idaho City a couple of weekends before the ladies and went, so we found the treasures!
On both trips, we stayed at the Idaho City Hotel. The hotel is historic, “Built in 1929, the Smith Hotel and Boarding House opened for business in 1930. Mrs. Mary Smith catered mostly to logging crews who feasted on her wonderful breakfasts, took her boxed lunches to the woods, and returned in the evening for huge, hot dinners. When the building was renovated in 1974, it was determined that many of the timbers are older than 1929, confirming the legend that part of the structure might have come from an old hotel in Placerville, ID.” (https://www.idahocityhotel.net/about-us)
The hotel rents out to parties, so for the ladies’ trip, we booked the five rooms, and went up the night before meeting others who joined us Saturday morning to snowshoe.
Trudy’s, a restaurant in town, has wonderful, home-style cooking, all made fresh daily! We enjoyed breakfast, lunch, and dinner through the days in Idaho City. The large portions filled us to just eating two meals a day!
Idaho City grooms the airstrip for snowshoeing and cross country skiing, so it was perfect for beginners. As a part of the Boise National Forest, there are two trails as well: Buena Vista and Charcoal Gulch. Buena Vista is a large groomed 2.5 mile circle around the airstrip; while Charcoal Gulch is an ungroomed trail going up 3 miles into the forest. Both are beautiful!
The trailhead for all trails is at the Idaho City Airstrip.
In addition to snowshoeing, we walked the historic town, in the Boise Basin, a 200 square mile area with a history that gold was discovered in 1862, in nearby Centerville. At one time Idaho City was home to 6,000 and believe it or not, in 1863 and 1864, Idaho City was the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, including Portland, OR!
A bit more history, in May 1865, a spectacular fire burned most of Idaho City. Immediately after, homeowners and businesses began rebuilding, this time with brick, replacing the old wooden structures. Many of these buildings are still standing today.
Idaho City is truly a “must stop” when you visit Southern Idaho! Check out the pictures below from our adventure!
We hope you are enjoying our Road Trippin’ blogs. Watch for more as we venture out in February with friends and family — hikes, preparing for birdwatching, and the bird migration coming down from the mountains for the spring/summer. We will travel to Old Fort Boise in March for the White Geese migration.
We look forward to hearing your Road Trippin’ stories. Please email us at walkingwithwomenkaty@gmail.com
On to exploring with friends,
Katy
