2023 Road Trip: Boise, ID I (5/22/2023)

Monday, May 22, 2023
Leaving Reno, we started heading northeast.

Winnemucca, NV was considered the Gateway to the
Pacific Northwest, being the start of a proposed
Winnemucca to the Sea Highway as a continuation of
US-40 (now I-80) on a northerly route to Crescent City, CA

The large redwood log was cut from a huge piece of
driftwood that washed ashore during a flood in Crescent City
in 1964, and was presented to Winnemucca in 1965; the
log is 13'/4 m in diameter and seems to have been 1,477
years old for several years now (a Roadside America attraction)

Winners Casino (1950) in Winnemucca, NV

When in Rome ... Kent feeds the slot machine; they
call it a 1¢ slot machine, but the minimum bet was 60¢

You can pull the lever, or just push a button;
we put in four singles, won a dollar, and bet that;
however, it really feels like you are throwing away money!

A recommended diner called "Somewhere Out West" in McDermitt, OR was closed. We had to backtrack to a Subway, the only eatery for miles and miles, which was very busy!

Lizard Butte near Marsing, ID

A stop to see the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, ID:

Spirit of Idaho Women (2022, by Irene Deely) depicts a
woman in Hellenistic dress similar to the woman on
the Idaho State seal (the only state seal designed by a
woman, Emma Edwards Green); this woman has
followed in the footsteps of women who have come before,
and she offers one of her shoes to the women of the future

Idaho State Capitol (1905, by
John E Tourtellotte and Charles Hummel
in Classical Revival style)

Full-scale replica of the Liberty Bell (1950)
(without the crack) that passersby can ring

Grand Army of the Republic Monument
(1935) honors the men in the Union Army
who served in the Civil War

Idaho State Capitol

Steunenberg Memorial (1925-1927) honors
Frank Steunenberg, who became governor
of Idaho with labor union support, during a
period of labor unrest; when miners destroyed
the mills of a company that hired only
non-union labor, Steunenberg declared
martial law and had federal troops called in

Steunenberg's actions were considered a betrayal of the labor unions support, and he was assassinated in 1905.

Statue (1915, by Alphonso Pelzer) of
Abraham Lincoln was originally placed
at the Soldiers Home, but was moved
to the Capitol grounds in 2009

This statue is said to be the oldest monument to Abraham Lincoln in the western states. It was Lincoln who signed the act creating the Idaho Territory.

Bust (2018, by Benjamin Victor) of
Cecil D Andrus, Idaho's longest serving
governor, who was also the US Secretary
of the Interior under President Jimmy Carter

Dinner was at the Westside Drive-in (1957)

Westside Drive-in interior

No, we did not try the ice cream potato!

We shared finger steaks (deep-fried breaded chunks
of sirloin with a dipping sauce like cocktail sauce),
and an Idaho baked potato

The finger steaks were well-breaded

Next: Boise, ID II.