DOIN' SOME GOOD

“I feel like I did you some good,” my mother would say. That usually meant she had been able to solve some sort of problem for me. Perhaps she mended a shirt or dusted or whatever. By doing these good deeds, she had “done me some good.” But when I used the phrase in conversation the other day, Mike said he had never heard it and didn’t know what it meant.

Several people wished us a good time prior to our weekend trip to Boise, but the “rescue Milo” mission felt heavy. Our son Milo is going through a divorce. I mention it because it’s a matter of record and besides, if we haven’t been through it ourselves, we probably know several who have. Some, like Milo, have to rebuild their lives. 

“We could board Nellie instead of taking her with us,” I suggested to Mike. “It would do her good – get her acclimated for longer stays.”

“Oh, I don’t think she’d like it,” Mike replied. (I'm not sure we treated the children with as much deference as we do the dog.)  

So, Mike sought out a pet-friendly Super8 Motel in Boise, and Nellie rode along. She’s a good traveler, but I’m just not sure she truly appreciates the experience. She expresses her opinion freely – rarely vocally but by body language. Something about this trip had her out of sorts. Perhaps it was the cramped quarters because she had to share her space with a bike frame, work stand and toolbox. The best of the two-day experience for her was that someone gave her a hot dog and she was allowed to clean up the mess where 18 raw eggs splatted onto the driveway.

We left for Boise at 6:30 Good Friday morning. We made one geocaching rest stop on the way down. If you know the area, we left Highway 95 and crossed the Salmon River at Lucile. The photo above is of Mike and Nellie trying to locate the cache, which proved to be behind them. (I found it.) We were with Milo by 1:30 p.m. (MDT).

The first order of business was to put together a bicycle for Milo. The frame of his had broken, so they used an old frame from Mike’s storehouse of spare parts. First they removed usable components from Milo’s bike, then rebuilt on Mike’s frame. Both Mike and Milo are good amateur bicycle mechanics. The work went quickly and was mostly finished on Friday.

Saturday morning we shopped – mostly at Winco. But we made other stops, including Jo-Ann Fabrics. It was a nice big store, but the only remnants available were fleece. Not what I wanted. Disappointing. 

Saturday noon we picked up Milo’s two boys – Mason (10) and Gage (almost 7). After lunch at McDonald’s, we drove out to Fort Boise where we hiked and Grandpa Mike helped the boys find geocaches -- what else? Unfortunately we removed bags from the car to make room for the boys and inadvertently left behind the caching maps which are helpful. So, we cached at Fort Boise, then drove to another park, then drove back to Fort Boise. 

The Fort Boise area includes hiking / biking trails and affords a spectacular view of the city. You can see the Idaho State Capital Building in the photo above.

The photo to the right is of Milo, Mason, Mike and Nellie at a city park. The one below includes Gage on the platform.

The boys worked up an appetite by mid-afternoon, so it was back to McDonald’s for more burgers.

I guess it was close to 4:00 p.m. when we said our farewells to Milo and the boys. We were home by 8:40, having gained an hour’s time -- from Mountain Zone back to Pacific. 

Anyway, despite a busy schedule and some heavy issues, we did have a good time – and I believe we “did some good.” KW