Boise Travel Journal

12/28, 7:12 a.m. Leave driveway for Jacobson Building. Kate wonders if Ben should have called his boss at the radio network and informed him that we would be departing from Ames rather than meeting the travel party in Des Moines.

12/28, 8:57 a.m. Ben and Kate, sitting on the bus and watching all the melee on the tarmac at the Des Moines International Airport, notice Ben's radio network boss standing around seemingly looking all over for someone.

12/28, 9:11 a.m. Kate notices that the Miami Air aircraft they are about to board is named “Lois.”

12/28, 9:27 a.m. Radio network boss smacks Ben as he walks by him on the plane. He was looking all over for us. Kate refrains temporarily from declaring, “I told you so.”

12/28, 9:46 a.m. The cheerleader sitting next to me on the plane is reading the Trivial Pursuit 20th anniversary edition cards. Preparing to cheat?

12/28, 10:24 a.m. I see snow-capped mountains out the window!

12/28, 11:35 a.m. Miami Air #649, a.k.a. “Lois,” lands safely at the Boise Airport. Kate is impressed with pilot’s ability after landing is unexpectedly gentle.

12/28, 12:40 p.m. Kate plays with her new digital camera outside the Doubletree Riverside, then drags Ben with her for more playing with the digital camera.

12/28, 6:45 p.m. Kate and Ben excitedly board bus for “Heroes Welcome” tailgate party at the Boise Convention Center.

12/28, 7:02 p.m. Kate and Ben arrive at “Heroes Welcome” tailgate party at Boise Convention Center. This is pretty boring.

12/28, 7:41 p.m. Mmmmmmm…they have beer at this thing.


And when I've had enough beers, I'll gladly get my pic with Cy.

12/28, 8:22 p.m. Maybe just one more beer. Have I had anything to eat? Just a tiny hot dog. I should take it easy.

12/28, 9:14 p.m. Mmmmmm…hotel bar. They have beer. Owner of local Amoco service station buys Ben and Kate a beer.

12/28, 9:55 p.m. Stupid Colorado. They lost to Wisconsin. Kate wishes she had potatoes to throw at the TV screen. You would think they’d have bowls full of the stuff just sitting around in Boise bars explicitly for that purpose.

12/28, 10:25 p.m. Hey! There’s Marjean. I love Marjean.

12/28, 10:27 p.m. Hey! There’s Tom my old boss. I love Tom my old boss.

12/28, 10:35 p.m. Maybe I’ll just have one more beer to go with these chicken nachos.

12/28, 10:36 p.m. Hey! There’s Rufie from the weight room. I love Rufie from the weight room.

12/28, 10:59 p.m. Kate once again reflects upon how stupid Colorado is and searches for non-existent potatoes as she finishes her beer.

12/28, 11:11 p.m. Ben and Kate saunter over to chat for a few with Mike and Andy. I love Mike and Andy! No more beer for me, though.

12/28, 11:35 p.m. Hey, Chuck from the Associated Press is leaving the bar. Bye, Chuck from the Associated Press. P.S. I love Chuck from the Associated Press. Nope, I’m good, bartender.

12/29, 1:42 p.m. Kate and Ben are soaking up downtown Boise. And everything is closed. I forgot it was Sunday. This stinks. And these boots are hurting my feet.

12/29, 2:43 p.m. I don’t think I’m an unintelligent person, but I am just not understanding this modern art exhibit. Why is this man’s hand whimpering while clutching yellow fabric, and then whimpering while clutching red fabric? Help! Someone! Do you have anything by Monet in this joint?

12/29, 3:10 p.m. Ben blows a giant soap bubble at the Discovery Center of Idaho.

12/29, 3:48 p.m. Kate calls her mom to get the basketball score, thinking that the game was at 2 p.m. when it was really not until 7 p.m. Oops. Mom asks Kate if she is in a bar.

12/29, 5:24 p.m. Kate is served soup at a Thai restaurant. Ben looks disturbed as Kate freaks out when realizing that Gen, the cracked-out designer from Trading Spaces, has designed a room around this very soup.

12/29, 5:33 p.m. There are juicy bits of corn in my crab fried rice. Yum.

12/29, 6:08 p.m. Kate and Ben are greeted in the hotel lobby by a slew of their friends, who invite them to go along to the Boise 21-Plex Movie Theater.

12/29, 6:55 p.m. Eight dollars and twenty-five cents for a movie!

12/29, 7:11 p.m. Mmmmmm…Raisinettes.

12/29, 9:24 p.m. “Catch Me if You Can” is a fantastic flick.

12/29, 9:33 p.m. We realize we are going the wrong way on the expressway for the third time this evening. Kate shrugs and says she really wouldn’t mind going to Oregon. Roger, who is driving the car, asks his wife if she knows where his glasses are.

12/30, 8:30 a.m. Kate straps on her sneakers and heads outside for a walk by the river with Joni and Sarah. Ben snores.

12/30, 8:41 a.m. Though Kate was not available to document it, it is a safe bet that Ben continues to snore.

12/30, 9:42 a.m. Kate grabs a yogurt off the breakfast buffet, thinking it will be the perfect finishing touch to her meal.

12/30, 10:15 a.m. Kate tries to get someone at the table to take her yogurt, which she is too stuffed to eat.

12/30, 10:44 a.m. Mmmmmm…hot tub.

12/30, 12:54 p.m. Am I really lounging around the hotel room watching HBO? What is wrong with me? Must. Do. Something. Productive.

12/30, 1:12 p.m. Productively, Kate buys a new stick of deodorant from the hotel gift shop.

12/30, 1:55 p.m. Hooray! Kate’s parents and brother are finally here. Kate invites them to come eat lunch in the hotel restaurant, since their hotel restaurant is closed for the holiday season. *snort*

12/30, 3:01 p.m. Marjean suggests that we all go to the “Personality Room” for a drink. She meant Hospitality Room.

12/30, 4:12 p.m. Kate engages in a rather lengthy conversation with Seneca Wallace’s brother in the Personality Room.

12/30, 5:08 p.m. After receiving a tip from a Personality Room guest, Kate investigates the rumor that the Cyclone Spirit Rally has been cancelled. It has. Kate announces this to the group, who would throw potatoes at her if they had them. What is up with this place?

12/30, 6:25 p.m. Kate gets dressed for the dinner with her family, Mike, and Kathy at Mortimer’s in downtown Boise.

12/30, 7:11 p.m. Our snooty waitress at Mortimer’s informs us that we are about to experience a perfectly-portioned, excellent dining experience. She clearly thinks we are all dumb Iowa hicks for her to poop on.

12/30, 7:35 p.m. Our snooty waitress asks us if we have a problem. Ummmm...you?

12/30, 8:42 p.m. Mmmmm…berry sorbet.

12/30, 10:14 p.m. After a six-course meal, Mike, Kathy, Kate, and Ben wait outside the restaurant for the hotel shuttle to pick them up. It is cold and raining outside, but the group is afraid to go back inside for fear that the evil snooty waitress might bite them.

12/30, 11:43 p.m. Kate requests a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call. Tomorrow is the big game.

12/31, 7:30 a.m. Kate and Ben get on the bus for the game. It is dark and morning, and we are going to a football game. What is wrong with this picture?

12/31, 7:41 a.m. Someone on this bus does not smell good.

12/31, 8:08 a.m. So this is Bronco Stadium. The turf is very, um, blue.

12/31, 8:16 a.m. Cyclone Radio Network is on the air, live from the presidential suite of possibly the smallest Division I college football press box on earth.

12/31, 9:45 a.m. Kate can’t believe she is actually working in this press box. She announces that if anything happens between the 25- and 35-yard lines on either side, she won’t be able to see it as there are giant beams obstructing her view.

12/31, 10:16 a.m. This does not feel like a bowl game.

12/31, 11:46 a.m. Halftime. We’re up. Things look good. Kate drinks a Diet Coke.

12/31, 12:58 p.m. Kate begins working quite feverishly on the postgame notes, since she really isn’t too interested in watching what’s going down on the field.

12/31, 2:06 p.m. Kate adds “most points scored by an opponent in an ISU bowl game” to her list of postgame notes and bangs head into table.

12/31, 3:14 p.m. Kate and Ben ride the bus from the stadium to the airport. We are standing because there is not enough room on the bus.

12/31, 3:18 p.m. Everyone on this bus is an idiot. Boise sucks. Let’s go home.

12/31, 3:57 p.m. The flight attendant examines the carry-ons that are ever-so-slightly protruding out from under the seat and actually says, “Bad exit row, bad,” to Kate, Ben, and the mascot squad member who are seated in Row 19 of Air Force Three (the pilot had announced to the passengers that they were riding on the plane that carried George Bush and Dick Cheney when they were campaigning, and this is how it earned the name “Air Force Three”).

12/31, 3:58 p.m. Lois was cooler than Air Force Three. Oh, how I long for you, Lois.

12/31, 4:17 p.m. Ben wonders why, if Air Force Three was all pimped out for the prez, they turned it back into this crappy plane with uncomfortable seats.

12/31, 5:10 p.m. Kate informs the guy sitting next to her that, if they served the meals in order of who was grouchiest, she should get hers first.

12/31, 5:36 p.m. Ben, who has barely uttered a word since leaving the stadium, begins singing a montage of Weezer songs in Kate’s ear. Kate laughs uncontrollably for, seemingly, no reason.

12/31, 7:16 p.m. Ben does the squirrel dance.

12/31, 7:41 p.m. Ben tells Kate that she seems drunk. She is not.

12/31, 9:17 p.m. Kate and Ben finally figure out what’s wrong. Being a Cyclone fan has officially driven them insane.

12/31, 11:59 p.m. Kate rings in the new year sitting on her couch and reading a magazine with a bird on her head while wearing a Humanitarian Bowl stocking hat. At least the basketball team beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Go Clones.