We spent a week in Eagle, Idaho, hanging out with my BFF from high school and her family. Pam and I met when we were 13, but became inseparable, boy-crazy, note-passing, annoyingly adorable (if not extremely naïve) thick-as-thieves buddies in ninth grade. We sat side-by-side in art class, where we were the youngest in the class of mostly seniors. We were the childish freshmen, who got called out by the teacher from time to time. We kept track of the teen-dream, older boys in the class, who didn’t know of our existence. Think giggly girls who actually drew pictures of themselves in wedding gowns with the 17-year-old cool, skater boy, and his buddy, who got expelled toward the end of the year.
That was us. Anyway, 14-year-old Amy and Pam were a little obnoxious, but we’ve come a long way! We met in Pineville, LA, but each moved to other parts of the state before the end of high school. I have great memories of hanging out with her and her dad in their sweet pad in Shreveport one summer — enjoying the lake, riding around in his red Chrysler Le Baron convertible, and meeting cute boys in the area. She was my maid of honor 23 years ago, and though we lost touch for quite a while, we reconnected a few years ago (before we had kids). I was able to spend some time with her in California when she lived there, and then after we had our babies, we ended up in the same place at the same time for a day or two here and there, and got all caught up.
This time, the kids were old enough to remember each other, so her two boys and my two girls had a great week playing and hanging out. She’s lived in Idaho for several years, and she was the best hostess to us during our week in Eagle. We enjoyed the Boise area, and I think it will go down as one of the girls’ favorite stops on our RV tour of the USA. Pam’s sons, Max (7) and Emmet (5), showed the girls some of their favorite local parks, swimming spots, and splash pads. Pam cooked for us more than once, and her husband, Brad, grilled for us one night.
We enjoyed several happy hours in town, a pretty cool vintage arcade spot, some shopping, YMCA rock wall climbing and swimming, a visit to the Old Idaho Penitentiary, a trip to the World Center for Birds of Prey, and some great eats!
We ended our week by watching the Fourth of July fireworks show at Expo Idaho last night. The kids had a great time playing chase before dark, and “oohed and “aahed” once the show began.
We pulled out of Eagle this morning (our campground was a mere half-mile from Pam’s house, which made things so convenient), after saying some quick “See ya laters” to my favorite Idahoans.
We had such a great week! Thanks to Pam and clan, we will cherish some great memories from our Idaho stop. I never knew all that much about Idaho (aside from the potatoes), but it’s a great place that’s home to some fantastic people!
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