The second weekend in September was a special one. The "Boise Babes" had a much anticipated date with the city of Burley, Idaho. "Boise Babes" is what my high school friends and I call ourselves. And why wouldn't we?! It's plain to see we're all babes. It's nothing to joke about.
Since we don't all live in Boise anymore, we needed a central location for a retreat. Some live in Utah and others live in Idaho Falls, so Burley just made sense. For so many reasons... =)
The original plan was to have all the babes congregate in Burley on Friday evening and stay until Sunday morning. On that Wednesday, Joni let us know she couldn't join us because her mother had been admitted to the hospital after being found unconscious at home. Her mom lives in Boise, so that's where Joni was going.
She was the one who made the reservation for the house and collected our dues, and now she couldn't be there. She encouraged us to carry on without her. It didn't seem right for us to head to Burley for a fun-filled weekend while Joni and her family were in distress, not knowing what would happen with her mom.
After some discussion, those of us who live in town (Renee, Maria and I) decided to stay at Maria's parents' house that Friday night to make some freezer meals and cards for Joni and her family. Juli also opted to come support Joni. She drove from Idaho Falls, saying she wouldn't go to Burley until after she could visit Joni.
By the time Juli arrived, we had almost finished preparing the freezer meals, so we were ready to meet her at the door with a triple mooning. (Hey, we had to do something to lighten up the mood. ;)
She brought a bunch of supplies for making cards, so we sat around the table until 4:00 AM, chatting, eating candy and trying to write appropriate sentiments on our homemade cards.
Suzy, Emily, Darcie, and Beca stuck with the original plan of spending the night in Burley.
Saturday morning, we went to the hospital to see Joni. She seemed so grateful we came. We visited with her for a while, then we had an early lunch with her downstairs in the cafeteria. She'd already been in Boise for a couple of days, but needed to get back home to Utah for the rest of the weekend. Her sister was set to take a turn sitting with their mom.
Joni carpooled with us to Burley, where we met the other babes at a restaurant. Suzy had already left for another engagement, so we just barely missed a chance to have us all there in one place at the same time. =(
Joni continued on her way home after about an hour of catching up with the others. We sent the cooler full of freezer meals with her. We hope they were edible after the longish car ride. Seriously. Juli also had the idea to send her with a gas card. She's so thoughtful!
The house we stayed in was really cute. I'll let the pictures do the talking:
Emily, Renee, and Beca takin' it easy.
Juli (discreetly picking her nose?)
Tootsies and a view of the dining area
Maria's reaction to the severe shortage of foodstuffs.
Cute house, eh?
Darcie is a famed Utah cross-fitter, so she had her workout clothes on for the eventuality of climbing stuff and doing other impressive exercises while the rest of us simply walked.
I spotted a tree with an S-shaped trunk. Planted expressly for me, I assume.
We stumbled upon a Latin radio station in a run-down building space. We could see the authentically Mexican DJ through the huge window, and he appeared to be on air. Maria disregarded the signs that said something along the lines of "Never Enter!" and happily went inside to make a dedication to our friend, Natalie, who lives in Arizona.
The rest of us wandered in after her. The poor guy tried to be polite. Maria wanted him to play "Livin' La Vida Loca" for Nat. I doubt he'd ever had so many babes in his studio before.
One thing led to another, and the next thing we knew, Maria was on air being interviewed. I wonder if anyone was tuned in. =) I think she committed us to meeting up with him and his cronies at some kind of discoteca later that night after his shift. It was a funny few minutes, but in the end we decided to go out to dinner instead. Chadwick's came highly recommended by Beca. It was all she could talk about! Maybe because it was the only restaurant around. Beca, Emily, Suzy, and Darcie had eaten there the night before. They couldn't stop raving about it.
We had some yummy food, including fried pickles! And I tried my luck with their house burger, which had ham, a fried egg, cheddar cheese and aioli sauce on it. (I just now had to Google the menu so I could accurately list the ingredients - great! Now I'm hungry!) It was actually pretty tasty.
Renee and Me
Darcie, Beca, Emily, Juli
Looking pleased with their dining destination
At one point, when our chatty waitress stopped at our table, Beca asked if the place was haunted. She confirmed Beca's hunch and told us a few accounts of sightings upstairs. Eeek!
Beca shared a couple of her own ghostly experiences, and others recounted even more stories they'd heard.
I had major chills, to the point of tears springing to my eyes because I was so creeped out.
Somehow we made it back to the house safely after our meal. We spent a few hours hanging out, stalking people on FB, catching up and generally enjoying each other's company. We missed the babes who couldn't stay or lived too far away. Maybe next year we can try again.
Here we are Sunday morning shortly after waking up.
It was time to go our separate ways.
But only after taking a picture of a the most literal footstool I'd ever seen...
And that's it for beautiful Burley! I know you're sad there isn't more. I think we all had fun. It's always a treat seeing old friends, especially when they're babes.
P.S. Joni's mom was in a coma for several days, but doctors were gradually able to bring her out of it. She is recovering, and from what I understand, doing much better.
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