Day 20, Rest day and a decision to make

As I look out my room tonight and see the dark, rainless clouds roll in, all I can think is 'geez, they're going to trap the extreme heat and raise the humidity'.  When I set out to do this ride, I hadn't really thought much about extreme weather events, other than that I might have a day or two now and again where I might have to wait out the weather.  Five days now of 100 degree temps, with at least two to three more, after three days of a winter storm just a week ago!  Last night the low was around 80, and it would have been much too hot to ride onto Mountain Home today.  I'm worried that tomorrow morning will be more of the same, forcing me to do something foolish, like ride anyway, or feel stuck in Boise for another day.

I slept a lot last night and took a nap this afternoon, and my body is feeling fully recovered from the stress of the last few days of riding in the extreme heat. I'm peeing normally again (as of last night, despite drinking gallons of liquid, I had only peed three times from 6 AM to 8 PM).

I noodled around downtown Boise this morning, had breakfast at a great local place, Goldy's, and generally checked out the scene.  There is a lot of construction going on, and it looked very prosperous, with no empty storefronts.  Quite a contrast to a lot of the areas I've been in.  Being Mr. curious economist, I googled the unemployment rate for Boise, 5.3% in April.  Lots lower than Idaho, which was 6.2%.  The other nearby states are: Utah at 4.7%, Montana at 5.5% and Wyoming at 4.8%.  Idaho is still more than 3% higher than the pre-recession rate, but clearly hasn't suffered like its neighbors on the coast.

By noon, it was almost 100, and time to retreat to the coolness of my room, where I watched today's stage of the Tour, and took a nap.

My nice cool, spacious room.  Note the easy chair and ottoman!

This afternoon I caught up on some Shanti work, and other emails, and bills.  I had a nice meal at Bar Gernika, which three of my Boise connections had all recommended.  I had a spicy lamb grinder, which is a bit like a philly cheesestake, with thin slices of lamb, pepper jack cheese, mushrooms and jalapenos, and a bowl of dipping sauce.  Basque croquetas accompanied the sandwich, and they were little fried balls of creamy potato and chicken flavor.  Topped off with Basque rice pudding, I'm feeling well fed tonight!

I'll post a status update on Facebook tomorrow morning as to whether I'm staying here or heading out tomorrow.