Idaho

Okay, I'm going to take a little break from the home improvement topic to talk about our vacation this past week/weekend to Idaho! We primarily went to have the chance to visit my grandparents and for J to finally meet them! They live in Boise, so we spent our first day with them. Then, we went up to one of my favorite places in the US -- Sun Valley, ID. Sun Valley is located east of Boise, pretty close to the center of Idaho, in the Sawtooth mountain range and national forest. It is a resort town -- a ski resort in the winter and a hiking/biking/tennis/golf/swimming/ice skating resort in the summer. Now, we were a bit off of the summer season. So, we didn't have to pay as much for a nice room in the lodge, but we also didn't get all the amenities of the resort -- many restaurants, shops, ice rink were all closed. And the normal summer activities - outdoor concerts, ice shows, etc. haven't started. But, we definitely made the best of it. We were really only there for 2 full days and 2 half days. Our first full day, we biked on one of the many trails in the area, which ended up in Ketchum, Sun Valley's neighboring town.

After we made it back, we had a nice relaxing dip at the pool (heated - temps ranged from 40-70 - apparently in the winter after skiing - it is amazing). We had dinner at a place in Ketchum that the lady at the information desk had recommended.

And chocolates on the pillow at night!

The next day, we went on a hike to Pioneer cabin. Pioneer cabin was built as a ski lodge, but never really used. Instead, it has become a pretty popular hiking destination. It is 3.5 miles to the top and 2400 ft of gain. This makes it steep! Very steep at parts. 

There were lots of switchbacks.

And rocks.

And we got up to the snow.

We actually were completely blocked from the cabin by the snow that made the trail impassible. So, we ended up having to stop within a half mile from the cabin. We were pretty disappointed, but it wasn't worth risking our lives. So, we hiked down a little and stopped for lunch by some rocks.

Even there, there was lots of snow.

It was a good hike, and we were pretty tired afterwards. Here was the view from our balcony (imagine the sand is an ice rink).

Our final day, we went on a small trail near the lodge and got a good view of the village and ski mountains. 

Unfortunately, there were quite a few clouds (it rained for like 10 minutes and was then sunny again). Then, it was time to say farewell to Sun Valley and we went back to Boise to spend the rest of the day with my grandparents. It has been 5 years since I had seen them, and we really had a nice visit!

And then we came back to the east coast... it is unbelievable how humid the DC area feels after being in the west. I think I was so relaxed I forgot about all the pushy people, traffic, and general overpopulation. I'm missing Idaho already!