Tennis Fun In Sun Valley

Crash!

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Nana, Grandpa, Beeray and Boo would bike to Hailey about 11 miles from Sun Valley. The bike path and roads are all down hill so it is an easy ride. I would drive the car down and meet them at Scotty's a diner in the middle of Hailey. Then we would load the bikes and children in the car and drive back. Good plan.

Early in the morning we headed off to Sturtevant's to rent bikes for the girls. By 10:30am they were biked, helmeted and on the road/bike path with Grandpa. Nana left a few minutes before the rest first because she is "slow".

We had lunch at Scotty's. The new plan was everyone would ride back and I would go to the market.

On the way back, Beeray crashed. She ran off of the path, and 8 feet down into into a ditch. She is pretty scraped up.

Lake Titus

It was supposed to be an early hike, but we weren't ready to leave until 9am. We were headed to Lake Titus which is a relatively easy hike. The trail head is located just south of Galena Summit.

We parked the car and set out on our hike. We started at about 7500 feet and hiked to 8500 feet. I am still not acclimated to the altitude so I had to stop frequently to catch my breath.

Surprisingly, there is still snow on parts of the trail. It made the hike slippery and scary. We took the dogs who both decided to take off once we got to the lake. It took us 30 minutes to located and then catch them. Notice the evil dogs on the far side of the lake.














We are tired but happy. It was a beautiful hike.

Friday is for tennis

The girls are enrolled in tennis camp here in Sun Valley Idaho. Of course, Nana had to get them the proper outfits. :)

Beeray and Boo woke early and got their tennis outfits on, ready to go. They spent 2 hours in a small class with the tennis pro. This was their first exposure to tennis and they loved it.

Sun Valley and Ketchum are right next to each other. There are about 1000 residents in Sun Valley and about 3000 in Ketchum.

I am acutely aware of the fact that my girls are 11 and 13 (almost 12 and 14). Sometimes they are so cranky! These are interesting ages, one moment they are little girls and the next they are adults. And sometimes they are demons. :) In the afternoon we decided to see a movie. The girls decided to be on good behavior for the movie. We saw Wall-e at the Magic Lantern Movie theater in Ketchum.

Sun Valley

The light here lasts until 10 pm. Predictably, my girls were up way too late. This morning it was a struggle to get them up. By 8:30am we were able to get them out of the house. We went for a hike up Fox Creek Trail where all the wildflowers are in bloom. I can tell that I am at altitude. On the switchbacks I couldn't catch my breath. It didn't effect my girls or my father who are both in much better shape that I. LuLu and Doodles, their standard poodles went with us.

My older daughter, Beeray is thinking to start cross country in the fall semester at her school so she shot ahead. She took a wrong turn (Grandpa wasn't all that good at his directions) and ran about a mile before figuring out that she was in the wrong place. If she hadn't told us we wouldn't have known because she was back at the trail by the time the three of us got to the fork.

Nana is off on an easy hike with her friends.

Then back to the house to change and then the girls went off with grandpa to the swimming pool, then lunch, and now they are ice skating. Tennis camp tomorrow.....Busy girls!

Payson to Sun Valley

As it turns out, RiVa, the Van RV is quite a way to travel. The mileage is around 14 miles/gal and we have almost all the comforts of home. Where she fails is the tight space. It is a struggle to get my two teen-ish daughters to keep rubble off of the floor so we can walk. Riva has a stove and microwave, 3 beds to sleep 4 VERY good friends :), a shower inside and one outside, refrigerator, 2 TVs, toilet, and sink. She is very convenient.

Today was a pretty short day. We checked out of Payson and headed north on I-15. There was quite a bit of construction on the Hwy just north of Salt Lake City. Our next stop was Ogden, Utah for gas. At a Flying J the gas price was $3.93. Woo Hoo!

We passed the turn off to Sun Valley and then though better of it, turned around and headed toward my parents' house. They are thrilled. Grandpa took us all out to dinner at Rocky Mountain Pizza (the best pizza in Sun Valley/Ketchum).

Alaska or Bust

We left Malibu at 5:35 am and drove pretty much all day. We took a long lunch
break in Las Vegas to see an old friend. We have been in 4 states
today, California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. We are told that this is
the fastest way to get to Alaska though it is 300 miles longer than
going the coastal route. The highlights of today were seeing my dear
friend, Virgin Creek Canyon (about 20 miles south of St George), an
area just past St George where all the rocks were an impossible red,
Cedar City Utah.

Gas prices for regular are:
$4.79 in Malibu at the cheap place (The San Fernando Valley is $4.55 at
the cheap place)
$5.79 at a road stop in the apparent middle of the desert -I passed
$4.24 just over the hill from the outrageous place both were in Nevada
$4.14 Las Vegas Nevada
$4.04 Cedar City Utah

I didn't stop but the prices were $4.07 in that little corner of Arizona
that we passed.

Low points were HEAT, truck kicked up a rock and dinged my windshield, 2
teen-ish girls in close quarters, we have way too much stuff packed in
that little RV and the loooooong drive, and we only made 698 miles.

Tonight we are in a hotel in Payson, Utah about 60 miles south of Salt
Lake City. The people here are impossibly clean cut. The men in Payson
(just south of Provo) remind me of Ken as in Barbie and Ken, they look
plastic to me.