Our TRip to Ketchum, ID (sun Valley)

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     Many years ago, when my husband and I were newlyweds, my husband was in the army and we were stationed in Germany!  It was a marvelous experience for us and while we lived there, we made some wonderful friends.  We stayed in touch with them for awhile, but then somehow lost each other.  Luckily, one of my sons feels very strongly about keeping connections with people, so he searched online and got us back in contact with each other.  It has been wonderful to reconnect.  
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      One of the couples in our group owns a timeshare and they have been generous enough to invite us to stay with them in various timeshare resorts every year and a half or so !  In the past, we have stayed in Park City Utah and in Lake Tahoe California.  And, if you were wondering why the blog has been silent for the last week or so, it is because we were on another of these reunion trips and this time it was to the Sun Valley Resort area of Ketchum, ID! 
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     To be honest, I never really found out if there was a distinction between what was Ketchum and what was Sun Valley. They seemed to run together and when we asked locals, it still didn't become clear, so I tend to use both names interchangeably.  
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     Idaho is a beautiful state with so much to do!  There are mountains and trails for hiking and biking.  There are rivers and lakes for fishing.  In the winter, Sun Valley is a well known ski resort.  The town of Ketchum is adorable with all sorts of little shops and restaurants.  The people are friendly and what stood out to me about them is they all seem very fit!  There are bikes everywhere for sight-seeing and the cars are very good about sharing the road with bikes and walkers.  Let me give you a run down of what our week there looked like.

Food:
The wives in our group got together on a group chat before leaving on the trip and planned out the meals.  We prepared the food in the condo and only ate out for one dinner and for one breakfast the entire week.  That saved us a lot of money, plus, we could accommodate our tastes and preferences.  We didn't suffer from a lack of food!  We really had fun with it! Here is what our dinner menu looked like:

• Saturday-Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cole Slaw!  YUM!
• Sunday-Fondue!  We had cheese, meats cooked in broth and chocolate.  It was so much fun and delicious! 
• Monday-Mexican Night!  We used molds like these to make taco salad bowls.  We had fresh salsa, Cowboy Caviar and a Mexican Quinoa casserole with cheese and all of the toppings.  I was skeptical about whether my friends could come up with good Mexican Food since they aren't from Arizona where we are a bit snobby about our Mexican Food, but it was all delicious! 

• Tuesday-Grilled Shish Kabobs with chicken and lots of veggies! So good!
• Wednesday-Left-over day!  We have learned from past experience that you need a day to finish off left-overs so that food isn't wasted and so that we don't have to pack a bunch of leftovers to go home with us!  
• Thursday-Grilled Bacon Wrapped Steaks with baked potatoes or sweet potatoes and a Strawberry Salad that was to die for!  
• Friday-We ate out at an English Pub Style restaurant.  It was called the Cellar Pub and it was really a lot of fun! The waiters were all great and when we asked one to take a picture of our group with my phone, he also included a selfie of himself! LOL!  The food was delicious and reasonable priced.  I had the Fish and Chips.  They even had the malt vinegar which I love on my fish and chips.  My husband had a 1/2 lb. burger and others had Bangers and Mash.  Later on, we walked to an Leroy's Ice Cream Stand.   They had a lot of flavors that they change out often.  One of the flavors that I saw around the town in various forms was Huckleberry, so I had to try the Huckleberry flavor of ice cream.  It did not disappoint!  Now I want to find some huckleberries and try to make some myself! 

• Saturday Morning-We were checking out, so we went out to breakfast at a little breakfast place called the Kneadery, not to be confused with the chain, Kneaders,  out of Utah.  We got to this place just before the rush started and it became packed!  This is a popular place and it is no wonder because the food was really good! 

      A few other notes about the food:   We decided that we would all be on our own when it came to preparing breakfasts and lunches.  We each brought things like oatmeal, eggs, bread, muffins, bagels and we all shared, but fixed what we wanted each day.  It worked out just great.  
      Also, we generally make or bring treats to share for dessert, such as cookies and brownies.  There is never a reason to be hungry when we are together! 

Activities:

• It was just a short walk into the cute town of Ketchum to browse through the stores.  Warning, the prices are very high in this tourist town!  I pretty much stuck with some postcards to send to my grandchildren.  Plus, we found a yarn shop that we couldn't resist spending money in because there were some beautiful and unique yarns.  
• There are a few bike shops where you can rent bikes that range from the pedal variety to electric!  Some of our group took a bike ride one day along a really nice and flat trail.  I almost went along, but my hips were not willing to get on the bike, so I had to stick to walking.  I was so disappointed.  The prices on the bikes weren't bad at all for a day  or half day rental.  On a regular pedal bike, the price was $20 for half a day. 
• Lakes and Rivers to picnic at, or to go fishing, paddleboarding and swimming!  I was tempted to buy a one day fishing license and try to catch a salmon, but an out of state day license was $22.  I was the only one who wanted to fish, so I'll have to try that another time.  I'm not very good at fishing, so I probably would have been better off buying a salmon, LOL.
• There are places on the river to go white water rafting.  They have courses for all levels of expertise, from beginner to experienced.

     Of course, since this is a reunion for us, the thing that we loved doing the most was laughing, talking and reminiscing together! Each night we would pull out a game that we brought along and have some fun competition, often the men against the women in a game Sequence!  Here are games we enjoyed:

• Sequence, as mentioned.  We have this large version which is great on the dining table for a larger group to play! This game is a combination of strategy and luck, it is easy to learn and just so much fun.
• 5 Crowns-This game is so much fun! It is a card game that has a special deck of 5 suits.  The game lasts 13 rounds and each round, the wild card changes, so you have to be on your toes! This game belonged to our friends, but I think that I am going to order it today! 
• Rummikub-This game has been around for awhile, but I've played it with my grandson lately and he really loves it.  The wives of our group had a good time playing it up in Idaho as well! 

The Weather:
     Because Sun Valley is a well known ski resort, that is what most of the condos are set up for.  There are heaters and fireplaces, but no AC.  You simply need to open your windows in the summer to get a cool breeze.  for my husband and I, the weather that barely reached the 90s most of the week, the temperatures were perfect.  Afterall, we live in Phoenix, AZ.  But, for our friends who are from Wyoming and Georgia, they felt like it was way too hot!  They brought along fans to help keep themselves cooler.  Some days, walking around the town was a bit warm, even for us Arizonans! 
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     We loved our trip to Sun Valley/Ketchum!  It was so relaxing and so much fun!  The views were amazing and did I mention that there was a creek that ran right outside our bedroom deck?  Unfortunately there was road construction going on that drowned out the sound of the running water, but before and after the work shifts and on Sunday, it was beautiful!  Most of all, how can you beat being with really good company?  

Check out other vacation ideas that we've written about:

• Plan a Trip to Hawaii
• A Trip to Bearizona
• The Wonders We Found in Utah
• An Affordable Midwest Vacation​