Sun Valley, ID

We just returned from Sun Valley, ID, where we spend two weeks vacationing with the kids.  On July 8th, we packed our car with bikes, groceries, fishing equipment, kids and our dog and began a 12-hour journey to Idaho.  Caravanning with us to Idaho were our good friends the Lyons,  hauling a similarly overstuffed vehicle of kids, a dog and enough sports equipment for an outdoor pentathalon.

Sun Valley is enough like Boulder to make me feel at home and different enough to make me feel like I was on vacation.   Bald Mountain, the famous ski resort, frames the town's backdrop and the Big Wood river shapes the foreground.    With three mountain ranges nearby-Sawtooth, Pioneer and Smokey--every outing outside of Sun Valley is breathtaking.  After a June and July of scorching temperatures in Boulder, the cooler temperatures of Sun Valley were a relief.

I don't know what you would do in Sun Valley if you were not an active family.  Our best times included mountain bike rides, hikes, river swimming (cold water!), bridge jumping, ice skating and fishing.  Evenings were spent cooking at our spacious rental house in Ketchum or catching a free concert in town and always ended a quick tally of the day's highlights and low lights:  Alex (most bruises), Carson & Cole (most scrapes and scratches), Faire, Poet and Haven (most bug bites).    This trip was a real vacation for me.  While I did not read as many books as I had hoped, I rediscovered my love of mountain biking and hiking and spent time with family and friends in truly one of the most beautiful summer spots in America.  

Red Fish Lake

Bridge jumping

 Carson and Poet

Big Wood river jumping

Big Wood Bridge

Oliver and Shiloh

Mountain biking with Grant

Ice Skating at Sun Valley Resort

Swimming at Big Rock

Haven at Big Rock

Kids on Bikes

Pioneer Cabin hike with Cole