Sun Valley ID

 Sun Valley Lodge


 Anne Barnhardt
 Wiffenpoofs
 Bill and Tom Allred
 Big Wood River
 Wood River lodge Ski Lift
 Brian Casserly of Cornet Chop Suey
 Parking lot at River Run Lodge
 Titan Hot Seven
 Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators
 Trailing of the Sheep Parade

 Sheep Wagon




 

Our next destination was Sun Valley ID, founded by Averell Harriman in 1936, where we attended the Trailing of the Sheep Festival and the Sun Valley Jazz Festival. We arrived in the valley a week early and explored the hot springs, and the scenic highways. We took a day and went south to the Craters of the Moon National Monument, where we drove the 7 mile loop road taking  in the many volcanic features. The basaltic lava fields are the largest in the mainland US they seemed to come up out of the ground instead of from a high volcano.

The restaurants in Sun Valley were in Slack season, the time between summer and ski season, and were running great specials for the locals. We took advantage of some of them and enjoyed the food and atmosphere.  The homes in Sun Valley are very elegant, a great many of them on the market for “millions”.

The weather was getting cold at night so we spent the week at an RV park just south of Ketchum where we had full hook ups. We spent some time just driving around gawking. There are elk on the hills and I saw some deer in the well manicured yards.

Friday we moved to River Run Ski Lodge Parking Lot where we would spend the next 10 days with the Airstream Rally. On Friday evening, as part of the Lamb festival 7 of the downtown restaurants had free lamb tastings. We only had time to make it to 3 of them but just at those three we had a complete meal, including wine.  Saturday we spent the day in Hailey, a town of about 8,000 people, 11 miles south of Ketchum, There was a craft fair there with all things lamb, sheep shearing, lots of beautiful knitted and woven items, beautiful hats, and the usual craft fare. Also there to entertain us were the Peruvian musicians and dancers, Oinkari Basque dancers and Boise Highlander Bagpipers. We also attended the sheep dog trials; it’s amazing to watch those well trained dogs follow their masters’ orders. The parade was Sunday and 1500 sheep were herded down Main Street by the dogs, there were also dance troupes and bands but there was a long wait between acts. River Run Ski Lodge is a very classy ski lodge for skiers to go tramping in with their skis and wet clothes. They opened up their showers to the RV’ers who were there for the festival, this helped us keep our water and grey water tanks in working order, it was also one of the venues  the bands  played at.

  Well the Jazz Festival is here at last! I wasn’t quite sure we would be thrilled with 6 days of jazz, but as it turned out we absolutely loved it! It is just great American music played by true artists. There was live music performed by 180 musicians in 260 concerts over a five day period. There was also a special concert for the RV’ers on Tuesday before the official start of the festival. The venues were very classy places, The Sun Valley Lodge. The Sun Valley Inn, The Opera House Theater, River Run Lodge, the indoor ice rink where they put a floor over the ice, and Satchmo’s.  The theater played free old jazz movies all day Wed. We went to “IT HAPPENED IN SUN VALLEY”. There were dance lessons for those who cared to shake a leg and it was fun to watch them on the dance floors, which most venues had.

We had planned to stay out and head south from here but I have developed a tooth problem that needs a root canal. So we decided to come home and get a few medical problems taken care of. I’m planning to have a knee replacement in Florida this year if I can work out the appointments and the insurance. It’s been a great summer, hope to see you all soon.