Part 4- Sun Valley, ID
The drive from Missoula to Sun Valley was amazing! It wasn't quick, but John and I both agreed that it was one of the most picturesque drives in the United States. We drove south down the Bitterroot Valley, over Lost Trail Pass, and along the middle fork of the Salmon River. Just before leaving, John gashed his hand on the big chain ring of Stephanie's bike (trying to get my pedals off), narrowly avoided a trip to the ER and we almost ran out of gas, but it was worth it because we LOVE our visits to Sun Valley.
Sara Gilman is the best kind of friend anyone could ask for! She is always eager to open her home to my family and does what ever it takes to make our stay easy. She was my roommate junior and senior year of college and I love her like a sister. She's unflappable and strong and we just adore her husband and kids.
Cally hardly remembers meeting Anna (age 7) and Josephine (age 10) when we visited three years ago, but she was quickly taken in by the big girls and happy as could be. We hoped that Hazey and Cam (both 4) would become fast friends, but it didn't exactly work out like that, yet. Mike, jokingly, tried to keep score of which families kids had more fits...... and it pretty much would have been even! That said, the kids had some fun relay races, played a lot of the Game of Life, and "School".
Because John brings so many students to Sun Valley Trekking's yurts in the winter, his dear friends Joe and Francie offered to let us use one of their yurts while we were in Idaho. Sara and Mike were excited and so were Bo and Brady (two of our dear friends who live in Boise, but also went to Middlebury).
Coyote Yurt is in the Smoky Mountains and look out on the Boulder Range (all near the Saw Tooth Mountains). It involves an hour long drive up almost 4000 feet in elevation and a 15 minute hike (with way too much gear). We had 7 adults and 9 children and we had such a great time!
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| Our Sherpas |
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| The load" |
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| Home Sweet Home |
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| Old Friends are the BEST! |
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| Fast Friends |
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| Kids Meal |
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| Tres Amigos |
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| Future Friends |
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| "And these are a few of my favorite things" |
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| Monkeying Around |
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| Me, Brady & Gretchen |
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| Smores |
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| Marshmellow Bellas |
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| Morning Sunshine |
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| Story Time |
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| The Whole Crew! |
There really isn't anything like old friends! It's really amazing what an impact your college friends can have on your life. It was so great to not catch up with my friends, but to see the friendships grow with the spouses and kids. Over the years of John going to Idaho, he has come to love my friends and they love him. And the kids! Oh my was that cute to see! And John deserves huge props for doing all the shopping and almost all the cooking for the crew. He was right in his element and we all so appreciated his motivation and help.
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| Sherpa's on the outbound! |
And one of the best parts about driving that 4000 vertical feet was that we got to bike down! Sara and Mike were kind enough to drive our kids and the Bo and Gretchen's kids down to Galena Pass while we had an amazing mountain bike ride down. In fact, John and I actually rode the single track down twice..... just because we could!
Since the yurt was not available for Saturday night, Mike and Sara decided to drive their RV up to Galena Pass to camp with some friends. Galena Pass is gorgeous and has miles and miles of lovely single track for more riding.
Sadly, Bo and Gretchen had to leave, but the rest of us joined a big group of the Gilman's Hailey friends for a really fun night of camping. We were even visited by sheep and sheep herders who let the kids ride the horses.
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| Nerf Sword wars between Cam and Hazey |
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| Brady in her happy place |
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| Cally chatting it up with Monique-- her new friend |
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| Sparkler Fun |
On Saturday afternoon, I encouraged Sara to borrow my bike and get out for a ride on her beautiful trails. It was so cool to see how fired up she got about mountain biking! On Sunday, John and I got out for one last ride together. It was epic!
Oh Idaho! How we love thee! And how we love the Gilmans! You guys are the absolute best. I am so glad that Sara decided to be my friend many years ago, even though she had reservations based on my Freshman Facebook picture. Apparently, Jamey was in a class with Sara during the fall of her freshman year. I was on a NOLS course and Jamey said, "Oh, my sister is coming to Middlebury as a Feb Freshman and I think you guys will be great friends". She went home and looked at my picture in the famous "book". I was wearing a Laura Ashley dress with a string of pearls around my neck and she said, "really?". Well, Jamey was right. Sara has been there through thick and thin. She has offered such great advice over the years and I just love spending time with her. I am so glad that we have an excuse to hang out with her and her lovely family.
Part V- Park City, UT
John has been telling me stories of his climbing buddy, Geoff Tabin for years. I have met him, briefly at a bar, but he lives in Park City and we've never been there together. Geoff is an opthamologist who started the
Himalayan Cataract Project. He's climbed all the continents highest summits and he worked for the University of Vermont Hospital before moving to Utah so he and John spent a lot of time climbing. He is a brilliant, but quirky guy, who does amazing things for the world and clearly admires John. He opened his home to us and even took John climbing for a morning.
While John went climbing, I took the kids on a drive. We weren't sure where we were going or what we were doing, but we knew we needed to pick John up in Salt Lake City around noon.
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| Cally at Emerald Pass |
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| One of 3 Moose at Guardsman Pass |
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| On top of Knob 10,420! |
For an improptu hike with no food or water (and I wore flip flops?!?!), the kids did great. We ended up driving down Guardsman Pass, by Brighton and Solitude ski areas to pick John up in Salt Lake City. Big Cottonwood Canyon is gorgeous and undeveloped (and the water source for the city). Considering all these beautiful mountains are within a half hour of the city, is pretty amazing.
John had a great morning climbing in Little Cottonwood Canyon and when he got back we explored Park City and utilized the municipal pool before meeting up with another old Outing Club student of John's for dinner in Salt Lake.
When I purchased our tickets for this trip, I looked for the "best deal", not the best flying schedule. It turns out, Jet Blue only has one flight a day in and out of Salt Lake City. Our flight home left Salt Lake at 10:40 pm and arrived in JFK at 4:45 am. The kids were total troopers. They love airports and are so helpful.
The kicker was that we had a 4+ hour layover in JFK....... however, the kids and John has no problem sleeping through most of that layover!
This was an amazing trip. It could not have worked out better! It was so wonderful to see so many old friends, meet so many of their partners and children, do so much and show off our family. We put 1700 miles on our little Nissan rental car, but we broke up the drive in such a way that car ended up being a good break from the action. It was the only time that we all hung out together (most of the other times the kids were off doing kid things with their new friends) and we never had more than a half of a day on the road (and it usually ensured that Hazey would take a nap).
It was definitely a trip, and not a vacation. We didn't read any books and John was never fully able to disengage from work, but we did and saw so much. As I coordinated the trip over the course of the past few months, I wondered how it all would turn out, hoped everyone would have fun, but mostly got butterflies in my belly because of the excitement I had about being in the mountain west. My expectations were exceeded. Now we just have to figure out what our next great adventure out there will be-- rafting, backpacking, horse packing.........
Here are the quotes fro the family about the the trip:
Hazey- "I liked everything about it."
Cally- "I liked it because it was different."
John- "The west in the winter is the kiss, the west in the summer is the full embrace."
