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| The Pioneer Saloon Ketchum, Idaho |
I have mentioned on other blogs the very great pleasure I get from seeing old friends doing well and that was no exception this time. Donn and Karen looked great and were still excited about the time they had spent with their grandchildren who live in Alaska but who had travelled down to Sun Valley to spend time with them. My experience is that being with the young ones both energizes and enervates. One cannot help but find the energy of children infectious but experiencing the always on, full throttle existence they enjoy can be a bit draining. There is a reason most of us have our children when we are young.
Both the grandparents were also greatly pleased and excited about the recently announced plans of their other son to get married to his long-time partner. I think they had come to think that this was just not in the cards and although not disappointed they were in any case very pleased with the news as was I. I remembered their second son as a small boy. Now they told me he is nearly 6 1/2 feet tall and weighs well over 200 pounds and an expert at fitness. Way to go, Justin!
The next morning Donn had a rest surprise and a real treat for me. He suggested we go and spend some time fly fishing. He and I had been fishing in Alaska together many many years ago but then we both were pretty much exclusively lure fishermen. Fly fishing is as much a religion as it is an attempt to catch something good to eat. I was still a novice and really only had a very few serious fly outings to my credit. Donn on the other hand had been doing it enough around the Idaho countryside that he had some proficiency and skill at the art.
Warm Springs Creek, Idaho
We only had to drive a few miles outside of Ketchum in order to be completely alone along a beautiful trout stream that fortunately for me ran right next to the road. I had not forgotten how to cast and spent a peaceful few hours enjoying nature. I got one strike but one of the wonderful things about fly fishing is that the pleasure is not results based, the beauty is in the doing.
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| Donn had the bigger smile. He caught something! |
Before we left for the day, I took one last look around.
I was tired and Donn pretended to be as well so we grilled some extra thick pork chops at home and watched the movie Zero Dark Thirty on the big screen before turning in to a great nights sleep.
The next day we drove a few miles north out of Ketchum to a site of an old mine. The mine itself was located high above us in Galena Pass 8,701 feet (2,652 m) , a steep route through the Boulder Mountains. Fortuantely we stayed at the Lodge which is at the bottom of the pass at about 7,300 feet. The Lodge serves as a base camp for all kinds of outdoor activities from mountain biking and hiking in the summer to cross county skiing and snowmachining in the winter. I was content to bask in the sun with a cold drink and share some reminiscances. Some of which are actually true.
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| Two old friends |
That night we had a wonderful Italian dinner at another of the good restaurants in downtown Ketchum. This time it was Rico's Authentic Italian located just down the street from the Pioneer Saloon. Great italian dishes and so much food I was not able to finish it all
There is so much to see and do around Ketchum that it is obvious why the Wonnell's have chosen to spend most of their time here instead of their other home base of Williamburg, VA where Donn is very active in the William and Mary Alumni Affairs. Donn graduated from W&M, the oldest institution of higher learning in the Americas he is quick to point out, although that upstart Harvard did receive a charter a bit earlier, according to Donn, the Cambridge operation did not actually begin instruction until after its Williamsburg competitor.
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| Sun Valley and Galena Pass Activities |
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