My dear friend Anne has experienced some recent losses (both her husband and son) that are so serious that I suggested she come to Sun Valley for the healing of body, mind, and spirit. She listened to my advice and made a round trip flight and booked a Vacasa vacation rental in Elkhorn Village.
I knew Sun Valley was the “right medicine” for her and the vacation she had measured up to that expectation.
Below is a summary of Anne’s (and mine) wonderful week together in Sun Valley (a.k.a Paradise, Heaven, Utopia, Shangrila):
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Anne’s plane arrived a little after 2 pm. My son Joel and I picked her up at the Sun Valley Airport in Hailey. Unlike crowded city airports, Anne was able to sit outside and enjoy looking at the mountains as she waited for us to arrive. On the way home, we made a brief stop at my hairdresser’s salon in Hailey (Emily’s Cloud Nine Salon) for a quick bang trim and then off we went to the Farmer’s Market in Ketchum and then to the Village Market for Anne to stock up on the foods she liked to eat.
Anne got her first adventure with scooter riding at the Farmer’s Market and because she is an ice skater, she took to scooter riding immediately!
We stopped at the the Sun Valley resort and rode our scooters over to the ice rink so she could see the famous and beautiful outdoor ice rink. We didn’t stay around too long since we all were tired and we also knew Anne had had a long day of travel.
We then headed to Elkhorn Village and got Anne settled in her Vacasa vacation rental and said our good nights. Joel did a great job of helping with her luggage.
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
We woke up fairly early Wednesday morning since Joel and I were going to skate the 8:30 am freestyle at the indoor rink in SunValley and Anne was going to critique Joel’s two gold dances, the Quickstep and Argentine Tango. Her help was so helpful too!
After skating, we scootered a bit around the Sun Valley resort so Anne could see more of the famous hotel. We took a look at the “wall of fame” that showed off all the very famous people who have stayed in Sun Valley which included Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Steward, Barack Obama, and many more! We then headed back to Elkhorn Village to get ready for an afternoon hike.
We returned to the ice rink to watch Joel skate the Show Skaters’ Practice session from 12:10–1 pm and to also see some of the other skaters from the show perform.
Then…it was off to Galena Lodge for lunch and a hike with Nancy and her dog Heiko. Our lunch was so delicious too!
The hike was wonderful!
By the time we returned to Sun Valley it was time for dinner. What was so great was because Anne had her own food and kitchen she could cook what she wanted for herself. We said our good nights and anticipated a wonderful day for the next day!
Thursday was another great day. We met Joel at the ice rink at 8:30 am and watched his lessons from above the rink as an again critiqued the two gold dances he was testing.
After that, rather than going back to our condos, we spent some more time scootering around the hotel. We made plans to skate the 11:10 am to 12 noon program ice dance session together.
Fortunately we all got spots on that session. Anne looked absolutely stunning in her pretty new white skates and skating clothes! Joel danced most of the session with me, but did do a dance with Anne.
After the session ended, we stayed around to watch the 12:10–1 pm show skaters’ practice.
Every time we were at the rink, I’d introduce people (locals and visitors to the area) to Anne. She got to reunion with some skaters she knew too from the past and also the present.
Anne and I spent the rest of Thursday afternoon shopping for the souvenirs she wanted to bring back for her family. We were exhausted by the end of the day!
Friday morning began again with going to the rink for Jo Ann to skate with Joel and for Joel to have one last lesson with Carly and Natalia on his gold test dances. Anne watched from above.
Then we headed to downtown Ketchum for a tour we’d reserved that taught the history of Ketchum and Sun Valley. The tour took a little more than an hour and took part on the city bus, so Anne learned where the bus went so she didn’t have to rely on me to get from Elkhorn Village to the Sun Valley resort and to Ketchum.
Anne decided to do more shopping that afternoon, so I headed back to Elkhorn and rested until it was time for us to leave for the Shabbat service at the Botanical Garden that was scheduled for 6 pm.
It was Anne’s first Shabbat service and that service was extra special at the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens.
We went to bed as early as we could since Joel was scheduled to take his virtual Quickstep and Argentine Tango ice dance test early Saturday morning.
Anne purposely slept in on Saturday morning while Joel tested.
After that, she headed to the rink to skate the public session. She also did more shopping.
Before we did an afternoon rest, we took Anne to the Hemingway Memorial.
We watched the pro skaters session after that and then rested during the afternoon as we prepared to go to the Sun Valley On Ice Show on Saturday night!
The show was terrific of course and a memorable experience for all of us!
On Sunday morning, Anne and I headed to Bald Mountain and the River Run lift area to take the gondola and then the chair lift to the top. We took wonderful photos of course and had a great hike down from the chair lift area back to the gondola. There, we ate lunch at the famous Roundhouse Restaurant. Of course the food and service was incredible!
After lunch we took the gondola back down to the base and Anne did some shopping at shop at the base.
We were really tired after our long day on the mountain, but I think we squeezed in a swim and hot tub soak before settling down for the night.
On Monday, Anne and I went to the Tennis courts early in Elkhorn and relived our childhood days of playing tennis together. took the bus into town and skated again and watched the pro session. In the afternoon after it cooled down a bit, we squeezed in some quick Pickleball and reserved a PickleBall court for Tuesday morning.
Tuesday was Anne’s last day in Sun Valley, so after we got to play about a half hour of Pickle Ball, she was off to the ice rink for one last skate.
We watched some the Skaters Pro Session and then on the way to the airport we made a quick stop for Anne to get a photo in with Korrine who we met at the ice show who had so much in common with Anne that it was a must they get a photo together before she flew home.
Then we were off to the airport. Anne and I will giggle about this, but on the way to the airport I got pulled over for driving too slowly near the Botanical Gardens!
I helped Anne into the airport and accompanied her to the gate and we hugged good bye twice. It was a wonderful and amazing trip. On my way home of course I stopped at the Farmers Market! Only a week before Anne had been there with me!
The two of us renewed a college-teen friendship and had a wonderful time together. We learned a lot and we do need one another! Thank you Anne for taking the time for this trip and for taking the time to heal and move forward!
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