D is for Debby, Despos and Decks

Knowing that today would be a long day of driving to our next home away from home in Big Sky, Montana, we opted for a quiet Saturday spent enjoying Ketchum and the Sun Valley Lodge, the historic resort situated right next door to our property.  The owners of this unit have a membership at the lodge, so their guests have privileges to use the facilities there.  After our white water rafting adventure the day before (those photos are now posted, by the way :), we were all ready to enjoy a nice hot spa for a couple of hours. 

Even the walk from our unit to our car is scenic

 First up was breakfast at Cristina's.  A long conversation with a couple of locals later in the afternoon confirmed that my research had been solid and my restaurant picks the right ones (despite the small, paper menus Daniel grumbled about).  This was our third meal in Ketchum eating on the sun-dappled patio.  The locals gravitate to their outdoor spots in the summer as tourists do to our south Florida patios all winter long.  Daniel approved of his well-executed favorite, while Maddie was bold and opted for "Cristina's eggs," which provided no description on the menu.  Since the chef is from Tuscany, Maddie trusted her vision - turned out to be poached eggs on toast with tomatoes and a balsamic drizzle (if I recall correctly).  Daniel was kind enough to let his sister sample some of his paprika breakfast potatoes for her next Instagram rating.

 After breakfast, we walked around the town and shopped for a couple of hours.  In the little bookstore was a section devoted to Hemingway.  He lived and wrote here in Ketchum, but, also, tragically, ended his life here.  The town is clearly proud of their association with the great writer, while also understandably downplaying the connection.  His granddaughter Mariel lived here for quite some time, just across the way from the couple we met.  I looked through one of her books on tips for living well while we were in the bookstore.  It is pretty clear that one tip is to live in Idaho! :)

 After shopping was a few hours at Sun Valley Lodge.  We checked out the Olympic pool, when the more scenic lodge pool proved too crowded.  Daniel suggested we give that one another try, so we made our way back around 4:00 for a lovely couple of hours soaking, reading, and talking to our new Ketchum friends (they have a farm where they host rustic weddings), before we headed back to our place to clean up.  After dinner in Despos, a local Mexican joint with large plastic menus, and a stop in the Sun Valley Village for dessert to go, we headed home for Shanghai.  Deep into the first hand, we realized that something was amiss: only Maddie had been able to put her cards down, there was a remaining stack of maybe 15 cards, and nobody, after my prompting to admit it, had a black 2 in their hands.  We completed the hand, with only Dana unable to go down, before counting the cards and realizing we had not a single complete deck (one deck had 26, another 14, and a third with 53?!)   A nice family card game abandoned, we resorted to a fun episode of Handmaid's Tale to wind down for the night.

Now we're off to our final breakfast in Idaho, this one recommended by Debbie, who has lived here for 28 years.  The drive to Big Sky will take over 5 hours, and there may be some rain ahead, so we'll take it slow, enjoy the music and the views, and one final stop in Idaho - Idaho Falls - before bidding this marvelous state goodbye for now.