Sun Valley Idaho – RV Camping, Car Racing & Skating Legends

July / August, 2009 - Still camped in the national forest outside Ketchum,

Idaho, we left our dream campsite along the creek and moved to another

one with a spectacular mountain view.  The welcoming committee here

was a moose.  He came two nights in a row and quietly munched the

grasses down by the river.

A fisherman and his

son came by one

morning and said they

had been fishing this

river for 25 years and

had never seen a

moose.  We suggested

they come by at dusk,

as the moose seemed to like visiting at twilight.  Our new friends came by at the

appointed hour, but the moose was on a different schedule that night.  He must

have had something else going on earlier, because he didn't make his

appearance until an hour after our friends had left.

We were in a stunning setting with the Harriman Trail running behind

us on one side and the most amazing mountain view soaring into the

sky on the other side.

We rode the trail up to Easley Hot Springs where a swimming pool

and hot tub have been built to take advantage of the springs.

Further on, the trail winds through the forest and meadow.  I wanted

to ride it the remaining 10 miles up to Galena Lodge, but the weather

had other ideas.

A magnificent storm swept in during the afternoon and

blanketed the whole valley with black clouds.  I was way up the

trail somewhere on my bike, hoping to outpace the downpour coming

back.  I made it back just in time, but Mark had gotten nervous that I'd

be caught out somewhere, so he had climbed onto the roof of the buggy

to see where I had disappeared to.

When I got back the sky darkened even more.  The sun peeked

through the clouds for a moment and gave us the most unusual

lighting all around the trailer.

We were both enchanted.  What a magical moment.  As the

lightning started in the distance and the rain began to fall on

the horizon, we were overcome with a delicious, eerie

feeling.  We could see Ketchum getting pelted by rain in the

distance, but our little oasis had a tiny spotlight of sun.

The worst of the storm

passed to the north of us,

but it affected the weather

for the next week.

We woke up the next

morning to find the

mountains embraced by clouds and covered

in ice and snow.  The warm daytime

temperatures had vanished.  We would get a

few hours of cloudless skies and bright

sunshine each morning, but by noon an echo

of that storm would begin to well up in the

mountain peaks.  By mid-afternoon each day

we would be engulfed in overcast skies.

Ketchum / Sun Valley is a town for the Rich

and Famous, and we stopped noticing

Porsche Carerra 4's after the umpteenth

sighting on our first day in town.  Fortunately, for the wealthy car enthusiasts in

town, the Sheriff has a great affection for raw power.  One morning we found

ourselves in the midst of the unusual Sun Valley Road Rally.  The Sheriff had

agreed to shut down a few miles of Route 75, the Sawtooth Scenic Highway

heading north out of town, so the townsfolk could race their cars.

This was a

charity event, and

entrants paid $1,500

a run to drive their

cars as fast as they

could past the

Sheriff's speed trap.

He then wrote up a

fake ticket showing

the speed they were

going when they

passed the radar

gun.  For three

hours the cars went

off at five minute intervals.

Twice each hour for 15 minutes the road was temporarily opened to regular traffic.

Mark had a field day watching the Ford GT's, Vipers and Porsches parade past the spectators to

the starting point beyond the top of the hill.  We would hear each car in the distance first, and he

would try to guess what it was by its whine.  Then the car would crest the hill and start its descent

towards the radar gun.  An announcer would tell us the type of car and the speed it was going,

and we had fun guessing the speeds before they were announced.  The Toyota Prius was a big

surprise at 107 mph, and the vintage (1956) Ferrari with its equally vintage driver was cute at

117 mph.  A Bentley and souped up truck joined the fun.

However, the big surprise came when a middle-aged mom with

long dark hair stepped out of a Porsche after it was clocked

going 181 mph.  She got a round of applause, but left us all even

more shocked when she handed the keys over to a young

blonde, gave her a hug and sent her off to the starting line.

When the Porsche showed up again, the radar read 183 mph.

The crowd went wild, and the young girl emerged.  We

discovered that she was the mom's 22-year-old daughter, and that the boy she was handing the

keys to was her 23-year-old brother.  When he came roaring by at 188 the crowd went ballistic.

Finally, dad got a turn at the wheel.  We were hoping he would show us all how it is done, but he

didn't quite match his son, coming in at just 186 mph.  The young boy in that Porsche shared the

crown for the day with a Ford GT that also reached 188 mph.

All that fast-paced excitement had

to be countered with something a little lower key.  We went in to

Sun Valley to watch the 1941 movie, "Sun Valley Serenade,"

starring Sonya Henie.  There is a free showing every afternoon.

The movie theater is the Sun Valley Opera House, a cute building

in the middle of the Sun Valley Resort complex.

This movie was originally made, in part, to promote Sun Valley

as a winter destination.  Who better to be the star than the

utterly charming 3-time Olympic figure skating champion of the

day, Sonya Henie.

The producers put together a first-

rate show, with Milton Berle and

Glenn Miller's band taking

supporting roles.  The story tells of a

young Norwegian refugee who

beguiles her unsuspecting sponsor

into falling in love with her.

As you listen to "In the Mood" and

"Chattanooga Choo Choo"

performed by the master himself,

the movie unfolds with scenes of

Sun Valley, appearing as it did when

it first opened.

Trains brought visitors into town from far away places, and horse-drawn sleighs took them to the

resort from the train station.  Sun Valley was a bright light of pure fun and fantasy at the end of

the Great Depression, and its promotional movie is bewitching.

Besides Henie's dazzling

performance as a piquant

and mischievous flirt, some of

the most intriguing scenes

are on the ice where she

performs with a partner and

supporting cast on a sheet of

ice covered in a thin layer of

water.  The scenes were shot

at night, and as the skaters

glide across the ice, their

reflections make them seem

to be dancing on water.

We left that movie with smiles on

our faces, caught up in the charm of

Sun Valley as it once was.  We had

gotten the idea to see the movie

from the Visitor Center's list of "50

Fun Free Things To Do in

Ketchum / SunValley," and when we

checked the list that night there

were still quite a few to go.  No

need to leave Ketchum/Sun Valley

just yet.