Headwaters of the Salmon River just over Galena Pass
Redfish Lake and the Sawtooth Mountains
Redfish Marina in front of the Lodge
Stanley BasinSUN VALLEY PHOTOS:
Sun Valley Ski Hill 
Lynn At Ernest Hemingway Monument - He wrote in Stanley and Sun Valley a lot.
Outdoor Cafe/Bakery for Breakfast
Deb Bev Mom - Taken by Clay
Sun Valley Inn
Caution!! Swans are Dangerous.
Ice Skating Rink - Middle of August!! 
Sun Valley Hotel Granny, Debbie and ClayThursday Morning we didn't get out of the motel until almost 10 a.m. I had wanted to see the Ernest Hemingway monument and make a circle drive from Ketchum around through Sun Valley and end back up in Ketchum before heading on to Stanley and Redfish Lake. We found the small, and quite obscure monument and then with just a turn into a parking lot we were in the midst of luxury at the Sun Valley Inn area where we found an outdoor restaurant to have a nice breakfast under yellow umbrellas. Breakfast was wonderful, and after some encouragement to walk around after Beverly and Clayton took a walk, I could see what a beautiful area it was.
There were some shops we went into. I saw a sale for 60% off and checked that out. One sweater I liked was originally $475, so I didn't buy it, but did feel everything. I think they must have been cashmere. We went in to both big hotels just to gawk, and used the luxurious restrooms - marble walls floor to ceiling in the stalls even, with fruit wood doors on each. There were several small lakes with swans swimming on them. There was an outdoor ice skating rink where skaters were being coached. There were very huge expensive homes, many next to the several golf courses. Lots of money there. All the landscaping was exquisite and beautifully manicured. Flowers were massively abundant and colorful. We couldn't agree on how to get on the right roads to make that short circle drive, so just came back out the way we went in. I have another bunch of photos, and will try to pick a few of the best and most interesting to show our day.
From there we went over Galena Summit and immediately were at the headwaters of the Salmon River and an historical gold mining area. Here the mighty River of No Return is the size of a small creek. It wasn't far to go on to see Redfish Lake with the Sawtooth Mountains as a backdrop. We were in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area where I missed getting a stamp for my book, and the White Cloud Peaks. We drove along the lake shore and campgrounds and got rained on, with thunderstorms rumbling all around, and actually saw where lightning struck a hill to start a fire that wasn't there when we arrived. They had a helicopter with a big bucket dumping water on it right away.
We went to the lodge and marina to check that out. There were lots of people on the beach or in paddle boats and a pretty big boat harbor there. We decided to have lunch. The food was not good. I ordered salmon potato chowder I thought would be wonderful but it was so solid and bad tasting I couldn't eat it (made with canned salmon with the bones in it if you can believe that). It was the worst thing I'd ever been served in my life, and I think you can tell by looking that I'm not very picky. When the waitress asked if I didn't like the soup, I told her what I thought of it, and she took it very personally. The kids were saying "MAA,,,,OMMMMM!" Anyway I didn't have any lunch, but didn't have to pay for it at least.
By now it was about 3 p.m. and we still had to get to Salmon where we did have a reservation this time, and not much to stop at between Stanley and there. The roads we had been on were scenic drives, so it was really pretty. Now we were driving down the Salmon River, and it wasn't too much up and down but very curvy and slow with lots of cliffs and other colorful formations. I didn't get any photos along this part because there was no place to pull over, so was sorry about that. We passed a small town named Clayton.
Late in the afternoon we called Best Buy to see if the computer had been repaired. No....it hadn't even been looked at and the repairman had 50 computers in front of mine. Now another quandary to figure out....what to do now! And why am I not surprised? We discussed going home over Teton Pass instead of through Idaho Falls to see Virginia and Calvin (relatives in Jackson) and that was an option for tomorrow. The other thing was to go get the computer from Best Buy and take it to the repairman in Pinedale and pay for him to fix it. Also we could go to Idaho Falls, get the computer and still go see Virginia and Calvin. It would just make a very long day. Decisions Decisions.
We got to Salmon maybe close to sunset. I thought I had been there on a trip with Joe and that it was in a pine forest, but I didn't recognize a thing and no pine trees either so I guess I'd never been there before. He and I had driven along the Salmon River though, just not this part. I had been to Stanley when I drove sightseeing across Idaho to Seattle to get on the plane there when we went to Alaska several years ago.
We got settled in our motel and toured around the town looking for a place for dinner. We found a supper club called The Shady Nook that had pretty good food for a nice dinner. I hesitated when I saw their sign "Welcome Bikers", and the kids said "Oh Maoom", but it was a fine place. It was about 10 p.m. again before we got back to the motel for the night. Debbie had asked for a rollaway, but it was sitting in the hall and there was no place in the room to put it, so she got her money back. They had a pretty dorky young guy for a clerk. Probably all he does is play games on the computer.
