We got some beautiful views of the snow covered mountains from the air
as we were descending into Boise.
Boise had light snow after we landed from Sacramento. We had fun
walking over next door to Twin Peaks for a snack from the Hilton Garden
Inn in the snow.
We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants of all time in Boise
that night, Barbacoa.
The "Rock Filet" is finished on a hot stone with cognac sauce poured on
top!
The flames that ignite from the cognac sauce look really cool!
The half "tree" of Mexican Fried Ice Cream is a must at "Coa" as the
locals call it.
I made sure to get heated seats in the SUV we rented. The remote
start was a great feature too so the car would be toasty when we got in!
We stopped in Hailey to fuel up on some burgers and chili at the Wicked
Spud en route to Sun Valley.
I love that club house at the Sun Valley Nordic Center.
It is time for some cross country skiing!
Joy is all excited to start our nordic trail.
The nordic trails were groomed well.
We really enjoyed our afternoon of cross country skiing in this winter
paradise.
I looked forward to my usual "Apres Ski" at the Sun Valley Club with my
whiskey and diet paired with their fresh baked chocolate chip cookie!
We checked into our "ski chalet" VRBO rental after cross country
skiing. This was our first experience with VRBO.
The unit had a nice kitchen.
There was a murphy bed as well as a sofa bed in the unit.
We had dinner at Enoteca that night in Ketchum which is next to Sun
Valley.
I had to take a bite of Joy's Duck Confit. It was the best duck
confit I ever had! This even topped the duck confit at The Girl
& The Fig In Sonoma, CA.
We walked to the restaurant from the VRBO, but it was too cold to walk
back even the short distance so we took a Lyft. Naturally, they
have Mercedes Lyfts there since the celebrities won't settle for
anything else. LOL.
The fireplace in the VRBO was fake, but at least it put out good
heat! We needed it too! It was freezing cold outside!
This was the view we woke up to from the VRBO.
This unit controlled the heated floors in the bathroom! They were
awesome! With the temperatures down to -2, we needed warm
floors. LOL.
Joy cooked up a great breakfast of an omlette with arugula, shiitake
mushrooms, tomatoes, and chicken apple sausage for us. They had a
great gourmet grocery store in Ketchum. I needed my TruMoo
chocolate milk too. LOL.
We started out the next day with some snowshoeing at the Sun Valley
Nordic Center.
It was a beautiful Sun Valley day!
One never knows when the horse drawn sleighs will be coming around the
bend in Sun Valley! LOL.
I needed a rest from the snowshoeing. I took my noise cancelling
ear buds so I could blast some James Bond music as we were treking
along too. LOL.
Nothing beats the fresh baked cookie with ice cream at the Sun Valley
Club to finish out a great lunch.
We could not resist getting a Sacher torte at the Konditorei Bakery in
Sun Valley after lunch.
We enjoyed our 4th
annual trip to Sun Valley for President's Day/Valentine's weekend in
2019 once again. Joy and I flew out to Boise from Sacramento and
rented an AWD SUV in light of the expected snow fall that weekend in
the area. When I got the car, I made sure we got one with heated
seats as I am sure we would need it with the projected temperatures
down to -2 in Sun Valley. LOL. This rental had remote start
too which was a nice feature to get the car all warmed up before we got
in. It was not app controlled like my Volvo so I had to be close
to the car to start it however. LOL. I know - this is a
"first world problem!" I should not complain about such
things. LOL.
We started our culinary delights at one of my
favorite restaurants of all time, Barbacoa, in Boise. Their "rock
filet" is a 10 oz filet mignon served on a hot stone which is still
cooking the steak after it is served. The cognac sauce on top
produces a cool flame too. Our wait staff brought us their
complimentary home made sparkling water as well to start. I got
my whiskey beverage after. For dessert, we enjoyed their Mexican
fried ice cream balls on a metal "tree." Afterwards, we went to
our usual hang out spot, "Dirty Little Roddy's." It is a country
dance club in downtown Boise. When we left the club, it snowed!
The next morning, we made it out to Sun Valley after
a nice stop in Hailey for some burgers and turkey chili at the Wicked
Spud. However, the road conditions were the worst that we ever
saw on Highway 75 heading up to Sun Valley. The AWD SUV came in
handy. Once we arrived at the club in Sun Valley, we got fitted
for our skis, and we headed off on the groomed nordic trails for an
afternoon of winter fun in this secluded and not crowded area. It
was so quiet too as we took in the beautiful scenery. They told
us that this was a record year for snow too! After skiing, we
enjoyed our apres ski at the club. I got a Pendleton Rye with
diet which paired so well with my fresh baked chocolate cookie since
Pendleton has a caramel notes in it. The bartender knows us since
this was our 4th year there. He took good care of us, and we made
sure to tip him a lot as well.
We rented a VRBO "ski chalet" this year. There
are no Hilton properties in the area so we went with the VRBO.
The unit was cozy, and it had a murphy bed along with a sofa bed.
There was a full gourmet kitchen as well as a fake electric
fireplace. The heated floors in the bathroom were awesome!
Moreover, they had a Keurig which is not at the same level as my
Nespresso at home, but it is better than a coffee maker.
LOL. We went to the gourmet grocery store to get some staples for
the unit before having dinner at Enoteca. I loved the duck confit
that Joy got for her main course.
The next morning, it was freezing outside, but we
were quite comfortable inside as Joy cooked us a great breakfast.
Afterwards, we headed back to the Sun Valley Club to do some
snowshoeing. It was a beautiful day! Then, we had lunch at
the Sun Valley. We even got a treat at the European style bakery
in the Sun Valley Village too before leaving back for Boise.
In Boise, we finished off our trip with dinner at
Bone Fish Grill in downtown Boise. We stayed at the new Tru by
Hilton in Meridian that night.