My kind of "camping"

I am not the outdoor type and more importantly I have 3 little princesses that are also accustomed to air conditioning, McDonalds, and other features that come from never "roughing it." Yet for some insane reason camping and hiking seem like a good idea every other year. After consulting others we decided to head to Red Fish lake for an overnight camping trip. How bad can it be, right?

Once we arrived to the camp grounds I knew that this was not they type of camping I like. We were surrounded by RV's and tourists. It seemed odd that we were the only Idahoans in a sea of tourists from California, Oregon, and Utah. I decided we should play in the lake and do all the fun things we came to do and worry about the camping stuff later. We had a blast! The kids loved the beach and the nature hike.

Then it started to get dark and we decided we needed to find a place to camp before it was too late. Since we are not avid campers (or have ever really done it) we did not realize camping costs money. We found the best site called Petit lake but imagine this they did not take credit cards, shocking! So we were informed that the nearest ATM was in Stanley or Sun Valley about an hour away in each direction. We headed to Sun Valley and didn't look back. Finally, we found a not so ideal site that was free and right off the highway. After calling Matt's bluf, we started unloading the car. This is when I spotted a dead mouse spread eagle right by the fire pit. It may be the biologist in me (or seeing one to many episodes of House) there is something not right about that. Plus, the idea of any of his not so dead buddies could be around freaked me out. So we packed everything back up and headed to Sun Valley for dinner and a stay in a hotel.

We ate dinner at the famous Pioneer Steak house and food has never tasted so good. It reminds of a funny Sopranos episode where they are in the woods for 2 hours and they start to panic and eat mustard packets for noursihment. After that we decided to head to the beautiful Sun Valley lodge to scope out the cost of a room. Now imagine our rag-a-muffin group pulling up to the lodge with our SUV packed full of camping stuff and decked out in BSU parafanila. Hilarious! Right as we pull up a group of guys wearing BSU gear come out so we stop and talk for a second. The clerk offered us a good deal (still more then we wanted to pay) for a last minute suite. When I returned to run it by Matt, one of the bronco fans said "what is she offereing you? Tell her that her boss says 40 dollars less I am offering you the BSU special." This is not the first time that wearing our blue and orange has benefitted us. I swear the gear pays for itself.

We laughed all the way up to our suite. We indulged in a hot bath and T.V. The next morning we spent the day swimming, exploring, playing games, shopping, watching the Trey McIntyre project practice, watching the ice skaters, and eating lunch. What a great mini vacation! The only down side is that I have to admit to myself and others that we probably will never camp and I am o.k. with that.

The fam at the beautiful Red Fish Lake with Sawtooth mountains in the background.

Beach Shots!

The girls enjoying the beach. We hunted minos, made sand castles, and rented a paddleboard.

Actual Red Fish: Kokanee Salmon spawing in a small stream near Red Fish lake.

Our Hike at Red Fish Lake.

Eating Dinner at the Pioneer in Sun Valley.

Relaxing and Enjoying our suite.


Swimming in the pool at the Sun Valley lodge.

Shopping and Playing Games.

The "Wildlife"