Photo by The Joneses Here's a look at the Sawtooth Mountain range – Galena Summit. This is just one of the many beautiful sights we took in while visiting family in Hailey, Idaho. — — — SLIDE SHOW: A wonderful trip to Idaho — — — E-mail Gisela! Got a comment for Gisela about their trip? Sent her an e-mail, giselaontheroad@yahoo.com — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

After my separation from her brother we still stayed ‘Sis’ to each other and to her children Tory and Tami I was Aunt Gisela. We stayed in touch throughout the years and visited as often as possible considering the far distance (Idaho-Maryland) between us. I remained Aunt Gisela to Tory and Tami even after my Sis, at the age of 50, lost her hard and courageous battle with cancer.

So, visiting with them and meeting my sweet grandniece Ashelynn for the first time was very special for me. Tami and Jason live in Hailey, a small town with a population of 6,000, close to Ketchum (where Ernest Hemingway died and is buried — we visited his memorial at our last visit), and the famous ski resort Sun Valley. Their house is a few minutes from Hailey in a Canyon surrounded by mountains.

Most evenings we lit a fire in the Chimenea on their porch (it gets quite cold here in the evenings) and sat watching the sun disappear behind the mountains. It was so peaceful, so tranquil and relaxing. I can see why Tami and Jason love to live here.

I, of course, had a great time with Ashelynn, she is a very active and happy child; she's simply a doll! A few times, when Tami had to work, I took care of her and thoroughly enjoyed those moments.

Gretchen had a great time here also. Tami and Jason have three Labradors, two yellow and one black, all girls. Living out there the dogs have a lot of freedom. Gretchen and “Kitty the Dog," the black lab who is 1 1/2 years old, had a lot of fun playing with each other. It wasn’t easy for Gretchen to keep up with Kitty, but she sure did great for being 10 1/2 years old. And she enjoyed it so much.

In fact, when we had to put her on the leash at the first campground we stayed after leaving Idaho, she gave us “the evil eye” and then looked very sad when she realized that’s the way it is going to be again.

Jason took Ralph fishing one day and they caught some nice rainbow trout that we fried and ate that evening. Yum-yum — you sure can’t get fish any fresher than that. Jason is an avid fisherman and hunter. While we were there he left for his annual trip to Alaska for Salmon fishing. He talked to us a lot about farm-raised salmon and how these farms are detrimental to the natural way of life of the salmon.

This is an area of great concern to him and others who believe in the importance of conserving our natural resources and not to alter nature. After reading a book Jason gave me explaining what these farms do to the wildlife and what these salmons are fed so their color is the "nice" pink/red. Now, it's only wild salmon for me!

One day Jason, Ralph and I took the Sun Valley ski lift up to Bald Mountain (Baldi), with an elevation of 9,150 feet. What an awesome ride to the top. There we had the most gorgeous view of various mountain ranges, these are all part of the Rockies.

Jason told us the name of every range and we took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, the mountains are very hazy because of the smoke drifting up from the North California fires. Ralph had a hard time believing this. However, firemen we talked to in Red Lodge, Montana (I’ll write abut that later) confirmed that fact. The smoke rises up, gets caught by the jet stream and can travel for hundreds of miles. But regardless of their haziness these mountains are breathtaking.

One Saturday we drove to Stanly, which is north of Hailey, to an Arts and Crafts Festival. Again we drove through some spectacular mountain scenery including the Galena summit – elevation 8,701. We stopped at the Little Red Fish Lake and let the dogs go for a swim – Gretchen loved it. And so would have I — the water was so clear — certainly no pollution here.

We enjoyed the festival just as we enjoyed every moment of our stay with Tami and Jason. But, all good things must come to an end and we finally had to leave to begin our trip back East.