Memorial Day Weekend
I left work just after noon so I could go to the mall to finally end the saga of my phone. It got fixed. I finished packing and restored my phone. I was out the door and on the way to Swig, then to Rachel’s. We loaded up and left her place before 3pm, earlier than planned.
We drove to Brigham City and had dinner at Maddox Ranch House. It was so yummy. The bread and the raspberry butter were awesome. The cornpones were so good too! I had the fried chicken and fries, and Rachel got the shrimp and baked potato. The service was great, and the atmosphere was quiet and pleasant. I got some candies on the way out: every kind of soft caramel, plus a hard toffee or two. I proceeded to divvy those out throughout the weekend.
We didn’t arrive to Ketchum until it was already dark. The condo was really cute, but much smaller than we had anticipated. We unloaded the car via the balcony because we could literally set things on the balcony edge, go inside, the condo, and bring it all in. So quick and nice. I took the couch, and Rachel took the bed.
Saturday morning, I did my workout in the living room via Beachbody on Demand, using their Apple TV (so convenient). We had a small breakfast at home and then proceeded to wander the town for several hours. We went into a cute gift shop, where I got a shirt, some tea, honey, and a magnet. We eventually wandered into a little café where I had a nonfat matcha latte. It was a really cute place on the inside, but sadly was under construction on the outside. Thankfully we were not deterred. It was a really good experience. They had a lot of delicious looking menu items, too, but we didn’t end up going back there to eat.
After that, we wandered around some more, visited a Woo Woo Shoppe (literally that was the name of it), where I got in trouble for taking pictures without asking because when you take photos of spiritual items, you take away some of its nature. So that was fun. Rachel asked about the woman’s story. She was originally from Sandy, left home at 14 or 16? And ended up in Idaho. She had a period of time where she lived in her car. She fell into mortgage lending. And eventually opened up this shop, which was her passion. I tried to listen intently and be respectful even though I felt embarrassed that she had been upset with me.
We did lunch at a little sports pub called Lefty’s. I had a club sandwich and these spicy chip-fries. Rachel had a burger. All of it was really yummy. We listened to some of the town’s best characters have some great conversation about the g--d--- coyotes.
From there, we walked over to the cemetery to find Ernest Hemingway’s grave. His son was buried next to him, as well as his last wife. There were coins, rocks, and bottle caps decorating his grave.
More meandering occurred. Then we went into another little café because I wanted a treat, but they were 30 minutes from closing, and the lady seemed like she was about to poop her pants from the stress. I had a delicious pecan cinnamon roll. It was really, really good.
That entire day, I was dealing with a considerable amount of back pain. It was deep in my lats, but didn’t feel muscular. It was almost like my muscles were catching onto bone when I breathed. So every sneeze or cough or honestly any random movement gave me intense spasms of pain. We walked from that café over to a local grocery store, where I picked up some kombucha and some Icy Hot to see if it would help with my muscle spasms.
After that, we wandered into a book store. It was really cute and tiny. Upstairs I found a Swiss Ball exercise book, which I got for $3. I was pretty excited about that find.
We walked home, chilled on the couch and bed, read a little bit, and both passed out for an hour or two. We woke up hungry and decided to get Italian at Rico’s for a late dinner—like 8pm. Thankfully they weren’t busy, but we had some mishaps with our orders and such, so that was weird. Still, the food was overall pretty good, and I’d go back.
I obviously needed a treat that night, since lunch at a pub, a midday treat, and an Italian dinner wasn’t enough food. Rachel managed to navigate us to A La Mode, where I got a scoop of coffee ice cream with whipped cream on top. It was decent and mostly hit the spot. She also took me in to the market where I got some ibuprofen to see if the inflammation in my back would go down.
That night we watched Jumanji, which we got from Redbox. Thankfully, Rachel was entertained, which was a relief because she had no interest in seeing it. Rachel was also so kind as to rub my back with the Icy Hot we got at the store.
On Sunday morning, I wrapped up in my blanket and sat on the balcony for a little while. I loved to just sit there and smell the air and listen to the birds. I made some tea and just sat there. It was so relaxing in the best way. While I showered and such, Rachel made us some delicious bacon, egg, and cheese croissants. I also had some strawberries and pineapple, and a couple of Rachel’s raspberries. We packed up our notebooks and some snacks, loaded up the car, and drove through the mountains to Redfish Lake. It was a beautiful and scenic drive. Initially it was really foggy and cloudy, which I think looked really cool. But there were some clear spots and great photos.
We initially missed the turn off for the lake and drove a few extra minutes to Stanley, Idaho. I had to use the restroom, so I went into the museum, which used to be the residence of the rangers and their families. I LOVE looking at old stuff and learning some new things. For whatever reason, I have a strange obsession with wood burning stoves and other antiques. It was super cool. And the man working there was so nice and informative.
Rachel drove us back down to Redfish Lake. Initially we parked and hung out at the shore for a few minutes. Raytch put her feet in the water, and I mostly looked for rocks. When I put my feet in, it was way too cold for me, so I didn’t last very long. But I did find some awesome rocks.
We drove to another spot on the lake and wandered over to a dock, where we spent somewhere around an hour just sitting quietly, reading, writing, and relaxing. The clouds would occasionally drift in front of the sun, bringing shade and coolness. It was really nice. Neither of us brought our bathing suits and wished we had.
We got back to Ketchum around 4pm and decided on an early dinner at Wise Guys Pizza. It wasn’t amazing, but not terrible. The crowd was pretty rough and mostly local, so it was fun to people watch. I got two slices of pizza but added ham and mushroom to mine. I didn’t realize the slices were so big, or I’d have gotten just one. We shared a salad and some garlic knots as well. We rented Thor: Ragnarok, which both of us have seen more than once. But it’s still the best. We watched it, and it was still early when we finished, so we went on a long walk.
We found the parkway that runs next to the river. I would love to do long training runs there. It was beautiful. We also found a huge sculpture called “Spur,” which was designed to imitate the interior of a lava tube. It was really neat. We also saw a deer and stood watching her for a few minutes.
After getting back to the condo, I decided I needed a treat again. Rachel walked with me to a local market a couple of blocks away. I got a couple of cookies from the bakery case, some tea, and some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, which were pretty disappointing. Nothing really hit the spot. The only problem with moving to Ketchum would be a lack of dessert options. I mean, that might help me out in a lot of ways, but I’d be sad about it.
We ate some snacks and watched some of Star Wars: A New Hope. We went to bed fairly early.
I was up early again the next morning and did my workout and went on a 1.5 mile run down to the river and back. It was lightly sprinkling rain, and so cold, and so beautiful. During all this time, Rachel was packing up her bags, her ice chest, and the car. I felt panicky because I don’t like anyone waiting on me. I showered, packed, and got ready as fast as I could. I didn’t do makeup, but filled in my eyebrows in the car.
We drove over to The Kneadery and had about a 20 minute wait, which wasn’t too bad for a holiday. I had Brioche French toast, 2 eggs, and bacon, along with some Earl Grey tea. Rachel had the Cowboy. All the food was delicious, and I loved the environment at the place. It would be fun to eat there on a non-rainy day, on their patio or in the front. It was so cute.
We drove from 11-1 and stopped at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. We took an hour or so break there. It was so cool. Very busy, since it was Memorial Day, but very cool. I’m glad Rachel wanted to stop and visit.
We had some snacks and drinks at the falls, then we drove from 2-5pm. We hit some traffic outside of Logan and even saw a small tornado on our way back!
During our drive we listened to the book Grit by Angela Duckworth. Lots of great gems so far, and I downloaded the audiobook so I could listen to the rest of it.
As soon as we got to Rachel’s, I helped her unload, and she helped me unload into my car. I went straight to the grocery store, got home, put laundry in, and got chicken in the Instant Pot. I jumped right back in to real life.
The trip was beautiful, relaxing, and amazing. I need to be better about taking advantage of long weekends and seeing new places. I’m thankful Rachel invited me on her personal restorative trip and was happy to accompany her. It was low-key, but we still did a ton. We enjoyed rainstorms and sunshine, and overall just had a lovely time enjoying the quiet town of Ketchum. If you ever want to get away from the noise for a little bit, I know of a cute condo in a great resort town you can go to.
We drove to Brigham City and had dinner at Maddox Ranch House. It was so yummy. The bread and the raspberry butter were awesome. The cornpones were so good too! I had the fried chicken and fries, and Rachel got the shrimp and baked potato. The service was great, and the atmosphere was quiet and pleasant. I got some candies on the way out: every kind of soft caramel, plus a hard toffee or two. I proceeded to divvy those out throughout the weekend.
We didn’t arrive to Ketchum until it was already dark. The condo was really cute, but much smaller than we had anticipated. We unloaded the car via the balcony because we could literally set things on the balcony edge, go inside, the condo, and bring it all in. So quick and nice. I took the couch, and Rachel took the bed.
Saturday morning, I did my workout in the living room via Beachbody on Demand, using their Apple TV (so convenient). We had a small breakfast at home and then proceeded to wander the town for several hours. We went into a cute gift shop, where I got a shirt, some tea, honey, and a magnet. We eventually wandered into a little café where I had a nonfat matcha latte. It was a really cute place on the inside, but sadly was under construction on the outside. Thankfully we were not deterred. It was a really good experience. They had a lot of delicious looking menu items, too, but we didn’t end up going back there to eat.
After that, we wandered around some more, visited a Woo Woo Shoppe (literally that was the name of it), where I got in trouble for taking pictures without asking because when you take photos of spiritual items, you take away some of its nature. So that was fun. Rachel asked about the woman’s story. She was originally from Sandy, left home at 14 or 16? And ended up in Idaho. She had a period of time where she lived in her car. She fell into mortgage lending. And eventually opened up this shop, which was her passion. I tried to listen intently and be respectful even though I felt embarrassed that she had been upset with me.
We did lunch at a little sports pub called Lefty’s. I had a club sandwich and these spicy chip-fries. Rachel had a burger. All of it was really yummy. We listened to some of the town’s best characters have some great conversation about the g--d--- coyotes.
From there, we walked over to the cemetery to find Ernest Hemingway’s grave. His son was buried next to him, as well as his last wife. There were coins, rocks, and bottle caps decorating his grave.
More meandering occurred. Then we went into another little café because I wanted a treat, but they were 30 minutes from closing, and the lady seemed like she was about to poop her pants from the stress. I had a delicious pecan cinnamon roll. It was really, really good.
That entire day, I was dealing with a considerable amount of back pain. It was deep in my lats, but didn’t feel muscular. It was almost like my muscles were catching onto bone when I breathed. So every sneeze or cough or honestly any random movement gave me intense spasms of pain. We walked from that café over to a local grocery store, where I picked up some kombucha and some Icy Hot to see if it would help with my muscle spasms.
After that, we wandered into a book store. It was really cute and tiny. Upstairs I found a Swiss Ball exercise book, which I got for $3. I was pretty excited about that find.
We walked home, chilled on the couch and bed, read a little bit, and both passed out for an hour or two. We woke up hungry and decided to get Italian at Rico’s for a late dinner—like 8pm. Thankfully they weren’t busy, but we had some mishaps with our orders and such, so that was weird. Still, the food was overall pretty good, and I’d go back.
I obviously needed a treat that night, since lunch at a pub, a midday treat, and an Italian dinner wasn’t enough food. Rachel managed to navigate us to A La Mode, where I got a scoop of coffee ice cream with whipped cream on top. It was decent and mostly hit the spot. She also took me in to the market where I got some ibuprofen to see if the inflammation in my back would go down.
That night we watched Jumanji, which we got from Redbox. Thankfully, Rachel was entertained, which was a relief because she had no interest in seeing it. Rachel was also so kind as to rub my back with the Icy Hot we got at the store.
On Sunday morning, I wrapped up in my blanket and sat on the balcony for a little while. I loved to just sit there and smell the air and listen to the birds. I made some tea and just sat there. It was so relaxing in the best way. While I showered and such, Rachel made us some delicious bacon, egg, and cheese croissants. I also had some strawberries and pineapple, and a couple of Rachel’s raspberries. We packed up our notebooks and some snacks, loaded up the car, and drove through the mountains to Redfish Lake. It was a beautiful and scenic drive. Initially it was really foggy and cloudy, which I think looked really cool. But there were some clear spots and great photos.
We initially missed the turn off for the lake and drove a few extra minutes to Stanley, Idaho. I had to use the restroom, so I went into the museum, which used to be the residence of the rangers and their families. I LOVE looking at old stuff and learning some new things. For whatever reason, I have a strange obsession with wood burning stoves and other antiques. It was super cool. And the man working there was so nice and informative.
We drove to another spot on the lake and wandered over to a dock, where we spent somewhere around an hour just sitting quietly, reading, writing, and relaxing. The clouds would occasionally drift in front of the sun, bringing shade and coolness. It was really nice. Neither of us brought our bathing suits and wished we had.
We got back to Ketchum around 4pm and decided on an early dinner at Wise Guys Pizza. It wasn’t amazing, but not terrible. The crowd was pretty rough and mostly local, so it was fun to people watch. I got two slices of pizza but added ham and mushroom to mine. I didn’t realize the slices were so big, or I’d have gotten just one. We shared a salad and some garlic knots as well. We rented Thor: Ragnarok, which both of us have seen more than once. But it’s still the best. We watched it, and it was still early when we finished, so we went on a long walk.
We ate some snacks and watched some of Star Wars: A New Hope. We went to bed fairly early.
I was up early again the next morning and did my workout and went on a 1.5 mile run down to the river and back. It was lightly sprinkling rain, and so cold, and so beautiful. During all this time, Rachel was packing up her bags, her ice chest, and the car. I felt panicky because I don’t like anyone waiting on me. I showered, packed, and got ready as fast as I could. I didn’t do makeup, but filled in my eyebrows in the car.
We drove over to The Kneadery and had about a 20 minute wait, which wasn’t too bad for a holiday. I had Brioche French toast, 2 eggs, and bacon, along with some Earl Grey tea. Rachel had the Cowboy. All the food was delicious, and I loved the environment at the place. It would be fun to eat there on a non-rainy day, on their patio or in the front. It was so cute.
We drove from 11-1 and stopped at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. We took an hour or so break there. It was so cool. Very busy, since it was Memorial Day, but very cool. I’m glad Rachel wanted to stop and visit.
We had some snacks and drinks at the falls, then we drove from 2-5pm. We hit some traffic outside of Logan and even saw a small tornado on our way back!
During our drive we listened to the book Grit by Angela Duckworth. Lots of great gems so far, and I downloaded the audiobook so I could listen to the rest of it.
As soon as we got to Rachel’s, I helped her unload, and she helped me unload into my car. I went straight to the grocery store, got home, put laundry in, and got chicken in the Instant Pot. I jumped right back in to real life.
The trip was beautiful, relaxing, and amazing. I need to be better about taking advantage of long weekends and seeing new places. I’m thankful Rachel invited me on her personal restorative trip and was happy to accompany her. It was low-key, but we still did a ton. We enjoyed rainstorms and sunshine, and overall just had a lovely time enjoying the quiet town of Ketchum. If you ever want to get away from the noise for a little bit, I know of a cute condo in a great resort town you can go to.
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