Snowy SUN VALLEY, IDAHO. The Sun Valley Lodge and a restaurant reachable only by gondola!

We arrived late (note that the Sun Valley airport closes frequently due to poor visibility so you could be diverted to Boise and bussed into Sun Valley-- a looong 2 and a half hours!!!) in Sun Valley last night and were met with snow and cold!  Brrr.  But that's the point.  We checked into the Sun Valley Lodge which has been around since the 1930s and is in the heart of the village.  We opted for their "Stay and Ski For Free" package which includes lift tickets in the nightly rate which starts at $129/person/night.

We raced down the charming and picturesque Main St. of Sun Valley thinking it could be straight out of a Western movie, three hours late for dinner to kick off our cousin Lisa's wedding festivities!

After a chilly gondola ride to the top of the mountain we arrived at the Roundhouse where family and friends were assembled in the cozy, festive restaurant flanking a roaring fireplace.  Lisa and Casper, the groom who we adore, looked perfect and happy and we all ate and drank too much.  The Roundhouse is only accessed by the gondola and also serves a more formal lunch-- we're going to go for fondue and wine after skiing all morning tomorrow.   A perfect winter wonderland experience with views of the twinkling lights of the town below.  Was incredibly romantic even with our entire family!

Nobody was ready for bed yet so we hit Whiskey Jacques for some horrendous karaoke.  We performed a rather lackluster "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and are still convinced the emcee sabotaged us....  or something like that.  BUT we did get the bride and groom up on stage for an ensemble finale following their own stirring rendition of "Every Breath You Take."

more tomorrow... xoxoxo