Day 24---from small town to jet set, Fairfield to Bellevue, ID

38.3 miles, 3:05, 12.5 mph.

It was hard to get to sleep early in Fairfield, as the big fireworks display started just before 10 (about an hour and a half after the big thunder/windstorm blew through) just after a really spectacular sunset.

Since the town is so small, each of the fireworks shook the house, so I went out on the front porch to watch.  They must have shot off between 125-175 individual fireworks, and it was a spectacular display.  No crowds, and since the high school football field was only a block and a half away, I had a better than front row seat.

I finally got to sleep around 11, and got up around 7. It was nice to sleep without air conditioning for the first time in 10 days, and the morning was blessedly cool, in the upper 50s. I quickly ate breakfast, packed and was out the door by 8.  It was pretty sunny, and the air was heating up quickly, but I had a mild breeze for the easy ride to Bellevue, which is about 17 miles south of Sun Valley, but part of the larger Sun Valley community.  I made good time across the prairie and then more lava desert, before heading up the valley of the Big Wood River, which I will follow for more than 50 miles, up to Galena Summit, at 8700 feet, the highest point of my ride.  The road is lined with hayfields, framed by golden, barren mountains, with the higher Sawtooths in the background.

The first glimpse of the higher Sawtooths, and you realize why they're called that:

 

I arrived at Skip and Tami's place in Bellevue just after 11, and it was nice to be with family, and have a real house to stay in for a couple of nights!  We spent the day hanging out, meeting the horses and checking out their property.  All the while, the private jets were heading into the Hailey airport, a couple of miles north of here for the big Allen and Company investment banking conference that happens just after the 4th here every year.

Tami made a great homemade dinner of chicken paprikash, fettucine, cucumbers and fresh lettuce salad from the garden.  Betts Simon, Skip's mom, joined us for dinner, and we had a great time telling old family stories and catching up.  I stayed up the latest so far on this trip, almost midnight!  And another night of no air conditioning.....