Author: K&N

(Also known as the day Nicole beat Kurt at fishing.)

Ok, so we’ve said it before, but the day we spent fly fishing was our favourite day of the trip so far. Hands down. No comparison. Not only did we get to spend the day in some of the beautiful streams and rivers we had been fascinated by for weeks, but we also had a fantastic local guide whose knowledge and love of the region only increased our admiration for it. Oh, and we got to learn new fishing skills and catch fish we’d never seen before for the whole day.

Note: all of the fish caught were released ASAP. We didn’t keep any fish on the day.

The night before
We were already falling in love with Ketchum, Idaho as a town and we were pretty excited about the fishing trip. The weather was uncertain – it was raining when we arrived in Ketchum, and we’d been into Silvercreek Outfitters (the store we organised the guided trip through) the afternoon before our trip and heard the trips that day had been cold and wet. So we packed a little fishing bag with thermals, beanies, gloves, hats, spare socks, and of course rain jackets – we were fairly confident we were ready for our freezing day of fishing.

We briefly spoke to our guide, Brian, that night on the phone, organising the time to meet and covering a few other quick details – just long enough know he was our kind of people.

The morning of
By some strange stroke of luck, the day of our trip dawned clear and bright, without a raincloud in sight. Still, we brought our prep bag with us, not trusting the blue sky. We arrived at Silvercreek Outfitters, met our awesome guide, Brian, organised our fishing licences and hire gear, and set out on the road. (We were particularly impressed that the fishing licenses and hire gear were all included in the price of the full-day guide trip – it’s always nice when there are no money surprises!)

The first stop
Brian put some real thought into where to take the two Aussies. There were two options he came up with – one, the valley we came into Ketchum through (the breathtaking one mentioned in our last blog post) and two, heading towards the little town of Stanley, higher in the mountains towards (another) picturesque setting.

Oddly enough, Stanley was the whole reason we were in Ketchum. In planning our trip, Kurt was glancing over the maps, happened upon Stanley and decided he wanted to go there. After looking it up, Nicole was totally on board with that plan. And somehow, Brian decided that was where we headed.

As we headed (further) into the mountains, the clouds were so low they almost looked like fog, only adding to the sense of wonder as we wound into the mountains, through Stanley and towards our first fishing spot for the day.

By the time we finished getting into our waders and boots (so good looking), the clouds burned off under the sunshine, and we waddled gracefully towards the river. We started with a lesson in fly fishing. Brian was a great teacher, breaking down the simple cast, what to do when a fish bites, and how to pull it in. When he was done, we got straight into it. Kurt went first, wading into the water next to a deep pool in the river.

Brian got us started us on a section of the river full of a fish he called “whities” (mountain white fish). Turns out, mountain white fish aren’t that bright, making them an ideal learning-to-fly-fish fish. If there’s food, they’ll eat, even if they’ve been hooked recently.

Turns out the casting isn’t too hard (at least, it wasn’t with our expert guide helping out), but learning to hook the fish when they nibble is a little harder. In the fishing we’d done before, fish eat the bait and they’re hooked. In fly fishing, the hooks generally don’t have barbs and they’re very small – and the fish figure out pretty quickly that what they just put in their mouth is decidedly NOT a bug worth eating. So before they spit it out, the fisherman (or woman) needs to lift the rod sharply to set the hook. Kurt managed this quickly (of course), but Nicole missed a few bites before getting the hang of it.

Holding two “whities” as Brian called them (one Kurt’s, one Nicole’s)

Fishing scenery 1

The next stage
Once we were comfortable with the process, we moved up the river to an area with trout, mountain white fish and potentially a few other species. When we reached it, Brian was pretty excited to see what we were sure were bull trout and some other large fish at the bottom of a deep pool. Kurt and Brian sidled into place low at the side of the river to avoid spooking them.

Sneaky casting (trying to avoid scaring the fish)

Fishing fashion (yes, Mum, I wore sun protection)

Fishing scenery 3

They tried various flies and depths to tempt the fish and while Kurt did manage to tempt a few mountain white fish, the bigger fish we could see remained pretty passive.

Nicole moved in a little higher up the river, trying to tempt some trout from an overhang with sticks. It took a lot of concentration to re-cast when the fly was getting too close to the snaggy sticks. And Nicole is pretty easily distracted… Thankfully Brian was there to save the day (and the fly) when Nicole inevitably got snagged.

Not having much luck with what we were doing, Brian changed things up, and had Kurt cast a little further out where Nicole had been. We were about to wrap up and leave the area when a huge bull trout lunged for the indicator on Kurt’s line. (That’s the little floating plastic ball that gets pulled under the water when a fish takes the fly – the fish aren’t supposed to be interested in it!)

Pretty excited to have found a hungry bull trout, Brian had Kurt cast again in the same area. When nothing happened, they swapped lures, changed positions and changed lures again, but sadly nothing tempted the bull trout again.

That said, Kurt did manage to catch (on a regular fly) a rare sucker fish from the deeper pool in this section of the river. We were also lucky enough to see a couple of sockeye salmon, which have often died off after breeding by this point in the year. They were a deep, dark red and very cool!

Lunch
Was so darn good. Possibly the best packed lunch we’ve ever had. And the little table where we had lunch had some adorable little companions – chipmunks!

Third (and final) fishing stop
After lunch, we got back in the car and drove to another spot on the Salmon River. Because Kurt’s rod had the special fly on it from the attempted bull trout catch, Nicole was set up first in the river.

And instantly, trout were biting. In the first few minutes, she was catching a fish each cast. It was a mix of rainbow trout and mountain white fish, but primarily rainbow trout. Because of this, she kept Brian pretty busy, meaning he couldn’t set Kurt’s rod back to a normal fly for a little while and Kurt took a little longer to get back in the river. (Nicole was happily and steadily increasing her fish lead, and was therefore not remotely unhappy about this.)

Once Kurt was all set up, he was back in the river casting. He even managed to start false casting (that’s the casting you would normally associate with fly fishing, with lots of flicking back and forth… it was pretty impressive). That said, Kurt was casting a little further along the river and not having much luck, so we swapped positions. Not long later, Kurt finally pulled in his first rainbow trout.

Kurt’s first trout

First trout!

We had another run-in with a bull trout (bye bye Nicole’s fly!), some more mountain white fish, and then, before we knew it, the sun was setting and it was time to head back.

At the end of the day, Nicole had caught more fish, but Kurt had caught more species… so we called it a tie. (*Cough* Nicole won *cough*.)

We finished our perfect day with a great dinner at Pioneer Saloon – awesome food, fantastic service – and a walk around Ketchum. Just a few metres from our hotel room (five steps from our room door), the rain started. We headed inside and pretty much passed out, exhausted and so so happy with the day.

Throughout the day, Brian shared stories of the region with us, teaching us not only about fly fishing and the fish species, but about deer, wolves, bears and the locals. It was honestly the best experience we could have hoped for.

Yet again, we opted for the scenic route on this drive. With Google maps in hand (albeit without reception) and a wildly unimpressed GPS unit as our reluctant navigator, we left Island Park along dusty gravel roads surrounded by pines, streams and mountain glimpses.

From Island Park, we headed towards Chilly, then across a very twisty mountain pass to Sun Valley, Idaho.

Chilly
This so-called town showed up on Google maps like it was a real thing. It’s not. It’s two houses, and then one more a little further down the road. That’s it. Seriously. We’d planned to stop in Chilly for lunch, but after blinking and almost missing the “town” it became clear that this would not be happening. So, with a slightly disgruntled Nicole and without a lunch break, we continued onto a small, winding road that our GPS unit seemed to dislike intensely.

Trail Creek Road
Despite the GPS continuously insisting that we make a U-turn, we resolutely ignored it and continued along Trail Creek Road. There were times when we honestly thought we might have just driven onto someone’s private property – not a great idea in an area full of gun-toting Americans, we thought – but a few passing cars left us convinced we were, in fact, on a road and we pushed on.

On the road to Ketchum 2

On the road to Ketchum 5

On the road to Ketchum 4

At one point, we passed an even-prettier-than-usual stream and stopped for a quick walk along it.

Roadside stream 1

Roadside stream selfie

Roadside stream 2

We were back on the road quickly and in what felt like no time at all, we rounded a bend into a truly breathtaking valley – with a sheer, 40 to 100 metre drop right next to the road. (Kurt was not such a fan of the drop, but drove on like a trouper… because there was nowhere to stop.) The pictures we took don’t do this valley justice. It was stunning, lush, topped with low clouds and even had the occasional waterfall just to rub in how incredible it was.

The valley 5

The valley 2

The valley 6

The valley 4

The valley 3

The valley 1

All too soon we were winding down to the base of the mountains, into Sun Valley and Ketchum. These two towns are right next to each other, and are essentially ski towns. And they’re almost too adorable. The people are insanely friendly, the shops and streets are little and pretty, and the mountain glimpses down every street are magical. We fell a little in love with Ketchum and the whole mountains-in-Idaho area and would wholeheartedly recommend anyone travelling to the US stop by. It’s a little piece of perfection as far as we’re concerned.

You might have noticed that our “scenic route to Yellowstone” blog post went up a day late, and that we haven’t posted since then. Well, that’s because Yellowstone and our accommodation there has TERRIBLE internet and NO phone reception. And we don’t mean terrible when compared with the rest of the internet we’ve experienced in the US (which, by the way, is so much better than Australia’s). Oh no, we mean really, truly terrible. Like slower than dial-up. Like if Kurt was trying to load a simple Google search and Nicole wanted to open an email, it would poop itself and take 10 minutes.

So anyway, that’s our excuse for this inexcusably late blog post. Well, that and we went fly fishing yesterday, so our arms were too tired to even consider typing.

All of that means this blog post is (once again) coming to you from the road, this time while we are driving towards Winnemucca, Nevada. Don’t bother Googling it – it’s just a pit-stop on our way towards Yosemite. This will be a longer blog post, so feel free to go for a bathroom or drink break now if needed. Go on, we’ll wait.

…

Ok, now we’ve weeded out the weak, let’s get to it!

Mesa Falls
We had some falls near our accommodation, and travelled there one day during our stay. Honestly, we weren’t expecting much considering it wasn’t very tourist-y and no one had mentioned them to us, but we were very pleasantly surprised. This is them!

Upper Mesa Falls 3

Upper Mesa Falls selfie

Downstream from Mesa Falls

Rexburg
Island Park (where our accommodation was) isn’t what we would call a town. At all. It was undeniably peaceful and very pretty, but the “town” comprised of a petrol station with limited basic supplies and a bank. Weird combination, and not overly useful, really.

So when we needed some groceries and other supplies, we headed into Rexburg. It is about an hour and a half south of Island Park (away from Yellowstone) and is the closest kind-of-city in the area. By kind-of-city, we mean it had a few bigger chain stores… it was still a small town, really.

Turns out Rexburg is a Mormon town. No big deal… unless you want to buy something on a Sunday at anything but Walmart, or if you would like any kind of alcohol served to you on Sunday. We weren’t fussed (Walmart is a bit of a novelty to us) but it was a strange realisation when we finally read an explanation of why so many stores were closed on Sunday in an online review of one.

Once again we took the scenic route when it was presented to us, and found ourselves winding through some gorgeous farmland and rivers on our way back to the accommodation. That said, a couple of the properties we passed were flying Confederate flags, so we weren’t super keen on photographing them. So have a shot of some pretty horses by the river!

Yellowstone
… was pretty full on! We crammed in as much as we could in the time available, and managed to see the geysers, lake, wildlife (more on them below!), falls and sulfur pits. (Sadly there was some back-burning going on so the direct road to Mammoth Hot Springs was closed and we didn’t have time to go the long way around to see them.)

Wildlife
This was honestly the part of Yellowstone we enjoyed the most. Although we didn’t get to see wolves or bears, which we had hoped for, we did see a coyote, mule deer, several bison (or buffalo, maybe, we’re not clear on which was which) and some trout.

Coyote

Coyote 1

Coyote 1

Bison (or buffalo… whatever, just look at the pictures)

Bison herd (or buffalo, maybe)

Bison aka first animal in Yellowstone

Deer

Deer – doe in grass

Deer – stag

Deer – doe in water

Trout

And here is the stream we saw them in:

Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful
Another highlight of Yellowstone. Naturally, we waited to see Old Faithful erupt — and it was really cool. Such a strange phenomenon! It erupts every 35 to 120 minutes and each eruption lasts between 3 and 10 minutes on average. We arrived about 30 minutes before the eruption. For the first 15 to 20 minutes of our vigil, only steam emerged from the admittedly less-than-beautiful hole that is Old Faithful. In the last 10 minutes before the eruption, little spurts and bubbles of water would occasionally tease us, but when the eruption truly began, there was no mistaking it. Water shot up and steam streamed from it, creating a pretty little rainbow and a lot of awe from the audience.

Old Faithful and a rainbow

Old Faithful eruption

After Old Faithful erupted, we wandered around Upper Geyser Basin to see the other geysers and hot springs and thermal pools in the area. Apparently the different colours mean different temperatures and/or minerals.

Upper Geyser Basin 2

Upper Geyser Basin 3

Upper Geyser Basin 1

Upper Geyser Basin 4

Upper Geyser Basin 5

Upper Geyser Basin 6

The Sulphur Pits
Yeah… so they’re essentially bubbling pools of really, really smelly mud. Like a thousand rotten eggs, the smell hits you the moment you step out of the car. Convinced we would get used to it and that prettier areas must be just around the corner, we decided to do the walk around the sulphur pit area. Not going to lie, that was not our favourite part of the trip. Turns out, we did not get used to the smell and many of the pits looked exactly the same. We felt this area of Yellowstone fell into the “once you’ve seen one smelly bubbly mud pool, you’ve seen them all” category.

Another strange thing about the sulphur pits is that since then, once or twice a day, the car has mysteriously become re-infested with the smell. It seems to follow meal times and somehow the windows get locked when it occurs, causing Nicole to almost pass out before a laughing Kurt manages to get the windows unlocked. So. Not. Funny.

The Falls and Canyon of Yellowstone
Very pretty, and relatively self-explanatory!

Upper Yellowstone Falls 2

Yellowstone Grand Canyon and Upper Falls

Leaving Yellowstone
Leaving Yellowstone National Park at sunset was stunning, and because we were stuck in a 20-minute bison-based traffic jam (there was a bison next to the road and every tourist was stopping to take a picture of one close up… it was honestly infuriating) Kurt managed to get a pretty cool shot despite being the driver at the time.

We’re going to leave you there for the night. There are more pictures of Yellowstone in the gallery (on the side of the blog). Enjoy!

Upper Geyser Basin selfie

Yellowstone selfie

On advice from Cheesecake Factory guy (whose name we very sadly didn’t catch), we took a slightly longer route to our Yellowstone home base (Island Park)… and it was so, so worth it.

Today was hands down our favourite day of driving so far. Only an hour out of Salt Lake City, we exited the highway towards Brigham City on our way to Logan. We’d been promised granite-faced mountains along the way, and we were NOT disappointed.

It was such a huge and refreshing change from the Nevada desert we’d come to expect (which was beautiful in its own way). We found ourselves in a valley of sorts with stunning turn after stunning turn, and a bubbling brook following along at the side of the road.

After a quick stop in Logan, we headed on towards Garden City, which is on the shore of Bear Lake. An hour or so later, we crested a mountain and found the view below.

We really hope you can click on the image for a larger view of the panorama shot (if not, there’s a smaller version in the photo gallery) but honestly, no photo we took could do the lake justice. It is turquoise blue, apparently because of the limestone suspended in the water – think the Caribbean, only in lake form. Simply amazing. We had the pleasure of winding down the mountainside with that view and then travelling along it for another half hour or so.

From there, we headed up to Jackson, Wyoming, and then along twisting mountain roads through several state forests to Island Park, our home for the next few days.

We had originally planned on making this drive in 6 hours, straight down the highway. We’re so, so glad we happened to get lucky with that waiter last night!

Next post will be from the Yellowstone area, so stay tuned!

This blog post is coming to you from the road somewhere between Vegas and Salt Lake City (honestly, we’re in the middle of nowhere right now!), using Nicole’s phone and some skilled lap-based typing technique.

The hotel and restaurants
We splurged a little and got a pretty nice room in the Aria (because it was our anniversary part of the trip) and it was gorgeous – comfortable, impeccably clean, with fantastic service and wonderful amenities. Of course, being Vegas, we didn’t spend much time there!

There was SO much to do between the restaurants, shows, shopping and (of course) gambling (although we did hardly any of that). You could eat at a different 5-star restaurant every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a month and still not have gone to every restaurant there. (We’re honestly not sure we’re exaggerating there. It was nuts.) Our favourite was a steakhouse that served the best steak either of us have ever eaten. All were cooked on a wood fire stove and while we thought that would be a gimmick, it turns out it totally wasn’t – spectacular.

Same with the shows – there were so many on and in planning the trip we found it pretty hard to pick. But, while many were tempting, we decided the Cirque du Soleil shows were probably more our style than the magic shows and concerts.

Kà and Michael Jackson ONE
These were two very different Cirque du Soleil shows. Kà has spectacular sets and effects and was a much bigger show in terms of production, set design, costumes etc. (We read somewhere that it was $160 million to put the show together, which with a huge moving stage makes sense.)

Michael Jackson ONE on the other hand, had a simple stage and just a few cool set pieces (like a trampoline set where the performers jumped from crazy heights and landed clear across the stage – nuts!).

Kà is story-based and has an underlying martial arts (kind of) theme. Michael Jackson ONE is, of course, much more focussed on the music and had more dance-type sections.

Going into Vegas, we’d only booked Kà, thinking the martial arts theme would be cool. And it was, but not quite as cool as we’d hoped. There were certainly some spectacular and beautiful moments, but it wasn’t as breathtaking as expected.

With one night free at the end of our stay, and because we both love Michael Jackson’s music (Kurt in particular), we decided to book Michael Jackson ONE. And it was so, so worth it. The show wasn’t as polished as Kà (which in some ways made it feel more real, almost), but there were moments that gave us goosebumps and others that left us speechless. Would definitely recommend this show.

The Strip
Can’t go to Vegas without walking down the famous Las Vegas Strip. While the Strip is constantly changing (with new hotels and restaurants being added and updates happening gradually in the older hotels), there are certainly some constants: big lights, heaps of loud and… interesting people, and lots of impressive buildings, free shows (the Bellagio fountain, street performers, etc) and shops.

Helicopter ride
This, sadly, was not something we would recommend. While it was certainly an experience, overall we felt it was just too expensive for what we received. When they say fly over Hoover Dam, we kinda hoped we would maybe hover there for a minute. But no, they literally meant “fly over”. As in, it you could see it through the window on one side for about 30 seconds (and that’s us being generous).

Add to that the fact that our helicopter broke down (just a sensor glitch, so no actual danger, but we weren’t allowed to fly with it), leaving us stranded in the desert for over an hour with no shade while they flew a second helicopter out to collect us and finish the tour and honestly… not worth it.

To be fair, the pilot was great, the helicopter itself was comfortable, air conditioned (while it was in the air at least) and the short lunch in the Grand Canyon was quite nice. While the Grand Canyon was certainly grand, it wasn’t quite the sort of scenery we tend to find beautiful – but that’s just our personal preference.

Shopping
Nicole… found the Sketchers outlet. We have a bag for shoes now 🙂

Oh and Kurt bought some stuff too, including a new suitcase (it was much needed, and allowed for Nicole’s run-over shoe-case).

The drive out of Vegas…
… is happening as we type. As mentioned at the start, this blog post is coming to you from the road, as we drive from Vegas up to Salt Lake City. We’ll be staying in Salt Lake City tonight on our way to Yellowstone National Park tomorrow. While we’ve had a heap of fun in Vegas, we’re really looking forward to some quiet, no pedestrian traffic jams and getting out of this crazy heat!

So, we’re finally in the States, set up with internet, and have time to give you a little update on where we’ve been. It’s been a whirlwind so far with the flights, our first night in Santa Monica, driving to Vegas and then straight into everything here – Kà by Cirque du Soleil, a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, and let’s not forget the best steak we’ve ever eaten (but that’s all in the next post, which you have to wait for… :P).

Sydney airport and the flights
We left Four Seasons bright and early on Saturday morning to head to the international airport. Checking in was simple and easy, security was quick and the Air NZ lounge was pretty cool – relaxing, had great food and free wifi – that’s actually where we set up this blog (because we’re super organised like that).

Boarding happened on time and the business section is so cool! (Something we’ll never experience again, which is a pity because it was an awesome experience and setup.)

Car rental
We collected the car as soon as we left LAX, and the collection of the rental was a breeze – friendly, helpful, and we (we think) got an upgrade to some kind of jumbo size SUV. It’s a little hard to park but super comfy and has all of the connectivity and tech we were secretly hoping for.

Huntley Hotel
Our first night in the States we stayed in picturesque Santa Monica. It was a short drive from the airport and the hotel was just a block back from the beach with a great view. We spent a few hours walking along the beach, Santa Monica Pier, and the esplanades (and catching pokemon every now and then).

Leaving for Vegas
The next morning, we were up bright and early again (6.30am… ok, ok, it was 6.46am or so before Nicole got up), and headed up to the Penthouse (the hotel restaurant) for a quick breakfast. We were in the car and (attempting) navigating the LA freeways by 7.30am. Vegas adventures coming in the next post!

We got married. (Ok, it was actually 362 days ago, but who’s counting?)

Our honeymoon was short and full of fishing, so this year, for our anniversary, we decided to do something a little different. Don’t worry, it still has fishing (well played, Kurt), but the holiday is a little longer and gives us time to do things while not covered in fish guts (yay!).

And so begins our great American road trip… in Sydney. Yeah, we know we’re not in the US yet, but we’re on our way!

Day 1: Four Seasons, Sydney
It was a 5.30am start on Day 1, so we could let the dogs out for a run ahead of them being collected by the pet resort. And yes, it’s really a resort – even has a water park – but they take wonderful care of the dogs which is all we care about.

Bauie and Tundra having muddy fun at the resort

Our trip begins with us staying at the fantastic Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, just like we did on our wedding night (symmetry, you understand).

Apparently the Four Seasons staff have wonderful memories. Complimentary champagne was delivered to our room shortly after we arrived, along with a personalised card from the General Manager. (Ok, so Nicole might have mentioned we were returning when we made the reservation… but still, props to Four Seasons for the wonderful customer service.)

Our night started with canapés in the Executive Club, followed by a walk around the harbour in what turned out to be lovely weather (gotta catch ’em all). After an hour and a few selfies, we headed back to the hotel room for dinner – we have to be up bright and early to check out and head to the airport.

This is the (theoretical) trip plan. A little ambitious, and we’re easily distracted by shiny things, so there’s certainly a chance for some deviations!

Day 0:
Pre-trip Sydney stay – Staying in Circular Quay, Sydney, at the Four Seasons.

Day 1:
Arrive in LA and explore Santa Monica. This is just an overnight jaunt – simple and relaxing after the flights and fun of LAX.

Days 2-4:
Las Vegas – a little Cirque, a little shopping, and a little helicopter ride.

Days 5-12:
Yellowstone National Park – we’ll drive up to Yellowstone over a couple of days, likely via Salt Lake City. We’re staying around Yellowstone and the mountain area for close to a week, because neither of us have ever done this area before.

Days 13-19:
Yosemite and San Francisco – a little more national park, likely a bike race in Mammoth Lakes, and then on San Fransisco to see awesome family (and maybe a few other things).

Days 19-21:
Driving down to LA along the coast – we’ll be finishing the holiday with a scenic drive down the Californian coast.