Hello friends!

We are back from the beautiful Saw-tooth Mountains in Stanley, and have so much to share with you! Sit back for a few minutes, and take a walk down memory lane with us if you’d like. Some equally funny and frustrating moments….duality was clearly at work here.

The last day of July, last Wed. the 31st to be exact, we were still packing the trailer in the early a.m. with the hot blazin’ sun already upon us, and a 3 hour drive to the concert ahead in Twin Falls “Downtown Commons;” a.k.a a hot, un-shaded concrete slab where 1,000+ folks came to “kick their heels up!” on the slab floor! We drove an arduous 122 miles at 65 mph in an 80 mph zone, pulling the trailer fully loaded. It was a small form of torture since we were already running late. We pulled down a one way street to the venue, unbeknownst to us, and thank God we had the mercy of on-coming traffic that slowed enough for us and our trailer in tow, in order to get into the parking lot safely….OMG!!! Saw a person getting a ticket from an officer a day later for the same thing…..ugh! Needless to say, that street was not well marked for the one way sign.

We were joined by Meghan Watters on percussion and Bonnie Johnson on lead guitar. And then there was us, B&K; the wilted flowers getting more withered on the stage, despite the cooling neck clothes, sprays of water, and on occasion ice cube in our bra. Juno had the best spot, tethered to the trailer, full shade, and a nice breeze! The curator, Robyn even went back a time or two to spray her with a water bottle. She was ‘Queen Juno’ for a night, though she probably would have much rather roasted her furry butt off on stage with us; separation anxiety, ya know.

Our dear friend, Trudy who decided to come on the week long B&K tour, generously offered her air-conditioned hotel room for the night that had an extra bed. AC and a shower at this point, you felt like Cleopatra, and we gratefully accepted the offer given the hot temperature that night. Ahhhhhhh! We had breakfast with Bon Bon and her girl that morning, then made tracks to Sun Valley for our next round of shows! But only after visiting “Rudy’s A Cook’s Paradise” and ‘Koto’s Brewery’ in old downtown. We have more gig opportunities there after a brew, BBQ broccoli tacos, and a chat with the manager. Beautiful stage, great brews and food, and a nice place to hang your hat for awhile.

We landed at our good friends, Carol and John’s in Sun Valley and parked our trailer for the weekend. So grateful to have a place to hang our hats, and reduce expenses. Nice to come home “in the black” instead of the red. It’s too easy to spend all your proceeds on the road. Carol and John are an extremely active, well-traveled couple whom we met at Grand Targhee Ski resort many moons ago. They invited us to entertain at Carol’s 70th birthday, and we became fast friends. By the way, they can kick our ass any day; skiing, hiking, you name it…..they are seriously in shape (and 73 & 75 now!), and love to take you on fun adventures…..better make sure you’re prepared though….they epitomize energy, and not always the amount we have! Wish we could bottle it and save it for later. Would come in handy at some of those late night shows! Though we strive for, and enjoy our earlier show times, 4-6pm or 5-7pm, so we can get our beauty rest…..ha ha!

We got the opportunity to visit the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens. What a site to behold; so tranquil and beautifully manicured. We spun the 400 lb Tibetan prayer wheel that was blessed by the Dali Lama in Sept, 2005 in honor of the victims lost in 911, and walked the gardens in sheer bliss. We highly recommend a visit next time you’re in the Valley.

We got up early Friday morning; well early for us (6:30 am) in order to beat the heat on a hike Carol wanted to take us; lofty endeavor for a show day, but we needed some exercise, and what better than a hike in nature. We went up Trail Creek Rd (the latter part of the drive 4 miles, on a one lane, gravel road that steadily climbed elevation, and had a 2,000 foot drop to your left! Made our butt cheeks pucker! What a thrill! Beautiful scenery behind us of Sun Valley below, and the craggy canyon riffs looking over us as we sauntered up the mountain at 20 mph, which was a bit fast in my estimation.

We hiked a steady incline for 2 hours, doing 5 miles of the 11 mile round trip because we were tuckered, in a daze actually from the heat, the misquotes were hummin’, and at this point, we were in full sun. Much like how we opt out of skiing on a show day, we did the same in this instance. Call it lazy, we call it wisdom. Our priority is being able to ‘bring it’ (energy in our performance and message) to that evening’s show, especially because the concert series in Ketchum is based on the Arts and bringing community together. Don’t want to disappoint!

We had a 3 hour tour that night, playing to a captive audience, starting at 5pm. Juno sacked out on her pad on stage, tuckered out from our hiking adventure. We met Roman, age 11 with a bright smile, freckles, and red hair while dining after the show. His mom was a big fan! We threw chips across the table at one another, talked about altruism, and he delighted in seeing our expressions every time he showed us gory pictures of facial tattoos and piercings. He was a kick in the pants! We decided it best to give him a B&K oreo cookie hug as we departed. He didn’t know what to make of that, but we think he’ll always remember “those two zany singer ladies.” He said to his mom, I think Mo could be my sister. Ha! Adorable! Hope he stays in touch. It was refreshing to meet such an intelligent and resourceful young man.

Roman! We wanted to take him home!!! What a great kid!!!

In our friend’s neighborhood that evening, we came upon a herd of elk, many juvenile bulls with their furry antlers. We were grateful to be in the safety of our car to enjoy their majestic beauty. What a treat, a real National Geographic moment!

Many Bulls in velvet surprising us only feet away from our car!

Saturday morning came, and we politely declined another hike. We got the pleasure of performing at the Limelight Hotel in Ketchum Saturday night, another “3 hour tour”! Fortunately we were shaded, and had our friend Trudy babysitting young, restless Juno. There was a birthday party happening there, about 20 folks, all from Boise. Their 1 year old daughter danced with glee and pure delight all night. We were thoroughly entertained, as well as doing the entertaining. The venue said “please come back anytime.” That always feels good.

So we headed over the Galena Pass and into the Sawtooth Mountain range Sunday morning; an absolutely stunning 65 mile drive, landing at Alturas Lake to camp. We got one of the last camp sites and were delighted! However there was a family tribe of 20+ folks next door, with all their toys, ATV’s, motorcycles, etc. that made for a less than restful camping experience. We ended up moving to the North shore campground the next day, just a ¼ mile down the road to a much more peaceful site with our own beach access for paddle-boarding. Now you’d think we’d settle down by this point, and dig in to our relaxation time, but the bugs were antagonistic, the motorized boats on the water blaring rap music on one end, and country from the other, and the can of bacon grease next door that was unbeknownst to us until Juno was face deep in it, proved to be a challenge for us. The last night, Juno restless and vomiting due to her culinary excursions…..we couldn’t wait to get home!

We did have a burger at Smiley Creek and heard some music from a local Boise musician, and also went to Redfish lodge to see live music Wed night, a fellow from San Francisco that was literally a one man band. He live looped drums, guitar, bass, and other effects while he sang and played guitar. Very impressive! We were on what’s known as “B&K time” which roughly translates, wherever you’re going, or doing, our time of arrival is always 1 hour after the time we say we’ll be there.

One of our favorite pass times camping is reading by the fire, waiting for the bats to come out, and the sky of stars soon to follow. We collected firewood not even a mile from our campsite in deserted piles free for the taking, and had some magnificent camp fires every night. The stars were exploding in the sky; the milky way, blissfully milky, and the stars, both big or small, like the infinite grains of sand that meet the ocean floor. We found ourselves excited for the star show each night, and would leave the camper curtains open so we could star gaze every time we briefly awoke through the night. Like Christmas morning a-waiting!

We watched osprey dive for their lunch, water-skiers doing their flips and tricks, fish hanging out among the submerged trees on the shore line, and the fresh mountain air reminding us of all the good things in life. We take you all on this journey with us, and we thank you for being a part of our travels. It’s like having a lucky shamrock in your pocket all the time. We are grateful for each and every one of you, and hope your summer has been amazing!

Take good care now.

Distinguished while searching for Squirrels!

All our best,

Mo (was the author of this tale) Nic (Placed pictures and edited)

Mountain Time

Shawn Aller

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