We flew to Boise and then drove to Sun Valley for a long weekend. We began the fun by going snowshoeing. I was expecting to get strapped onto something resembling a tennis racket but I was bitterly disappointed to learn that, like so many other things in life, snowshoe technology has passed me by.

After donning our finest threads and attending a wedding, we toured the nearby Hemingway sites. I've wanted to visit his grave in Ketchum since I was 15 but I have never had the chance until now. It was quite an experience. We also visited his memorial in Sun Valley and dined at Michel's Christiania Restaurant, reserving the very table where he had his last meal.

We stayed on the fourth floor of the Sun Valley Lodge. Hemingway wrote much of For Whom the Bell Tolls in room 206. The room was booked, but I bribed the dude at the front desk so we could take a look inside. When he didn't seem to be going for my sales pitch I closed the deal by looking him in the eye and saying, with my inimitable toolboxy hamhandedness, "I'll make it worth your while."

Upon returning to Boise, we trod the famous Smurf Turf at Boise State University, visited the state capital and roamed around downtown for an afternoon.