As Day 4 began, we were heading into town after a bike ride.  Marilyn and I were on the bikes, Chad was walking, running and jogging along side as needed.

Marilyn: Chad looks mad in this picture.

We made a quick loop through town and then back up around toward Sun Valley where we had left the car.  On the way we passed a huge bunch of cars heading in to a parking area.  We asked what was up.  The people directing traffic said there was a concert coming up.  We talked about checking it out, but decided to go ahead and finish the bike ride and maybe have some food.

Marilyn: The bike trail is awesome. It is very scenic. It is a picture perfect day.

Chad took over Marilyn's bike and raced ahead again, darting dangerously through roads.

Marilyn: I did not mind lending Chad my bike. I like to walk and enjoy the view. Boy, look at Chad go.

We got back to the car, and the pile of snow was larger than it was before!!!!

Marilyn: Seeing the snow is very strange considering it is something like 70 degrees outside.

Chad: That is some tenacious snow.

Had it snowed?  NO!  It was like 80 degrees!

So what of Chad's theory that this was the last remaining snow from Winter?

Hey wait, what was that building right next to the parking lot?  Oh wait...  it was an ice rink!

So perhaps this was where they emptied the Zamboni or something.  Yeah, that probably was more like it.

Anyway, we hopped in the car and went back to town and found a place to eat.  Someplace on a balcony overlooking the main street.

Marilyn: I am pretty tired at this point after biking 10 miles. I am ready to just chill out.

Chad was getting annoyed by the pictures while he was trying to eat.

Marilyn: Chad looks like he is either going to kill Sam with his fork or stab his food to a billion pieces.

By the time we were done with dinner at the Sawtooth Club, it was getting dark, and we could hear the sound of music drifting through the streets.

So of course that naturally lent itself to more playing with flags.

Marilyn: Can’t you tell how much fun I was having? What a great action shot Sam as I am jumping up in the air.

And Marilyn playing with strange dogs in trucks.

Marilyn: I could not resist going up to a dog. The dog seemed very friendly and did not mind my presence. I guess that he could sense that I am a dog lover.

But eventually we decided to just follow the music and try to get into the concert.  We scrambled around some buildings and down a hill and wandered around.  Eventually we found the parking lot behind a gas station, where about a half dozen people were already looking over the wall into the concert area.

A concert security guy came up to us and told us we weren't supposed to be there, but the owners of the gas station said it was OK as long as everybody left promptly right after the concert.  And he would let us stay as long as we didn't sit on the wall, cause then he had to get us out.

So we started watching the concert.  We were a bit far away, but had a great clear view, and could hear perfectly.

Marilyn: The music is awesome. We were just following the sound to get closer to where they were playing. I am so glad that the owners let us stay on their property.

It was some famous folk singer.  Chad and Marilyn knew who she was.  Chad said she did a bunch of the music on "Oh Brother Where Art Thou", a movie which I fell asleep during once.  I could never remember her name though.

I did like the music though.  It was pretty good.

Marilyn: Yes it is Alison Krauss & The Union Station….it is not folk music Sam. They are a bluegrass band. They also have songs in the movies: Crossing Jordan; Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood; Twister; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil; and Happy, Texas.

Chad: These pics turned out excellent.

Right about then, I was looking up and saw a HUGE fireball go by over head.  Not just a shooting star, but a big blazing fireball.

I got excited and tried to point it out to Chad and my arm darted out to point...

And I slapped Chad hard on the back of his head.

Oops.

Chad had actually seen it anyway.  It was pretty impressive.  Marilyn missed it I think.

I of course didn't get a picture of the fireball, it only lasted a second or two as it dashed across the sky.  But here are a couple of stars.

Marilyn: I did not see a thing in the sky. I was too busy enjoying the music while standing on a piece of furniture that was next to the wall in the parking lot. Some guy next to me had a cooler and offered me a beer.

So, celestial show over, it was back to watching the concert.

Marilyn: Sam is pretty busy again with his Nikon camera. He should switch careers to be a professional photographer.

Chad was ready to go home even before the end, but Marilyn and I wanted to watch the whole thing.  So we watched the whole thing.  It was a really fun good concert.  I'm kind of sorry we missed the beginning.  Anyway, once it was over, we headed back to the condo.

Marilyn: Excellent camera shot Sam. I am also disappointed that we missed the beginning of the concert. We only caught the last 45 minutes but I did get to hear some famous and familiar songs.

Chad: Allison is a babe.  And she can sing too.  

When we got home, we just relaxed.  Some TV.  Another session in the hot tub, and we looked at the pictures that we'd taken in the last day or two.

When it was time for bed, this time before Marilyn went away to sleep, she did something unexpected.

She opened up the couch!  It was a sofa bed!  And then she put sheets on it!  And gave me a couple pillows!

I slept like a baby!  Much better!

Marilyn: I felt bad that Sam had an uncomfortable night's rest on the sofa. It did not make sense to me for him to sleep like that again when there was a sofa bed there. See Sam, wasn't I being sweet?

I woke up in the morning when someone came in the front door.  They saw me and went "Oops!".  Turns out they were painting the outside of the house and needed to open some windows or something.

They said they would come back a bit later, but would need to get in the house a few times.  Uh, OK.

They proceeded to climb all over the outside of the building and make all kinds of loud noise.  Well, I guess it was time to wake up.

Marilyn: The noise was a bit annoying. I got up and opened the door to the outside and I was completely scared by these two strange guys that were standing outside my door. I screamed and quickly shut the door.

Once again everyone was pretty slow to actually get fully awake and ready for the day.  I just got out the computer and started to work some on the trip report for awhile.

We even posed for the the webcam on my website for a little bit.

Marilyn: Nice nose shot Chad.

Chad: I really do have a funny looking nose don't I?  

When we finally got up and ready to go, there was some dispute over what we would do for the day.  Chad was really itching to go to a gym.  Eventually Marilyn and I relented.  At some point before the trip I had promised Chad he could go to a gym I think.

Anyway, we found a gym in town, got day passes, and got ready to spend a little time working out.

Marilyn: I do not mind going to the gym but I do not think that is something that we should have done while on vacation. I would have preferred to spend the day exploring more of the town instead. However, I made the best of it since Chad insisted that we go to the gym.

Chad: But you two can obviously use the exercise, based on your pathetic effort on the hikes!  

I was working out some, but mostly taking pictures I guess.  I was going to take a couple more before going to the cardio room...

Marilyn: I look like I am really straining myself in this picture.

Right after I took that picture of Chad though, as I was zooming out, the camera started making horrible grinding noises when the lens moved.  Then after a few seconds it stopped moving at all.  And the screen said "Lens Error".

My heart sank immediately.  I had read about this on the Internet for my brand of camrea (Nikon 5700).  This was a fatal error.  Once this kind of error happened, there was no recovery short of factory repairs.

I was immediately done with the gym.  I did have the spare camera with me, and Marilyn had her camera, but neither were quite as nice, and there was a principle of the thing.

My camera was still under warentee, and might eventually be fixable, but there was no time for that.  I needed a replacement camera NOW.

I ran to the one Camera shop in Ketchum.  They did not sell Nikons. 

Drat.  I looked to find where the nearest Best Buy was.  Figured they would have one.  Hundreds of miles away.  And they didn't have one anyway.

I went back to the gym and met back up again with Chad and Marilyn, who were about done by this time.  I filled them in on the details of my camera. 

I would have a camera within 24 hours no matter what.  The only question was if I should order online, or if I could find someplace I could drive to that had a 5700 in stock.  Online might not be on time of course.  It was already late.  Perhaps too late for overnight for the next day.

Once back at the condo though I got on the computer and went through the online yellow pages.  Found that Idaho Camera had what I wanted (although for more than the online places).  There was one that stayed open later.  In a mall in Boise.

I would be driving the three hours to Boise and three hours back tonight to get that camera.

Although they had initially said they might, Chad and Marilyn decided in the end not to go with me.  Not that I could blame them.  It would be 6 hours of driving and 1 hour in a mall just to calm Sam's psycosis and keep me from freaking out and being depressed and miserable for the entire rest of the trip because my camera broke.

So it would be just me.

Marilyn: What can I say, it is Sam being Sam about the replacing the broken camera right this minute. I did not feel up to a 3 hour drive and preferred to stay behind so I did.

Chad: I didn't realize that I caused the lens to break!

So I headed out back toward Boise.  Highways this time.  No time for back roads.  I had just barely enough time to get there before the place closed for the night.  And getting there five minutes after it closed would not help my mood.

On the other hand, just a little way on my way, I saw these guys, was glad I had brough the spare camera, and was a little amused.

Marilyn: Cute hay men figures Sam!

And as I passed the three hay guys, and headed West to Boise, Day 4 ended.