Bear Lake

Nearly every summer when I was growing up my family made a trip up to Bear Lake. I loved going to the pool and swimming the days away. I remember going to the playground and going on the slide and riding the metal horses on springs. I remember my siblings, cousins, and I going into the sauna and plotting cannon-ball wars and other ways to get the people that were not in our family to leave the pool. I remember getting ready for bed and watching John Denver and the Muppets. It was always so much fun to go to Sweetwater.

I was excited to share the fun with my sister-in-law and her family. We were finally able to find a weekend where we were all free and able to take some time to go up to Bear Lake.

The McCoys met at my house on the 15th and waited (patiently) while I finished work. Once I got home we quickly gathered everything together and set off. We made a quick stop at the Burger Bar to have some yummy lunch/dinner and then we were off. When I was a kid it used to take FOREVER to get up to the trailer, but it seemed like we were there in no time and getting set up.

We decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk to explore and to stretch our legs after being in the car for a while so we took the kids up to the playground. They were swinging and having a great time for a while. Like all kids, they were trying to go the highest, though no one made it all the way over the top. ( I think the Mythbusters took that one on, right).

We then went back to the trailer (or our vacation house as Cailey called it) and got into our swimming clothes then went back up to the pool. We pretty much had the thing to ourselves because it was getting late. We had a great time swimming around and played until it was time for the pool to close.

Saturday morning Matt, Becky and I got up to go for a run. I am training for the Disneyland Half and didn’t want to lose my training momentum on the trip. I was scheduled to do 8 miles. Matt and Becky did the first few with me then I set off toward Garden City for a while, turned around and tried to catch them before they made it back to the trailer. I was able to catch them and walk the rest of the way home with them. It was fun.

We woke everyone up when we got back and had breakfast and got ready for our fun day. The kids really wanted to go to the cave, so we set out for Minnitonka. It always is a long drive to get up there as we climb to the top of the mountain. We got up there and there were cars parked all down the road. I guess I have only been there during really off weeks lately, because it was CROWDED! Matt and I hurried up to the booth to get tickets for everyone. We had to push our way in front of a family of 15 that didn’t have their money ready and we were signed up for a tour that would leave in about an hour. That gave us time to pull out our lunch and eat while we watched the little chipmunks run around and waited for our turn.

The tour was good. Our guide was probably the best one I have had for a while. Forrest kept us all entertained by answering all the guide’s questions and asking some of his own. We made it to the absolute dark and then it was time to walk out again. The kids were all champions! They made it out and were still running strong. We had thought about going to the beach after the cave, but it was getting late and the McCoys had tentative plans with some friends to go do fireworks, so we headed back to the “vacation house” and relaxed the rest of the day and played at the play ground.

The next morning we wanted to go to the lake. With the super wet spring we had there was absolutely no beach near the trailer so we drove to the Idaho state park. I was worried it would be more crowded, but it was great. There was a layer of washed up weeds or something that made a bit of a barrier to get in the water, but it didn’t stop the kids or Matt from jumping right in. I was actually surprised with how warm it felt in the water.

We played around there for a while, burying the kids in the sand, reading, and just having fun in the sun (surprisingly no one really got sunburned!)

Then it was time to go back to the trailer and eat lunch and get ready to go home. It is surprising how fast a weekend goes when you are having so much fun!