Day 3!

Like previously mentioned, Bear Lake was completely new to us.

It is hard/scary going on vacation and not knowing what to expect.

I tried my hardest to ask as many people that I knew who has been

here on what to pack, do, etc.

Most of everybody had connections to lake front houses and that's 

where they stay and play.

Our little glamping resort wasn't water front,

 so we needed to figure out where to go!

After asking the front desk people, the only 2 options on the UT side was North beach,

which was the most popular, and Rendezvous beach.

Since we had heard over and over how crowded Bear Lake can get the week of the 4th, we went with Rendezvous!

It was an over cast day.

I was loving it since we don't get very many of those days in Arizona.

And in my mind I was thinking it would clear right up once the day progressed, 

much like the beach in CA.

We stopped at the only breakfast type place to eat in the tiny town.

Of course it was called Bear Trapped restaurant!

We devoured our breakfast. 

Maybe having everything smothered in raspberries made it extra yummy?

Raspberry syrup 

Homemade raspberry jam

We drove about 10 minutes to get to Rendezvous beach.

We pulled in and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't crowded at all!

I wondered if the weather had scared people off. 

We found a good spot to set up camp for the day.

A view from the right.

 To the left you can see a grayish "shack" right past that white pop up.

That is where you could rent paddle boards, kayaks,  jet ski's, pretty much anything water related.

We could see them backing in boat rentals all day long.

Those floating yellow things are water tramps you could rent by the hour.

I am glad my brain kicked in before leaving AZ on our trip.

I bought this sports umbrella last minute and somehow managed to squeeze a camping chair in

the car with everything else jam packed in.

SO glad I did. 

I assumed we would just sit on towels, but it was nice having one chair
to sit on under some shade.

I could only bring minimal beach toys since our car couldn't hold a lot of extra stuff.

Surprisingly only having a few things to play with was all they needed for hours of fun!

The water is GORGEOUS!  

A tad cold at first but man, so crystal clear, clean and BLUE!

Later I heard it is called the Caribbean lake... because it looks like the Caribbean.

Definitely a bazillion times more beautiful than our mucky lakes.

The weather was so funky. 

It would get super cloudy then super sunny.

It would also sprinkle hard for a few minutes then clear right up. 

At one point we were all hunkered under our little tent for a good 10 minutes while it down poured!

We watched everyone freak out and pack up their stuff in a hurry and book it out of there. 

Once it stopped and the sun was out again we had the place to ourselves! 

This $4 baseball bat was the best thing. 

They played non stop!

This NEVER happens!

She got a good hour nap in on my lap.

I loved it.

We thought about renting some stuff but they were pretty content on just playing on the beach!

After our snacks had run out and it was starting to get a little chilly, we packed up our stuff and headed back into town for dinner!

The pizza restaurant, which was right next door to the Bear Trapper, opened at 5 and it was 4:30.

Lucky for us, it had a chocolate boutique type store attached to it for us to wander around while we waited.
There were people waiting in line for something a lady was scooping into bags.
It must be good if there was a long line for it.
I asked what it was and of course, it was chocolate covered raspberries!
 I'll take 2 bags, please!

We ate them outside while they rode these quarter machines. 

For some reason pizza hits the spot after a long day in the water!

We thought our pizza was big until we spotted them carrying a box of "Old Ephram" for carry out.

Holy massive!! 

You can see the pan size hanging on the wall. 

We went back to the resort and played some more outside.

This is where Casey and I looked at each other and said, "Lane can play volleyball!"

We knew he was athletic, but man he was spiking that ball like nobody's business!

This was the best babysitter ever.

She went up and down that slide a bazillion times.

I would look over to make sure she was still around, yep.

Happy as could be on that thing!

Of course we needed dessert.

We checked out bikes from the front desk and off we went for some shakes!

I wish I had one of these at home.

This girl will probably be 10 by the time she figures out how to ride 

a bike. 

Poor Casey got his work cut out with this wiggle worm.

We tried a new place this time.

I wish I got a picture of the line up of all the different shake shacks right next to each other.

I love this picture, Welcome to Bear Lake!

More playing!

The game tent

Of course we couldn't sit by our fire without some free hot chocolate to top off our chocolate raspberries, pizza, shakes, all consumed within 2 hours of each other!

Awe, presh:)

Another breath taking sunset.

I wish this picture could capture my feelings.

The furnace was letting off the most loving glow all throughout our tent.

The kids were out cold, snuggled all nice and cozy in their lush, fluffy beds.

I was laying by Casey, so grateful for the fun we were having together.

This was such a different experience of a vacation.

I almost felt guilty we were able to be doing this.

But then I thought about how hard we work throughout the year. 

Kids in school demanding so much from them.

 Even at home with hours of homework, chores, sports and such. 

Casey working non stop. 

Waking up at 4am and slaving in the different weather elements 6 days of the week.

 Plus all of his church commitments.

It hit me how much we ALL needed this vacation.

I also realized all of my many blessings. 

How I am blessed with such a great husband who sacrifices so much for us to have

 the things we have. 

For great children who try to do their best most of the time.

I started looking at this trip as an investment in our connections and relationships.

Not once had a heard grumbling (except for the super awesome drive up, lol).

Not once had a seen fighting or arguing. 

THIS is what I want them to remember.

That we CAN have a good time together, with no friends, television, etc. 

Anyway, I was just very grateful that everything was turning out ok and this trip 

wasn't bombing big time, haha!

Day 2!

Surprisingly, we all woke up pretty rested!

I took a group down to eat our complimentary breakfast while Casey

kept snoozing with Lindi.

 She is the bear of our family and

can sleep in better than I can:)

We had another long day of driving.

Our final destination was Bear Lake!

We waved hi and bye to the St. George temple from the freeway.

Della did a little better in the car, but not by much.

We hit Provo and food places where catching my eye left and right.

Utah has some pretty dang good choices.

 We screeched into JDawgs.

I had never eaten there, just had the sauce from people that have

brought it home from UT.

I was sadly disappointed in it.

I couldn't figure out what the big rave is all about?

It's just a hot dog sliced pretty.

Oh well, now I know!

We loaded back in the car for 3 more hours of driving up North passed Salt Lake.

This was new territory for me as well. 

Passing the Brigham City temple.

You can see the spires poking out from the trees.

I would have taken a detour to check it out, but the kids and hubby would have 

thrown me out of the car!

I did put my foot down on stopping at the Logan temple!

It is HUGE and GORGEOUS!

It is on top of a giant green hill.

 I would have loved to seen it at night all lit up.

We needed to stretch our legs so we got out let them roll down the steep grassy hills.

The flowers took my breath away. 

Pictures do not do them justice.

I was the nerd snapping pictures of all of them!

The colors were so bright on these zinnia's.

Hydrangea's for days.

After a gazillion "are we there yet"'s. I could say YES!!!

13 hours in the car later, we are HERE!!

That drive is not for the weak.

We pulled up to Conestoga Ranch in Bear Lake UT.

There is an Idaho side as well.

I got this idea from our neighbors who came last year.

After looking at their pictures, I knew we had to come and experience it ourselves.

I had always heard how families flock to this place every year, and now I know why!

Conestoga is a glamping resort.

I had NO idea what to expect.

First glance in the parking lot, I knew it was going to be amazing!

The front desk is in this cute barn. 

I got all checked in.

They sent a golf cart to take us up to our fancy tent.

Yep, you heard me right. Tent!

Isn't it awesome!

You can either choose from staying in a covered wagon or teepee. 

They only have beds in them, and you use community bath houses.

I checked them out and they were pretty nice!

The bathrooms were fancier than the ones in our house.

We had a glamping tent with a bathroom and electricity in it.

You walk right into our "bedroom".

This was the comfiest bed I have ever slept on!

On the other side of the wall were the kids beds. 

Our cute rustic bathroom.

A view from the back. 

To the right was a pellet burning stove we ran each night to keep us warm.

It was so cozy sleeping to the glow of the furnace burning throughout the tent.

The view from our porch.

You can see the teepees under us.

Side view of our tent.

The covered wagons 

The kids dropped their bags and instantly opened their kits to fly in the crystal clear blue sky.

Our hot dogs were wearing off , so we went a few minutes into town for some grub!

Burgers, shakes and fries were what we lived off of those 4 days in Bear Lake.

GOOD STUFF. 

They are famous for their raspberries.

They have raspberry everything.

Including bomb shakes.

We went back and let the kids play on the playground.

Its not a huge place, so it's nice knowing they are safe and couldn'tt get lost.

Plus, they never once begged to watch tv.

We lived outside in that glorious weather.

 They may have wanted to re think the complimentary hot chocolate once we got there.

They were pros at that coffee machine by the time we checked out!

Each campsite has their own firepit. 

They give you complimentary smore kits and skewers when you arrive. 

You call whenever you want a worker to come start your fire. So VIP!

I forgot how late the sun sets in the Summer.

I think it was 9pm when I took this picture.

That sunset over the lake was so dreamy.

Nothing like getting hopped up on sugar to go right to bed!