Okay, I'm finally going to finish blogging about our Bear Lake trip. This has taken way too long.
Thursday was another chill day. We took our time getting up and then some of us decided to go look for a free beach entry to the lake since we wanted a beach day but didn't want to pay $30 a car to park. We found one at a nearby park. At the back of the park was a boardwalk that snaked through some foliage and came out to the beach. It was a little bit of a walk, but it was beautiful. Mom and Dad Butterfield came with us, but my parents and Garrett decided to stay at the condo (or do some souvenir shopping). After we discovered the beach, we walked back to the park and played a little. Curtis and Jack threw a frisbee and the girls played on the playground. When they finished playing, we drove back to the condo so that those who wanted to go to the beach could change and get ready.
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| A sign we saw on the boardwalk with some interesting facts. |
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| Curtis throwing the frisbee. |
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| Jack catching the frisbee. |
The only ones that wanted to go to the beach were the girls, Jack, Curtis and me. While Jack did go, he did not get in the water. He just wanted to throw the frisbee with Curtis some more. I got in the water with the girls for a little bit and then laid on the beach on a blanket and read a book. Eventually Curtis came and got in the water with the girls and did some rock stacking.
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| It was a beautiful day! |
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| They had their dad standing in a hole they dug in the water. |
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| What his rock stack started out as before he added more. There were 9 at this point. |
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| The final count was 14 rocks high. |
After we wrapped up at the beach, we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up and eat dinner. Then Curtis got us all together to do a little family devotional. He talked about being the type of person that will attract good things and good types of people to you. Then handed out these fun magnet people. Curtis and I ended up giving ours to the girls because they were having fun playing with them. We then watched a movie, but I don't remember which one.
Friday morning, my parents left after breakfast to head back home so they could be back early enough to get to bed before their early Saturday temple shift. Meanwhile, our family went on another outing to go hike a short trail up a mountain to see a hidden lake that some friends told us about. It's called Bloomington Lake. My in-laws opted to do their own thing because they can't do any hiking.
Most of the traveling was done on a dirt road, so it took a while to get to the trailhead. The fee for this was $5 and fortunately I had cash on me. It was warm that day and the lake was warmer than I thought it would be. I didn't bring my swimsuit because I thought it would be freezing cold. The girls were the only ones that got in. We didn't have life jackets either, but luckily, they found some floating logs to grab on to in the water.
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| Hiking up. |
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| Bloomington Lake |
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| Ready to get in! |
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| The first little log they found. |
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| Jack hiked around to the other side of the lake. |
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| After this log became available, they climbed on and stood on top. They had lots of fun. |
I think we were there for about an hour before we headed back. On the hike back we had to stop for a breather because Garrett seemed to be getting heat exhaustion. He did not bring his water and had been sitting in the sun the whole time we were at the lake. Then hiking back in the sun just drained him. I had to give him some of my water. Thankfully I try to bring it everywhere with me. He made it back okay to the van and then kept drinking from my water as we drove back.
After we got back to the condo, we cooked up some zucchini breadwiches, which was a new low carb recipe I found on Instagram just before this trip. They are messy but they are so good! While we were cooking, Charlotte got to work on a Bear Lake puzzle that her grandma bought for her. It came with a frame that you could lay it in to put it together. After dinner, Curtis, Alice and I walked down the street to get a shake. I wanted a raspberry shake because they are known for them in that area. Curtis and Alice were going to get the same but decided on different flavors. Alice got strawberry and Curtis got huckleberry. Raspberry was good but I tried both of theirs and I have to say that I think I liked the huckleberry the best.
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| Zucchini breadwiches. |
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| Shakes! |
Saturday was check out day. We spent the morning packing and cleaning up and got out of there about an hour earlier than we needed to be. Monica told us that she had heard about a fire at the entrance to the canyon in Logan, so we decided to head home through Pocatello. Since we were headed that way, my in-laws asked if we wanted to stop in Pocatello to visit with Curtis's aunt and uncle, Jim and Nancy. So, we did. It was a nice visit and then we got back on the road. We then decided to stop in Twin Falls to get some see the temple, see the Shoshone waterfall, and eat some food at Subway. I think everyone was pretty tired by then and so we didn't stay long at each place. On the way out of town, we drove by Costco and traffic was being redirected. By the time we got on the main road and about to head over the gorge, we saw a police car stopping traffic from the other direction and he had his rifle out. We knew something must be going on to warrant needing his gun out, but we had no idea just what until we got to Nampa. There was a shooting at the In and Out burger place in Twin Falls where several people were killed and injured. It made national news. I just couldn't believe that we drove by the very location where it happened just minutes after it happened! It was a scary thought, but I'm thankful that we were okay.
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| Twin Falls Temple |
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| Shoshone Falls |
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| The Snake River |
We stayed the night at my grandma's house again, went to church with them the next day and then headed back home after eating lunch together. It was a great trip and I'm so glad we made it back to Bear Lake again!
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