Bear Lake – Friday, August 12

As we were going up and down Logan Canyon Road through the week, Ryan spotted a Go-Cart track and wanted to try it. Papa was the only one brave enough to race with Ryan. Rara & I enjoyed cheering them on and taking pictures.


The workers got Papa out on the track first. Ryan, competitive little dude that he is, wasn’t going to let Papa stay ahead of him for long. See it on his face?
Papa is ahead…
Ry is closing in…
Ry passed Papa!
Victory!
The “winner” at the end…
That afternoon, we enjoyed some shopping and exploring…and mini golf. We had dinner at a fun new place – Cooper’s in Fish Haven, Idaho. (I got a coupon online a couple of weeks ago.) It was at the golf course clubhouse, and had a beautiful view!


Rara bought a Bear Lake puzzle by Eric Dowdle. We have purchased his puzzles on prior vacations, and have enjoyed putting those together. We worked on it for a couple of days, but weren’t quite done Friday night.
Shake-o-the-day: Quick & Tasty (Review to come)

Bear Lake – Thursday, August 11

We had the waverunner again Thursday morning, so Ryan was in heaven! Ryan chauffeured me around the lake, and we enjoyed watching parasailers and large schools of fish together. Rara & Papa even had a turn!


We spent most of the day on the beach and in the water. Ry & I played Frisbee for a very, very long time. Of course, Ryan swam.





As we were on our surrey ride Wednesday, we found a fun set of shops that we hadn’t ever seen before. We spent some time exploring there Thursday afternoon. We also stopped at a couple of our favorite shops. And we played mini golf.

That evening we enjoyed a BBQ in the shady lawn area at the condo. We roasted Peeps, which I will describe in detail in a separate post.

Shake-o-the-day: LaBeau’s (Review to come)

Bear Lake – Wednesday, August 10

Wednesday began with Ryan’s reason for being…at Bear Lake, that is. We had the waverunner!!! This is now the second year that Ryan has been old enough to drive it, and he loved it! He enjoyed taking Papa and me out on it, but Rara wasn’t brave enough to ride with Ryan. :)



Ryan loves the water…no matter where it is!

Ideal Beach, the condos where Rara & Papa have their timeshare, has a mini golf course. We buy a punch pass every year, and play pretty much every day.


(Ryan helping me by blowing my ball into the hole.)
On KSL’s Studio 5 television show a couple of weeks ago, a couple of guests discussed some of the little-known things around Bear Lake. We have done most of them (Minnetonka Cave, Paris tabernacle and antique shops, bird refuge, and others). But they also talked about Swan Creek Springs, the largest cold springs west of the Mississippi. We had never heard of them! So Wednesday afternoon we went on a quest! We asked about them everywhere we stopped, including the Bear Lake Marina/State Park. No one knew anything about them. Finally with some detective work and piecing things together, plus a lot of driving, walking, and guessing, WE FOUND THEM! However, we were disappointed to see that they had been completely fenced in. We didn’t want to have gone through all of that for nothing, so we walked down the hill at the base of the fenced area, and Ryan dunked his feet.

Over the years, we have spotted the surreys for rent at the KOA campground. We passed the KOA on our way back to the condo and decided to rent a surrey. We had a great time riding it along the bike trail through Garden City and around the lake. We rode about three miles, and we were pooped! Those little things are harder than they look!

Shake-o-the-day: Chevron (Review to come)

Bear Lake (Actually Rock Springs, Wyoming) – Tuesday, August 9

Although most of her younger years were spent in Wyoming, Rara’s Aunt Mary now lives in Houston, Texas. She has been traveling a little bit this summer, seeing grandkids and great-grandkids, and even checking in on a tree on the University of Wyoming campus that she donated in memory of the Cieluszak relatives.

The Cieluszak relatives planned a somewhat impromptu reunion for Tuesday, August 9. We drove to Rock Springs, where we all met at the usual spot – The Outlaw Inn.

We had a wonderful time visiting with each other. In attendance: Aunt Mary Jane Berryman, her daughter, Judy, and Judy’s husband, Carl. From Antonina’s family: Mom & Dad (aka Rara & Papa), me, Ryan, Aunt Dott, Uncle Ted & Aunt Jean, Deb & Jason. From Auntie Anne’s family: Tony & Darlene, David.




Ryan took all of his swimming medals and one of the books I made of his swimming to show off…


And I taught Ryan how to properly place his napkin on his lap at “fancy restaurants” like the Outlaw Inn. :)
Ryan also took my iPad in, afraid that he’d be bored with all of the “visiting.” It ended up entertaining more than just Ryan!

After lunch, Rara, Papa, Ryan & I went on a little driving tour of Rock Springs to visit some of the sites from Rara’s youth, such as their house in Blairtown…
The “big hill” where they went sledding in the winter…
And Rara’s elementary school, Yellowstone School…
After our tour, we went back to Aunt Mary’s hotel, where we visited more in the lobby/lounge.
On our drive back to Bear Lake, we stopped at Fossil Butte State Park. Although the Visitor’s Center was closed, we enjoyed watching the chipmunks and antelope.

Thank you to Carl Kurt for the pictures of the tree and plaque, and Deb Miller for the pictures of the gathering, menu, and Carl & Ryan entertaining each other!