When I was a kid, we used to go to Bear Lake and swim for the day and go home totally burned to a crisp. We dug holes in the sand and then placed our towel over the hole that was big enough for our bottoms to sit down in and we would eat our lunch out on the sand. Yep, we are lucky to still have teeth after all of the grit that was in our meal. Then, at the end of our adventure, we would pile into the back of the truck and we would argue about who was going to get to sit on the wheel on the way home. It was the best seat in the back, because you could sit higher than anyone else, and you could feel the wind blow against your face. No seat belts, just 7 kids in the back of a truck with our towels and blow up toys we towed to the lake with us. Good Times!
Well, I still have fond memories of Bear Lake and this time we took the kids and slept overnight in a tent. We decided to follow Tyler's scout group up there and camp overnight. Then we could hook up with them after they 'Biked the Bear.' All 53 miles all the way around the lake. By the time we got out of here, it was almost 8:00 pm. We didn't want to leave that late, but due to schedules, we had no choice. We pulled in to the North Shore Hot Springs camping area, paid our $20 for the night, and pitched our tent in the field of grass. At least that's what we were told it was. It was more like, ragweed that was sparse on a sloped hill full of gopher, mice and rat holes. I wouldn't recommend this camp ground for campers like us. (It was the most expensive and crowded, and very bumpy ground for tents.)
Some good friends of ours went up with us, because her husband was biking the Bear with the scouts and she thought it would be fun to be up there too. So, we pitched our tents in the dirt and laid out the sleeping bags and mattress pads and started to doze, when the wind started to pick up. I had earplugs in and started to pray that the wind would stop. The next thing I know, Gracie, who is laying next to me is getting hit in the face with the tent pole. We couldn't even find Bryce because he was covered with the tent like it had just swallowed him up. Then I hear yelling and screaming outside, next to us. Our poor friends tent had totally collapsed and had eaten them up too. Then it tried to fill with air and take off like a hot air balloon. Their youngest was scared he was going to blow away, or really get eaten. Then, we hear the rest of the camp yelling, "Be Quiet" Except they didn't really say it that nice, the words they used have been banned from our home, but they start with an S and a U.
Well, their tent was toast, so they put the cooler from their car in the tent, so it wouldn't blow away, and they all piled in the car for the night. It's one of those fancy company cars that has an alarm and a sensor and every time they moved inside the car, the lights on the dash would turn on, and if you moved too much the alarm would go off. At this point what do you do, except laugh? Really. What do you do?
Bryce was still being swallowed by the tent, so I told him to use his bag to push up against the corner of the tent to keep the poles from hitting him and Gracie in the head. So he did, and then we could feel these cold gusts of wind that blew right through the sleeping bags and blankets. It was a night to remember. Emma and Tom slept like rocks and didn't really know what happened that night. Bryce and I kept pulling the blankets and sleeping bag over Gracie as she kept kicking them off all night long. At some point in the night, the wind stopped and we slept great.
After that long night, I was grateful that we were headed for a day of playing and relaxing. I did settle down on a blow up mattress on the beach for a while, after I had sprayed the girls and myself with sunscreen. It was nice to watch the clear blue water flow up on the shore and to see how beautiful that lake really is. It's really quite a sight. The water has always been known to be freezing cold, but it wasn't too bad this time of year. The kids played in the water for hours and built sand castles in the sand and burred the boys up to their necks. We ate lunch and roasted hot dogs for dinner on the beach and had a wonderful day. It was just a 'Bear' of a night!
We hooked up with the scouts and picked up Tyler from the group and showed him how to use our friends 'skim board'. That was fun, but harder than it appears. Bryce and I tried several times to figure it out. Tyler was a little bit tired from the bike trip and has been feeling rather sore when he tries to sit down. (The whole group is having a hard time sitting down.)
If we didn't have trials, we wouldn't grow, and we couldn't enjoy the good times in life. This was a very memorable trip, one that I will never forget anyway, and look forward to good times ahead.
