A weekend at the lake

Can it already be September (well, tomorrow)? It seems that summer is almost over, although it is still pretty warm here.  With school starting a week ago, and the petunia and Black-eyed Susan flowers starting to slow down, it seems as though fall is lurking right around the corner.

I do love the fall!

You might think we haven’t done much this summer, but we have taken a few little outings that were relaxing and fun.

In early August I spent a weekend with two of my sisters, Linda and Julie, Julie’s granddaughter Sadie, and Linda’s husband David at beautiful Bear Lake.   Bear Lake is located on the border of Utah and Idaho (about equal parts in each state) and is famous for its clear blue water, locally grown raspberries (fresh raspberry shakes), and family reunions.  Linda and her husband are building a lovely home there, but for now they are staying in a small trailer, so we were packed in tightly.

We spent most of our time outdoors, so it didn’t really matter that practically the whole floor space was covered by all our beds. 

We arrived just before dusk on the last day of the famous “Bear Lake Raspberry Days”.  There was a lighted boat parade and fireworks to welcome us.  My night photos didn’t really capture the charming effect, but it still shows a little bit of the idea.  This picture was taken at Linda and David’s lot.  Million dollar views, right?

One day we went north to the Idaho side and passed this unique Pioneer Tabernacle in Paris, Idaho, built in the 1880’s.  The workmanship was amazing, considering they had to use horses and oxen to haul the rock from Indian Creek Canyon, 18 miles away, with the summers short and the winters long.

Some of the early pioneer settlers were ship builders and you can see their influence on the inside ceiling.  It was so well done.

We enjoyed seeing some lovely, big homes and cabins, but all the beautiful hollyhocks surrounding these small cottages were my favorites.

Ok, this was no cottage, but I LOVED it and I could move right in!

(This picture was actually taken last summer, but I still love it.)

We drove up a canyon to Bloomington Lake.  The road getting there was a little scary, but the lake and the hike to it were very picturesque.  (Plan ahead next time-no flip flops!)  We saw so many pretty wild flowers.

There were some brave (crazy?) people using the rope swing (someone’s hand is pointing to it) to fly out over the  water and drop in to the freezing cold lake.

(Sadie, JoAnn, Linda, Julie)

It was a relaxing way to end a fun weekend.

Good-bye Bear Lake. 

I’ll be back!

JoAnn