Camping with the Grubers

This was our third year camping with the Grubers. They introduced us to Idaho by taking us to Baumgartener Campground and Grandjean Campground. So, this year since they moved to Utah we decided to introduce them to Utah just a bit, and we went to Bear Lake.

We didn't know we were going to be camping during one of the coldest, wettest June's in history.
We arrived Saturday to rain and freezing temperatures. We could see our breath in the air. Dinner took forever to cook because the cold ground just sucked the heat out of the charcoal. Also, we couldn't get a good fire going because all the wood was wet. We joked about going to Gruber's and camping at their new house. After that first night we figured out a few tricks and cooking time was cut dramatically, and we did manage to get a good fire or two going. Every day got a little better as far as weather was concerned until finally Tuesday was beautiful.


Apples to Apples was a huge hit in our campsite. The kids played that every chance they could.

Here's the whole group.

The Grubers

Here we are.

On Sunday we drove all the way around the lake.

We thought it would be too cold to swim. The kids thought otherwise. Here are Hannah and Aseana.

And here's James.

Playing in the sand.

Boys will be boys...Sean and Tom doing donuts on the beach

Sean and Shellece found lots of things for us to do that we had never known about. It was crazy that we had been going to Bear Lake our entire lives and never knew about caves and springs, etc. Bear Lake Hot Springs was one of those finds. I think we never knew about it because mom and dad were always vacationing on a shoe string and didn't want to pay for 9 kids to play in the hot springs when a perfectly good lake was available for only $4.

Tim, James and Gordon are playing ball.

Tim and Gordon

I'll add more later. Other finds were the Minnetonka Cave, the Paris Springs and Ice Cave, and the Paris Tabernacle. The week ended with the Bright Family Reunion. I have lots more to show you!