Glamping at Bear Lake

The boys loved this trip, even though it was cold and rainy the entire time.

We got the opportunity to go glamping, or glamour camping at Conestoga Ranch in Garden City in exchange for a review on Utah's Adventure Family. We'd already been to Bear Lake this year, and we have another trip planned with friends in a few weeks, but we couldn't turn down the opportunity to stay at a $300 a night resort for free. Dad even took a half day off school to get to Bear Lake early.

Unfortunately, though it has been around 80 degrees every day, the weekend we went an epic storm hit. It rained much of the night, and dropped down to the 40s. It was only around 55 degrees during the day, but the boys still thought it was the greatest vacation ever.

Mom had a lot of fun, too. Look at that smile!

We moved the table inside to play some games, but there wasn't much room!

Dax found a way to totally relax outside the tent.

We didn't make any stops on the way up, and we got to Garden City at about 4 o'clock. We checked into our tent, which was really a three room canvas tent with interior wood walls, running water, electricity, and a hardwood floor. There were 4 single beds and a king bed for Mom and Dad. There was even a shower, though we didn't use it due to the cold. The tent wasn't too bad, but even the space heater couldn't get it above 58 degrees.

We started our adventure by checking out the property. The boys enjoyed roping fake cows, riding bikes, and the arcade room. They loved the old 80s arcade games, as well as the pingpong and air hockey tables. We spent a good amount of time (and quarters) there.

Mark is getting pretty good at pingpong.

Seth makes a pretty good cowboy, even though he got whipped in the face with the rope.

For dinner, we went to LaBeaus for burgers, fries, and shakes. Then we headed back to the property. A worker came and tried to light our campfire three times, and finally got the wet wood to burn. We played games and told stories around the campfire until way to late, and then it was time to bundle the boys up and put them to bed. We buried them in blankets and comforters, but Mom had her own space heater (named Dad).

Seth smiled big when we went to LaBeaus.

Mark suffered from a ice cream headache due to too much chocolate shake!

We played Sorry Card Revenge, which is one of our favorite games.

Seth was ready to go to bed when we arrived. The boys had to snuggle pretty tight, but they slept well.

The night was great, even though rain drummed on the tent much of the night. None of the boys woke up in the night, and everybody stayed pretty warm. The next day we woke up early and went to breakfast at the restaurant at Conestoga Ranch. It was a lot of food, and more than we would normally pay, but since the stay was free, we didn't feel too bad about it.

The only thing we paid for was breakfast at the restaurant and the arcade room.

That scramble is right up Dad's alley!

After a bike ride in which Seth and Dad rode a bicycle built for two and Dax rode a bike that was way too big for him (without crashing!) we packed up and they loaded us back in the car. We hadn't brought much, which was nice.

We had a great time on the bike ride, and luckily, there were no accidents.

Dax had fun on the bike that was way too big for him.

This was our final photo. Mark and Dax thought they were pretty creative.

Mom had some adventures planned for the way home, and we made the best of them. First, we went through Hyrum and a tiny town called Avon up to a lake called Porcupine Reservoir. The leaves were beautiful, and we took about 100 pictures between Logan Canyon and the reservoir. The real reason for visiting, though, was to see the kokanee salmon spawning. Sure enough we found them, and it was amazing! Brilliant red fish were thick in the river, and we ran up and down the muddy banks, excited to see each one. It was a highlight of the trip.

It sure was beautiful in the canyons near Bear Lake. This is in Logan Canyon.

It was the first snow of the season, and the boys ate plenty of it.

Mom is in the background taking pictures of the beautiful yellow leaves in Logan Canyon.

The white snow really helped the colors pop.

We were really amazed to see the salmon swimming up the river.

The boys loved hiking down along the river, and we mostly stayed out of the mud.

They were as brightly colored as goldfish!

Dax pulled out a rare smile for a photo.

We walked along the river for about a quarter mile and saw dozens of salmon.

We could see the fish, and they could see us. They'd swim away if we got too close.

This year has been the best we remember for fall colors. This is Porcupine Reservoir.

The leaves were super-bright. We made a lot of stops along the way.

After looking at the map, we decided to get a little crazy, and we saw a road that ran from Avon behind the mountain to Eden. It looked small, and it was sure to be muddy, but we wanted to dare it. After the first muddy hill, we almost turned around, but we were glad we didn't when we Mark shouted, "Owl!" and sure enough, there was a great-horned owl about 25 yards off the road in an old deadfall. We watched it for a good 20 minutes, and everyone was really happy. We won't be forgetting that experience for a while.

The rode over to Liberty & Eden was really pretty-- and not too muddy.

The blue sky, white clouds, evergreens, and reds, oranges, and yellows are so beautiful.

Mark made an amazing spot that will go down in Ockey history!

We stopped in Eden at a restaurant called Kirt's that Mom hadn't eaten at since she was a kid and had more restaurant food. Then we returned home. It was a really great trip, and another chapter in our family adventures.