One thing for sure about this trip though, memories were definitely made with the bad weather. Jeff was right.
On day 3 we woke up to this. The first (and hopefully last) time I will ever experience this at Bear Lake.
As Pearl said, "We got snowed in!"Yes, yes we did. Good thing we had claimed the cozy deluxe room in the shed to keep us dry and warm. I just so happened to poke my head out the door in the wee hours of the morning when I saw all this fluffy, wet, white stuff covering the ground. I had wanted to make sure any excess carbon monoxide got aired out before we all died from using a space heater that had to have been from the 70s. It worked great except for the fact that it didn't shut off or have a temperature gauge on it. I wasn't that worried about using it until my dad happened to mention that my grandpa insisted whoever slept in there needed to have the windows cracked because my dad made the room too air tight. And if you know me, I'm easily swayed into complete paranoia about any safety hazard.
Back to the snow. SNOW PEOPLE! IN MAY! AT THE BEACH!
We still got up, well us early/normal time risers, and made breakfast outside. It reminded me of the time my mom and dad took my brother Jesse and I to Yellowstone one fall. I have no idea how old I was, just tiny, maybe in kindergarten or 1st grade? It was a long time ago. Back in the days when a kid could ride the entire way there in the cabin of a truck, without a seat belt! I remember sliding the truck's back door so I could chat with my mom and dad and playing on the bed in the back. When we got to Yellowstone, all it did was snow on us. It was a huge, early snowstorm. Since we just had that trailer thing you put in the bed of your truck for shelter, we had to eat outside in the snow. I remember sitting at the picnic table freezing and trying to eat our stew as fast as I could so it didn't get cold, as the snowflakes were falling in it. And there were bison roaming the campsites everywhere! My mom said I couldn't go outside unless my dad said it was ok because they were right next to every one's trailers. But we did see a bear eating a kill across a river, loads of wildlife, and I remember getting a straw that when you blew it, it sounded like an elk call at the Old Faithful Lodge. My mom says they were so poor that we literally made it home with 10 cents to spare and a lot of prayers that we didn't run out of food or gas. Good times. Good times. And yes, loads of memories just like Jeff told me.... "that's what memories are made of... bad weather."
Once the snow melted, I took my mom on a 4 wheeler ride up past all the fancy cabins to the water tower. She really wanted to go for a ride and since there wasn't enough beach to ride on, I figured the road wouldn't be too muddy or washed out to go to the water tower. It was fun to do something with just my mom. Plus she goes more my 4 wheeling speed.
With no hope of sunshine, what does one do to keep entertained? Well, you break out Phase 10.
And watch a marathon of movies. Luckily the little girls let us watch several different ones instead of Tarzan over and over again. Choices were limited with a VCR. Jeff jokes that we pack up pert-near our entire house, drive two + hours just to watch movies all weekend. 
And color. The giant coloring pages were supposed to be for Pearl and Ruby but were quickly taken over by the adult children. Well, minus Jeff and myself. We were too busy trying to keep Cole entertained, happy, and on a somewhat normal routine. My sister was the ring-leader of the all night color fest. And I had no idea that my brothers were that good at coloring, let alone cared anything about which Disney Princess was hottest. Jesse was quite torn between Belle (the sexy nerd) and Aurora (the bodacious blond). The ever exotic Jasmine was also a high contender for hottest Disney Princess. 
Cole took some awesome naps while we were there. 
It doesn't quite make up for getting up in the middle of the night STILL, at one year of age though! I took full advantage of one of his three hour nap on the last day were were there. It was divine. The taco bed isn't horrid if you don't have to share with anyone! The only reason I got up from my drool covered pillow was because Jeff came in and told me my grandparents were there. They are so cute. Anytime someone goes up to the property, they mosey on over to check on them. They like to make sure we're having a good time. And now that we have 4 wheelers, I think my grandpa comes up to take a ride on one of them. They're sort of like mini-tractors for him. My grandma even told him to buy one last year! It makes it easier for them to get down to the beach and putter around the yard. 
Well, there you have. It snowed. It was wet and cold. We stayed inside almost the entire weekend. But that's what memories are made of I guess. 
No comments:
Post a Comment