Bear Lake was one of my favorite Boy Scout camps growing up. I loved the beaches, wading on the beach, and the cool water sports we did on boats, such as knee boarding and tubing. I haven't done a ton of research, but I'm just throwing this idea out there.
Bear Lake is a huge lake that lies in
between Idaho and Utah.
2. It boasts great sand beaches that are perfect for
relaxing and swimming:
3. It’s big and open, making it perfect for jet skis, boating,
tubing, etc…
4. Plenty of camping options, by the West Shore, East Shore,
and North Shore.
There's a lot of cool outdoor places to explore right here in our backyard here in Utah, and surrounding states. I've been most of the National Parks in Utah, Moab, Canyonlands, Escalante-Grand Staircase, Dead Horse Point State Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Zions, etc... and I absolutely love all of them. When the temperature starts to get nippy in the Salt Lake Valley, just drive South to experience warmer weather.
We're looking for somewhere to go for FALL Break. Either for a few days, or an entire week. While its a bad idea to hit too many attractions in a short time, here I list some of the places that we're considering visiting in Southern Utah/Arizona/Colorado. I order them in order of importance.
This beautiful slot canyon is rated one of the best in the world. This is on protected Navajo lands, so a tour guide is necessary. But, look at these photos below! It's absolutely stunning. At certain times of the day, light is shining down like the first vision.
This is further than most of the other attractions. This is an ancient Anasazi Indian village carved into the facade of the mountain. This really captured my imagination as a kid. An entire city preserved in the mountains.
Final
We'll see where we go and what we see! Our biggest constraint is $$$. We're hoping that we can make this as cheap as possible, with our main cost being gas. We'd be sleeping in a tent, and packing all of our food and gear in our SUV.
This is Utah's oldest and best theme park! It's been continuously improving yearly, and this year didn't disappoint! While the prices have jumped up quite a bit since I was a kid, my dad has an annual work party at Lagoon, and its awesome! Lagoon caters tasty chicken and hamburgers, and his company provides fun games and prizes. There's a couple of alternative ways to get tickets cheaper than the full $49.95 price. University of Utah students get in for $39. Costco members can also find entrance for about $40. Lagoon's official page has more deals. I was hoping to get a Bounce-Back pass, which means that you only pay $10, and are able to enter the park the following week. Next week, Frightmares begins! Unfortunately, Bounce Back only applies to non-Frightmare season.
The highlight of this year was definitely the Cannibal. Its a 200+ foot roller. Summer went like 5 times!
Neil was delighted to be playing the company carnival games
Everybody was getting some ink at the tattoo station!
Summer and Linsey taking a selfie on a roller coaster
A guy kept insisting on kicking me on this ride. It was irritating.
One of my childhood favorites! Had I quarter, I would have soaked these unsuspecting victims... haha
Colossus, the Fire Dragon!
The Spider!
Neil unfortunately got his leg stuck in the railing of the carousel while waiting in line! We thought that we'd need to get the fire department. Luckily a nurse was able to have him stand up as straight as possible, and pop his knee out! He needed a little bit of ice to stop the swelling. It was much better than an amputation!
The Utah State Fair is an annual event that has been going since 1856. Just like most state and county fairs, they have circus acts, rides, rodeos, performances, lots of good food, lots of cool local shops selling T-Shirts, jewelry, sunglasses, medieval swords and more. More info available here.
This year, it goes from Sept 10 - Sept 20. My band Eighth Day, had the opportunity of playing opening day. That was truly a fun experience. We got to play in front of people that we've never seen before. I'm really proud of all the talent that my band has. We turned many heads, especially when we played popular favorites, such as "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey and "Sweet Child O Mine". While many advocate to "play for exposure" very sparingly, this was an okay time to do so. We were a little bummed that we had to pay for parking, and that we had to pay admittance costs for our loved ones. Lucky we saved 40% on the $10 fee, since it was opening day.
While my wife and I didn't get to participate in many of the glittering attractions that surrounded us, we still had a great experience, and we may go back!
