Bear Lake Adventures

On our way from Yellowstone to Utah we decided to take a detour and spend some time in Bear Lake, Idaho, specifically a small town named St. Charles.  This is where my dad grew up and I've wanted to take my children there, so this was a treat for me.

 St. Charles was named after Charles C. Rich, one of my ancestors.  It's also the home town of Gutzon Borglum, the man who created Mount Rushmore.  We thought it was fun to visit his home town after visiting his mounument.

We visited the gravesites of my grandparents, my uncle Dennis, and several other relatives.

My grandparents gravesite

My great grandparents

Below is the engraving on the back of my Uncle Dennis' gravestone.  It is a poem he wrote about my cousin Jamie, and it has always deeply touched me.

Below is my dad's childhood home.  I spent many fun summers there when I was little.

Bear Lake is such a fun lake for kids.  When you go to the St. Charles side of the lake you can wade out for what feels like forever without it being too deep.

 Amy was so funny in the sand.  She would start covering her legs while humming a monotone tune and the tune would get more varied as she got more sand.  Finally when her legs were covered she'd break out into "It's a Small World", then clear off her legs and repeat the whole routine over and over.

While in Bear Lake we also visited Minnetonka Cave which is also accessed through St. Charles.  First we got stuck behind a herd of cattle which our kids loved:

Then we got to tour this cool cave!

I'm so glad I got to take my family to share some of their heritage!