MINNETONKA CAVE

After the horse back ride, we went up to the cave on the Idaho side. We had to wait a bit but it was a good time to take pictures and play with the wildlife.

Deedra took a picture of us waiting.

Then I took a picture of them. 

Deedra and the two little girls walked down a hill aways. There were cute little chipmunks running all over. 

Charlotte (our little animal whisperer) found some nuts left by a garbage can and she got one of the little critters to come right up to her and eat out of her hand!  AMAZING!

It was beautiful looking out over the canyon and a great photo shoot.

We're showing off our new Bear Lake sweatshirts.

Up at the mouth of the cave, we took more pictures. Notice the smile on my face.....I didn't have it after the hike in and out of the cave. lol

The family all kept their smiles! Before AND after!!

Oh, to be young again!!  lol

There are 444 steps in the cave. Some went down and some went up. AND, when you get to the end, you have to turn around and do them again! 888 steps nearly did me in!

This set of stairs was called

"THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN"

Even Tony looks apprehensive! We were both huffing and puffing when we finally reached the top. AND, we still weren't out. 

There were amazing structures to see inside. Mother Nature is creative.

At the end of the cave, we took pictures again.

We look a little more worn for the wear and now to go back out.  lol  At this point, our guide asked who had on a wedding ring? I said I did. She turned out the lights and then shone a black light on my ring and it reflected a ton of sparkles on the ceiling. She said, "Oh, your husband loves you a lot!"  It was so cool that all the women on the tour wanted to have their rings lit up.  SO FUN!~

These formations were called straws. Each one has a hole at the end.

Some incredible formations.

The thousands of years these took to form is mindblowing!

OK, the trip back out was horrific! I literally thought I might have a heart attack! It was so hard and Tony agrees!!

Remember that smile I had at the beginning........

Well, it was gone. lol

YES, I felt as bad as I looked!!

So, of course, I used  AI  to make us look better. lol

Actually, it doesn't really look like us at all. 

It was a fun day but we were exhausted and ready to relax when we got back to the Verbo. Gaya and Steve were a lot smarter than Tony and I and they stayed in town. She had all the fixings ready for a great hamburger dinner . Curtis BBQed the burgers and we ate and watched THE SHEEP DETECTIVE,  It was a wonderful end to a great day and nice to sit and relax.

HORSEBACK RIDING

Wednesday was a BIG DAY!!  We went down the mountain a ways and rented horses. The little girls were so excited and really wanted to ride. I was a little apprehensive but game. lol

Aren't they cute!!

Well, the dude rancher's got us all situated on a horse and off we went. Tony was on a horse named THOR. I told Tony he must have been like Thor in his fat stage because he was stubborn and didn't want to move. And his hind end looked like he had rolled in mud. It was funny!

I was on a horse named Romeo. I really liked him. He was much better than the one I rode 8 years ago. Curtis got a shot of me. I was trying to get my phone out to take a few shots. lol

And again. lol I kinda feel sorry for old Romeo!! It might have been better if he was riding me. Poor fella.

They had us line up after our hour ride and they took  a picture of us all. The little girls did such a great job. We rode up the mountain a ways, through a creek and a ton of rocks. It was fun. I was a bit embarrassed getting off old Romeo though. I had to slide onto the shoulder of the dude rancher. He was sweet. It wasn't pretty but he was a good sport about it. I fear this was my last ride. Just getting too old. Like old Kenny said, "Ya got to know when to fold um." lol

PICKELVILLE

Tuesday, we all got up and had a great breakfast and then the Wilmont's took off for home. They live in Bountiful. We did our usual walking and playing games until Tuesday afternoon at 4PM. Then we took off for the theater.

We watched:

 THE BALLAD OF BUTCH AND SUNDANCE. THIS IS THE 2ND PLAY WE'VE GOT TO SEE AT PICKLEVILLE. It's so much fun!

It was super hot outside but they had the air conditioner inside working really good.

So good that Tony went out and got a couple of blankets out of the car. lol He put his over his legs and I put mine over my shoulders.

Gaya got up and took a picture of the group before the show started. It was a fun play and some of it was improv. A good laugh. 

YOU KNOW ME!!  lol

  I had to do a couple of AI pictures and put Tony and me on stage at Pickleville.

At least these are realistic and show us fat! ;lol

After the play, we ate at the cookout and it was 

DELICIOUS!! 

We got a picture of our group in front of the theater after we ate.

Then we drove to a couple of fun photo shoot places and managed to get someone to take a picture of us all.

After we got our photos' we went back to the house and played games. We were too full to eat anything. lol It was another good day!

BOATING AND JET SKIING

Monday after the Wilmont's arrived, we all went down to the Marina.  Curtis had rented a pontoon boat and a jet ski. There were a ton of fish in the water waiting to be fed. People were throwing in fish food for them and they would congregate in bunches. 

It was fun to watch them. 

Seth and one of his kids got on the jet ski and headed out while the rest of us got on the boat. Once out on the lake,  they all took turns riding the tube. The water is incredibly blue and looks like a pool.

 It's so beautiful.

There was a storm that went right around us and hugged the mountains so we were blessed and didn't have to get out. 

We played hard and enjoyed watching the brave kids ride the tube.

I even got in the lake and it felt wonderful! It's a perfect temperature.

I  LOVED this pose from Curtis!

Charlotte was like, "Hey, it's just my dad! He's like that!"  lol

Curtis, Seth and Tony all drove the boat.

They would all take turns on the jet ski. 

They sure enjoyed themselves.

They would pull up to the back of the boat and make the switch. 

Then off they'd go!!

I had to make an AI picture of us on the Bear Lake Monster. lol

THIS IS FANTASY

THIS IS REALITY!! LOL

BIG DIFFERENCE. 

This is a picture of ALL OF US! 

One of the Marina workers took it of us before we took off for a fun day of boating. It was a GREAT DAY!!

WALKING, SHOPPING AND GAMES DAILY

Monday morning we got up and ate a good breakfast. Then Curtis, Deedra and me and Tony decided to walk around town. We took a little side road down to a marshy part of the lake. Too wet to walk out to the lake but still pretty.

There was a cute sign that we got a picture by. Curtis & Deedra got one too. We liked the lake monster that was on the sign too.

The area has all kinds of bear chairs and statues. It's pretty cool!

We went to some of the shops to look around. Tony and I didn't bring a coat or sweatshirt and then Deed's told us that the cave is 40 degree's year round. SO, we needed a sweatshirt. It was so fun to see all the ways this shop decorated with boats, ski's etc. It had a hole in it so I pretended to have kicked it in. lol

There were boats inside with displays of clothing. 

Pretty fun way to show off the merchandise.

The kids. 

This was so awesome!!  The AMERICAN FLAG made with ski's! Loved it!!

There was a big sign of the lake it's self . They were cleaning up and had it out on their astro turf.

The ceiling in one shop was all ski's. AMAZING!

Some more bear statues, so we got a picture.....and why not? 

We're on vacation! lol

Curtis posed for a picture. Not sure why we missed Deedra on this one. We walked all the way down to  the grocery store and hit a lot of stores on the way. Checked them all out. We managed to get out 10,000 steps for the day. The Wilmont's came over on Monday and we boated and played games with them. Then we played with Gaya and Steve when they got there on Tuesday evening after the Wilmont's left.  I didn't get a picture of us playing games with the Wilmont's but I did get a picture of us with Gaya and Steve.

We played GOLF and had so much fun.  We played nearly every day.

I made an AI picture of us with only Tony happy because he was winning. We all had a good laugh and then I found out Deedra was the one who had won. lol

So, I made another picture showing Deedra with the winning had. 

AND LOOK AT ALL THE MONEY SHE WON! LOL  

Ya gotta love AI.