Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time?

Chris and I decided that this summer we were going to have an outdoor adventure/camping trip every month. We made this decision in May. Now, the month of May in some locations may be pretty nice, but in Utah you just never really know!

Our first adventure: Lava Hot Springs, ID

And that' s what the L on the mountain stands for. This is such a great place - they even light up the L at night and every night! Not like at BYU where they only light up the Y at graduation or like at the Univ. of Utah where they light up the U for a sports event. They light it up every night, well at least they did every night we were there.

The drive from Salt Lake City, UT is only about 2 hours, so we could have made this a day trip, but decided to have our first camping adventure of the year. The town really is pretty small, so after looking at the visitor's center/museum and checking out the souvenir shops and thinking about going to the ice cream shop, we decided to check out the hot springs. The best deal by far was to buy a day pass for each of us so we could swim and then have lunch, dinner or take a nap and then come back whenever we wanted. There were 5 different pools, each a different temperature and we had a lot of fun just relaxing.

As far as camping is concerned, we had a beautiful spot right by the river. No one else at the campground had pitched a tent, and everyone else was simply hanging out in their RV's and giving us crazy looks. We knew what we were in for though. Well, at least we thought we did.

And for dinner of course we had tinfoil dinners. I know this doesn't look that appetizing, but potatoes, beef, carrots, spices and onions all cooked together over the coals, mmmmmmh - so delicious! After dinner it was back to the Hot Springs and then back to the campsite for a good nights sleep.

When we woke up in the morning we were definitely surprised, the outside temperature was just 31° F. It was cold!We were prepared though and stayed warm enough in the tent, our hats, gloves, mittens, wool socks, and lots of blankets were just the thing.

Chris then made us breakfast. Who doesn't like pancakes and hot chocolate when they're camping?I tried to help, but if you look closely you can see the pancake I accidentally flipped onto the stove instead of into the pan!

Well, after our cold morning, we decided that we had had enough camping and started heading home.We didn't go the short route though, the one that would have only taken 2 ½ hours.Instead, we took the "scenic route" and it took 5 hours. We didn't go the short route though, the one that would have only taken 2 ½ hours.Instead, we took the "scenic route" and it took 5 hours.

The first stop on the scenic route was Soda Springs, ID. A place I've never been and never even heard of. In fact we wouldn't have even stopped unless Chris had seen the sign on the road that said something about their being a geologic site to the left. And this is what we saw when we arrived.

It smelt a little funny, and we had to be patient, but our patience paid off and eventually we saw the geyser erupt.

Our journey then turned further south and we arrived at Bear Lake, UT.

By this point, we were tired and ready to go home, so we hopped in the car and trekked the rest of the way home, we had survived our first camping adventure of the year. If only just barely.