Idaho sand dunes-it's a long one!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to the sand dunes in St. Anthony, Idaho. I had never been to Idaho (well, I did drive through it at night on the way to Montana when I was little, but I don't think that counts) so I was quite excited to go. We all packed into Logan's dads truck, Logan's parents, sister and our niece Presley. The drive wasn't nearly as long as I thought it was going to be. And it was beautiful, there is so much water in Idaho, simply gorgeous (at least this time of year)!

When we got to our camp ground we got the trailer all set up and enjoyed the warm weather. This trip was my first trip to sand dunes with warm weather, I quite enjoyed a short sleeve shirt while riding. We normally go for 1.5-2 hour rides but these dunes were much longer and larger than what we are used to. We went for a 4 hour ride and a 5 hour ride...they were super fun, but also way more tiring. Not to mention the 5 hour ride was during a sand storm :)

One of my favorite parts of the dunes was the lake. There is a lake right in the middle of the dunes, we got out on each ride and took a break. It was so beautiful...and weird, a lake with lots of trees and plants right in the middle of sand dunes.

Presley & Logan at the lake, she sure does love her Uncle

the beautiful lake

The third day we went to Bear World, a drive-thru zoo, petting zoo, rides and gift shop. It was a lot of fun! Logan and Brandi had never seen a wild bear so they were quite excited to see a bunch of them. I hadn't seen a lot of the animals either and it was really cool to see them in person. We saw mountain goats, deer, elk (including a white one), bears, wolves, buffalo, and moose. Plus some goats, baby deer, a pig, a couple peacocks and baby bears at the petting zoo. 

 pretty bear

this little guy was pacing back and forth forever, right when I said "hey buddy pose for me" he stood up! Its was the cutest thing ever!

A similar thing happened here, I asked the peacock to show us his feathers and a couple seconds later he popped them right out!! Animal Whisperer? I think so! ;)

 that bear almost ate us-Lorri, Brandi, Presley, Me & Logan

 the deer at the petting zoo were quite friendly

Presley & I were the only ones who could handle a spinning ride so we went for it, old rickety spinning bear and all!

After bear world came one of the highlights of the trip for me...I got to see my best friend & cousin...Clarice!! I watched her play in a tennis tournament and win! Then we drove around Rexburg since I'd never been there, went to the farmers market & then to dinner. After dinner we decided we hadn't had enough time together so we drove around some more, we walked around the temple and then went back to Clarice's apartment. 

Side story: when Clarice and I were little we used to lock arms and tell our parents they couldn't separate us or else they'd have to take us both! Clarice lived in Arizona but luckily our parents got us together quite often. I wanted to do the same thing this past trip, I don't see Clarice enough, but I'm glad I got to spend a few hours with her.

 The Rexburg temple is now one of my favorites, the surroundings are breathtaking, as is the temple.

Thanks for showing me such a great time Clarice :)

The next day was the day of our 5 hour ride. We rode all the way to a huge dune called choke cherry, a huge almost vertical dune. Logan, Lynn, & Brandi were brave enough to ride to the top while Lorri, Presley & I watched from below. I forgot my camera so I didn't get a picture of them climbing the huge hill, but it was impressive! Just as we were leaving a group of 10 sand cars rolled in, and they thought they were pretty awesome stuff! It was quite the site.

 One last stop at the lake

The last night we were there the sunset was incredible. It was a great ending to our trip. We had a lot of fun being gone for five days, spending time with the fam & getting some time to relax.

Thanks again Lynn & Lorri, we had a great time!