POST #6 -- Bearly To My Liking

Yes, I enjoyed a great drive across the wide open spaces in between Southern Idaho and Northern Utah.  The '02 is feeling great.


But out on the open road my ancient BMW seems tiny.  And it must seem an odd sight, even to those who actually know what it is.  Like the couple in a spiffy blue BMW Z4 who tailed me at a respectful distance for miles before finally overtaking me and conveying an enthusiastic "thumbs-up" as if to say, "Thank you, brave soulmate, for driving THAT car in THIS place."

The day's scenery was magnificent in variety and scale.

The clouds were wonderful.

Especially impressive was my first, distant view of Bear Lake, my destination for a few days of camping in Utah's wild wonderland.

The lake is huge, about 40 miles long, and it straddles big parts of both Idaho and Utah.

But...  it turns out that Bear Lake is not a wilderness lake.

It's a recreational lake.

What's the difference?

Wilderness lakes are serene sanctuaries for nature-loving hikers, campers and fisher-folk.

Recreational lakes are the purview of speedy speedboaters, wild water-skiers, and reckless personal water craft cowboys.  The surrounding lakeside is awash with fantastic mini-golf kingdoms, cacophonous go-kart tracks and more pizza-per-square meter than you can find anywhere short of a Domino's franchise convention.

Not what I was expecting...  or willing to tolerate.

So I left Bear Lake.  And I enjoyed the 40-mile mountain drive to the town of Logan, traversing the gorgeous Logan Canyon, a designated national scenic byway.  I'm now ensconced in a Best Western motel on Main Street.  Not exactly a slice of Utah's wild wonderland.  But a good place to catch my breath and reconsider my options for the week ahead.

My on-campus housing at Utah State University isn't available for 8 days.  So this is 'found time'.  Now I'll simply have to decide on what I'd like to find.  All will be revealed in my next Posting.