This will be a short post as I have the second longest day of the trip behind me, and the longest ahead of me. I have many stories to tell, but just a quick note about Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border. I didn't know it existed. It's glorious.
I remember the first time I saw an Alpine lake on the Austrian side of the German border. I was stunned at the light crystal blueness of it all, as if it were a giant Sonic slushee.
The same experience hit me on Tuesday as we left the arid dryness of central Utah and arrived in Cache National Forest. Down through the trees and into the river I enjoyed the twisty, scenic departure from all of that Interstate.
At the end of the forest byway that cuts through the park was the view you see above. It's Bear Lake, which Wikipedia tells me is the "Caribbean of the Rockies" because of its strange turquoise color. It was stunning. I didn't know it was here. That's how big America is.
Also impressive? The small Garden City, Utah at the bottom of the lake used to be full of raspberry fields and they've run with it. In one block you can find four restaurants, each offering "The Famous Raspberry Shake."
Waist size dictated only trying one but, holy hell, it was like drinking a raspberry that exploded in a creamery.
Ok, more later. For now. The road.