The only view of Logan, Utah, I wanted to have was from my rear view mirror after my experience with a bully (i.e. general manager) at Ensign Honda this spring. It was so bad I swore I’d never buy a Honda for the rest of my life. You know it’s bad when you shun Honda itself. However, it’s been three months and, like a bad date, I’m over it.

My excitement built as our small group of writers entered Logan Canyon. My host promised a whirlwind adventure in Cache Valley and Rich counties and given the heat in Salt Lake City I wasn’t about to resist a trip to higher ground. Two and a half hours later ( 30 minutes of which was due to road construction) we were dining on the deck of Cooper’s sports pub overlooking the famous turquoise waters of Bear Lake.

Bear Lake and Shakes

Utah’s second largest natural freshwater lake straddles the Utah/Idaho border and jumps in population from 600 to 10,000 in the peak of the summer. Today, a weekday, the area feels relatively calm. It’s hot-90 degrees, the water’s 71- but the looming clouds seem to keep boaters and fishermen at bay. We opt for a raspberry with lime shake from the Hometown Drive-in and an afternoon in the Minnetonka Cave.

Raspberry Days may happen on just one weekend a year in Bear Lake but the raspberry shakes served from several roadside stands can be had all summer.

A hunter stumbled on the Minnetonka Cave in 1907 but it wasn’t until 1947 that the half-mile cavern of creepy limestone rockformations was open to the public. For $8 per person, you too can cool off in the 40-degree tunnel and, in our case, avoid the rain.

The small corridor of rock, lined with a metal railing lead us up and down more than 400 steep steps. Some visitors were visibly distressed over the climb but personally I needed to exercise knowing dinner at Café Sabor was coming up.