From the moment the Bear Family arrives at their mountain cabin, Papa's promise of 'the best vacation ever' begins going down hill like an alpine avalanche. Not only is the cabin a shack, but also the lake has more weeds than the Sargasso Sea and the only thing biting are the mosquitoes. It becomes increasingly difficult for Papa to keep a smile on his face as he slips down muddy slopes, breaks through the bottom of the rotten rowboat and is chased by little forest critters. Ultimately it rains so much, the run off floods them out and carries a sleeping Papa out to the middle of the lake on his mattress. That's the last straw. Papa's best vacation ever has turned out to be the worst vacation ever. It's only when the cubs show Papa the snapshots they've been taking of him and the so called calamities that he finally realizes how much fun they've been having all along because having fun is just a matter of attitude.