This is one of our projects at the park. Installing 6x6 timbers on the path leading down to the lake. The slope makes it a little tricky getting down, so Darrell will be installing the timbers about every 2 feet as needed. It's been raining for about the last week or so......we're learning to just go ahead and do what we need to do. It's only water, and we did get new rain jackets......

Darrell proudly displays his lifetime national park pass. We went to Apgar on his birthday to finally make the purchase. Lifetime pass for only $10!

Necessity is the mother of invention....Darrell has applied for a patent for his weed whacker "wacker bags"

Since the water supply hose was exposed, we needed to dig a trench to bury it, keeping it from being a temptation to beach visitors to fiddle with it.

We see our beach from a different angle.....

The peak with the snow still on it is Big Mountain. It's the center of Whitefish resort tourism...... Winter skiing, summer mountain biking, hiking, zip lining.

The shore of Whitefish Lake is pretty much occupied by second homes, or "lake homes". But these are ginormous. This is just an example of them; most of them are bigger! Chris told us that one of them is owned by the founder of Yahoo! A lot of them are owned by Canadians.

As we take off from shore, clouds threaten to rain.

Meet Nick (l) and Chris (r). Nick is park ranger for the northwest territory of region 1 state parks. Chris is game warden for the same area, covering law enforcement, hunting and fishing compliance, and a lot more. After getting things squared away, Chris offered us a ride around Whitefish Lake. We knew he would be really busy as the weather warmed, so we took him up on it.

Sunday morning: we get a call on the park phone that Nick, our park ranger, and Chris, our game warden, are on their way in their boat to team up with Darrell to fix our swim platform and water pump (our water supply from the lake). So we throw on some clothes, gulp down our coffee and run down to the beach. Temp was 39, so we bundled up, for sure! Our arizona blood hasn't thickened up quite yet.