WEDNESDAY, 15 JULY 2020; WHITEFISH, MT

It is so lovely and warm this morning.  We are going out on the boat at 2 this afternoon.  I’d like to go for a mountain bike ride this morning and do the Lion Mountain trail one more time before we leave.

Craig walked over with Marley so we asked him if he wanted to go.  We told him 10-ish.  He said he'd check with Pam and let us know.  He’s not going!

I sat outside working on the Blog.  Rob made arrangements with someone to go over to Lawrence's at a later date to detail our old truck so it'll be super for sale.

He walked over and got Craig and then they walked across the street to the Outdoorsman to see about a fishing license. Perhaps they will do a little fishing today for the pontoon boat.

Rob and I left from the RV Park on our bikes at 10:30. It was 3.3 miles from the park to the trail head. 

We got to the trail head and there were a family of 4 getting ready to ride it. The son was hoping for big rocks to jump over and the Mom was hoping for smooth.  I told them no big rocks. Couple roots, couple small rocks, but mostly just rolling, sweeping single track with a couple steeps.

We headed out.

Skyles Lake

We catch a view of Skyles Lake right away from the trail.  It is close driving distance to town and id love to live on it.  Nice small lake for kayaking or paddle boarding.

I love how we ride through the forest.

And that private individuals who own the land allow us to ride/hike it.

There were quite a few walkers and joggers on the trail. Not as many bikers as when we did it a couple days ago thank goodness.

We completed the trail and when we got back to the trail head the family of four, who We encountered in the beginning were there. We asked them how they liked it.  They said they had mechanical problems, had to leave to get a bike fixed and are now back and getting ready to start it.  Too bad, for them and for us.  I was hoping to run into them to see how they liked it.

We rode back to the park.

We quickly showered and grabbed beverages and snacks and everything else we needed for an afternoon on the boat.

We all piled into the truck and headed to Lakeside.

Lawrence, Andrew and Misha were already on the boat.

We stayed close to shore. At first it was cold because the clouds were blocking the sun, plus the wind, but pretty soon it was awesome.  Bella was quite scared for some reason and it took her forever to calm down.

Craig threw a fishing line off the back and pretty soon Rob joined him.

Misha was so cute, pointing out each dock dock that had a slide into the water.  A couple places had giant swans or other inflatable critters to play on.  One place had water tubes to slide into the water.

Misha (He just turned 5) wanted to go swimming so Andrew lowered him into the water.  I’m not sure he even let him go as immediately he was gasping from the cold.  We peeled off his wet clothes and wrapped him in a towel.  He sat with Bella and I until he stopped shivering.  He said he’d never fished before so Craig showed him how to do it.  Lawrence forgot Misha’s change of clothes so I put him in my hoodie with the sleeves all rolled up.  He looked like a Star Wars character

Lawrence and Misha

We were trying to get his shirt dry so he could wear it again so Lawrence folded a noodle in half and put it inside the shirt so he colluded hold it up in the wind. We called it the noodle man.  It worked!

Noodle man!

We were originally going to take Lawrence, Andrew and Misha and drop them off across the lake, but the water was real choppy and he said it would be super uncomfortable for us in the boat so we decided to cruise for a bit then take them back to the Marina and they would drive,

We continued and looked at the cool houses. I wanted to find the spot when a Fifth wheel had been three years ago and see if it was still there or if they built a house there instead.

We found it.  No house, but they had made lots of improvements and instead of the fifth wheel there was a Class C.

I still love the place, but the lake is to big and I’d much rather live on a smaller one that isn’t so windy and choppy.

We returned to the marina and dropped Lawrence, Andrew and Misha off. I got a big hug from Misha. He’s such a cutie.  Then we took off again in the other direction and cruised a couple more coves.

I like this house.  Simple with a nice beach.

We headed back to the fuel station and there we all got off.  They docked the boat and put it away.  

We walked over to the Harbor Grille.  They said it would be a bit of a wait, so we thought we’d sit at one of the tables by the water and wait.  Rob and Craig went to the bar to get us drinks and when they got them they motioned to us that our table was ready.  Nice!  I still love this place, although it is much busier now than it was when I’d walk across the street and sit there enjoying a glass of wine three years ago.

We had a lovely dinner by the water and then returned to the RV Park.  We actually got back before 10 pm. We said our goodbyes to Pam and Craig and then went in and watched the next two episodes of Yellowstone before going to bed.