Lake effect fun

Water is a big deal out West, and doublely as much for Andrea and I, who are Great Lakes kids. We get super excited whenever there's a lake to jump in, especially if it's big and clean.

Flathead Lake, the largest in Montana, is twenty eight miles of refreshing mountain goodness. It's mostly on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and is clean enough to fish, swim, or do any other lake-orieted activity you can imagine.



We swam and kayaked for two days, and spent all day yesterday cruising along it's shore.



Our new friends Doug and Andrea put us up for two nights and showed us around the area. Doug's the one who took us kayaking. I'll post soon about all of the great people that we've been staying with.



This hill is behind their house- it heads directly to the lake and is made of trecherous gravel. I'm about to attempt some moutainbike action.

There are cherry orchards all along the east side of the lake. The season is almost over, and you could buy a pound of fruit for a buck. We ate them on the spot and spit pits on the roadside.



Andrea swam here but it was too cold for me! All of the other times we were near the water it felt tropical.



We had some tasty beers on the north shore, from a little brewery across the street from the lake. There was a little patio overlooking the lake, and it felt like being on a boat. Everything was painted bright colors, like we were in Africa or South America.

I keep thinking that it's funny how non-western Montana feels, it's really wild and arty. I guess I was used to the ranchers, cowboys, and sagebrush in Wyoming.