Tina: Oh, Bette, this lake is gorgeous. Look over there…

They immediately turned toward the lake and saw a giant eagle dive to the lake and pull a large fish out by its talons and fly off to the other side of the lake toward the mountain.

Daniel:  What kind of bird was that, Mom?

Bette:  I believe that was a Golden Eagle. It was all brown as best I could tell. The Bald Eagle has a black body feather and white head feathers. I don’t think it was one of those. Guys, I think this is when we need to put on our sun glasses. The sun’s reflection on that water is not good for your eyes.

They all stopped and found their sunglasses and put them on. With them they could actually see more. They could see some wood ducks swimming near the reeds. They could see across the lake to the other side but could not tell very much about it.

Bette:  Come on guys let’s get to the garage and take a break. We might want to eat our mid-morning snack here. Take off you back packs and maybe use the bathroom.

They walked another 10 minutes and saw the garage. Bette approached and went into the building and invited them to follow. To right were eight electric vehicles which were hooked up to have their batteries charged. Each was in the design of a three wheeled motor cycle with a basket on the back.

To the left was a room which contained four cots and two bunk beds. There was an old sofa and a couple of chairs. There was a kitchenet which had a coffee maker, a microwave and a two-burner stove top. There was a wood burning pot belly heater. There was a stack of wood and a box of kindling next to it.  They could see there was a half bath on the back side of the room. Bette indicated to Daniel that if he needed to go, now was the time. Daniel had removed his backpack and quickly went in and closed the door.

Bette: This is our emergency backup plan should the weather turn bad while we are on our hike.

Tina:  Well, I wouldn’t call it home sweet home. But at least it will keep us from freezing to death.