Whitefish, Montana is a small town of about 8,000 people. The outdoor activities in Whitehead are a big draw for vacationers year-round. There is skiing in the winter on the Big Mountain at Whitefish Mountain Resort. We arrived the weekend the skiing closes, so we will not get to experience that during our visit. In the summer Whitefish lake offers a city beach, boating, and swimming. Glacier National Park is not far away and there are a lot of other hiking options. We are excited to explore all that Whitefish and the surrounding area have to offer, but that is not why we came here.
Whitefish would not have been on our radar if it were not for the Montana Hybrid Academy. The boys have been a part of this school since January. It is an online school, but the owner and several of the kids live in Whitefish. We came here to meet them. On Wednesdays, the kids that live here do a bushcraft day where they go out and learn about nature. They learn knife and fire safety, foraging, taking care of the land, and other lessons about nature. Lucas and Henry have a great time with their friends. They come home excited and exhausted.
We got a warm welcome from the families here in Whitefish. Lucas and Henry are enjoying spending time with the friends that they only saw before online. Human connection. It is something we have all been missing. We did not know how much Lucas and Henry were missing it before we came here. The first weekend we arrived we were invited to volunteer with some of the kids at a sheep auction. We have been invited over for cookouts and playdates. It has been wonderful.
We also met a family in the neighborhood we are staying in who have two boys Lucas and Henry’s age. Unfortunately, they were at the end of their stay here, but the boys got a couple of weeks to hang out with them. They built a fort, played games, and rode their bikes around. They got to be kids. We also enjoyed hanging out with their parents. We had a few fires by the lake and nice conversations. They will hopefully remain friends. They have each other’s Minecraft names. Lucas and Henry are still friends with several kids they met in the last couple of years and Minecraft is a great way to stay in touch.
Slowly we are getting back to a somewhat normal life after a year of COVID. Michael and I were able to get vaccinated. We did one shot in Utah and one shot in Montana. It was easy to schedule with CVS. We hope that things continue to get better with COVID.
