Shep Ferguson Ch. 7 The Rest of the Clan Pt. 5

Nicky and Allyn Ferguson – Mountain Vacation

Early the next morning Nicky and Allyn were on their way to Three Lakes, about a ninety minute drive away. They’d had no breakfast before they left so, first things first, they had to sample the flapjacks as soon as they’d checked in at the Sky Vista Hotel.  

The hotel, surprisingly, furnished no restaurant, but Nicky told Allyn no worries, he knew the place to go: Three Lakes Market. It had the best flapjacks in town (outside of Axe Wood Campground). They also sold mountain gear and hiking clothing, souvenirs, furnished customers with pinball machines and there would be lots of atmosphere for Allyn to soak up.

“And the market is probably the best place for us to see people making with the local “gesture”, Nicky remarked to Allyn, “In all the years I’ve been coming up here I’ve never taken the time to learn it or the slap dance.”

“Their local what?”

“You’ll see,” he chuckled.

As for Sky Vista, it truly was in the sky, morning mist obscured the view from below of the rest of the resort town. The amenities included an indoor pool, a room just to play the Llama game, a mineral spring to soak in, and an exercise room off by itself nestled even higher up the mountain than the hotel. The room boasted gorgeous views of the lakes.

When Allyn saw Nicky talking with a local and then repeatedly pounding his chest and howling like Tarzan she realized that he must have been "taking lessons" for the Three Lakes gesture. So she made Nicky teach her it when he had learned it.  

After shopping and a little fishing at the Plaza, they were surprisingly tired and headed back to the resort for a little rest and relaxation, using the highly expensive room service for convenience.

The next day around 11 am they headed to the Lumber Mill Range. The mountain air seemed to affect their appetites, making them quite robust. They hungrily ate a lunch of grilled catfish. It was caught from the pond right there on the premises and as fresh as any catfish could be, considering it was catfish.

After lunch Allyn wanted to try her luck throwing an axe. She’d been rather a tomboy as a child and still liked fairly rugged physical activity. Nicky was such a tease that he continually tried to distract her. She picked the skill up quite quickly, so Nicky decided to challenge her. Allyn won.

When it came to log-rolling though, Allyn couldn’t catch a break; Nicky bested her every time. They broke for fishing when the weather just got too cold to be in the water.

The fishing here at the Lumber Range was phenomenal and Nicky was pleased with Allyn’s progress.

After fishing all afternoon they stopped to order an early supper of chicken pot pie, although for some reason, even though she ordered pot pie, what Allyn got was some sort of Asian noodle dish served with chopsticks. Odd. Nicky got his pot pie just fine, no problem.

They left the range to go to the Smooth Rock Spa where Allyn wanted to learn the deep tissue massage while Nicky sampled the springs and the sauna. 

 

Returning to Sky Vista at last, they went out to their balcony to look at the view in the moonlight. It was spectacular and, even though they were dead tired, they didn’t want to go in just yet, so they played chess for a bit before heading off to dreamland.

It was midnight before they’d fallen asleep, but they both slept hard and felt refreshed by 6 am the next day. So they headed up to the exercise room while it was still dark. Getting in shape cleared what cobwebs leftover from their deep slumber. 

They also wanted to sample the rustic looking indoor pool at least once before they checked out. They loved Sky Vista, but Allyn wanted to try Blue Hills Resort and compare to see which they preferred “for next time”. Her remark was dear to Nicky’s heart; it sounded to him like she might be falling as much in love with Three Lakes as he had years ago.

Fortunately for them, there was a cancellation at Blue Hills if they could get over there right away. They checked out of the lovely Sky Vista hoping they would not be disappointed.

Blue Hills Resort was farther down the mountain than Sky Vista, but higher than the valley and lake. The amenities included an outdoor pool, a baby grand piano in the lounge area, a hot tub for those chilly autumn and winter nights and a pinball machine and other games. Their room had a view of the pool, a soaking tub in the bathroom and a very comfortable queen-size bed.

They beat it back to the Lumber Mill Range for lunch and met some locals and other vacationers. New friendships led to them learn the slap dance that was a custom only in Three Lakes. 

Allyn stopped to read the information on the huge tree trunk slab and was fascinated by the story of the tree’s life through hundreds of years of local history…

Finally they decided to go back to the resort for supper in their cozy room. Nicky called room service and they ate their meal watching other guests enjoying the pool.

“Want to put on our swimsuits and join them?” Nicky asked her; a speculative look in his eyes.

“No,” Allyn sighed with contented pleasure, pushing her plate back. 

"I’d just like to stay where we are; it’s our only night here and we can cuddle up and watch the TV.”

“Mmm, sounds good to me," Nicky agreed with relief. He really wanted to stay in, too, the better to have a little romance--or even a lot of romance.

Early next morning they went by the Axe Wood Campground. It was raining; a misty light rain that did not drench them but left their flannel shirts wet even as their thermal shirts stayed dry. Allyn could suddenly picture winter coming to this place and, how isolated Three Lakes might seem by then.

“I thought you should see firsthand how fairly primitive the place is. Not by camping standards, of course, but as seen by someone who has never slept outdoors,” Nicky told her.

“I’d still like to try it next time—I bet the fishing is really good.”

“True, I’ve done my best fishing at this particular pond. And it is really fairly well equipped for a campground.”

She looked at him hopefully and he smiled,

“Well, we’ll think about trying it next time, but with backup hotel reservations.”

Because of the rain, they took a shuttle back instead of walking.

Back at the resort the sun came back out and they went for a quick dip in the pool before lunch. Then Nicky checked them out of the hotel and in no time they were heading toward home. Allyn looked back as as they drove away down the winding road. It was hard to say goodbye to the lake and the mountains. Nicky reached over and took her hand for a moment.

“We’ll be back, baby. I promise.”

 

Next update on the Shep Ferguson family HERE