At the top of Kelly's list of things to do this spring was a trip to see his Dad. J.W. Hawk recently moved to Montana, and so it was time to check out the new digs. His home is on Lake Mary Ronan, about a two hour drive northwest of Missoula, and about three hours from where he currently preaches at Plymouth Congregational Church of Christ in Helena. He is finishing up a year-long contract there, so until this fall, he has an apartment in Helena and drives back and forth one or two times a week. Kelly (me) flew in on Wednesday, and we promptly drove up to the new lake home for a couple of days.

Me, Sondra, and Dad in the living room of their home on Lake Mary Ronan.

The area in which they live is surrounded by beautiful mountains which are snow-topped most of the year.

Their home is on the lakefront. Despite the sunny and 60-degree weather, the lake is still frozen. There are no other visible cabins on the lake from this view.

Sondra and Dad are thinking about putting in a dock; here I am drilling through the ice to measure depth.

Daddy and Sondra in front of their home. The living room is behind them, with the bedrooms to the left and the detached garage off the right. They have about thirty neighbors around them, and that's all there is for miles.

While their living situation is quite rural (it's probably 7 miles to the nearest stop sign), there is a lodge within walking distance that serves great food. Here we are at breakfast. Nothing low-cholesterol here :-)

We returned to Helena on Saturday. The next morning daddy took me to his church. Here's their delightful sanctuary.

Here's me and my Dad at church, after his service.

On Tuesday, we did a hike to the top of Mt. Helena, from which you can see the entire city.

The downtown area, which used to be home to a gold mining community, still has it's original 1939 soda fountain, the Parrot. Here's dad enjoying some coffee.