October 1, 2022
Dear Family and Friends, The month of September began with a large, seemingly uncontrollable forest fire that was fairly close to us. Called the Rum Creek Fire, it was ignited by lightning that hit several places on Aug. 20th. Others were extinguished quickly, but this one was in such a remote location on the mountain range directly behind, or to the west of us, and the surrounding terrain was so rugged, that firefighters were unable to get to it. When strong winds came and carried sparks and embers to other places, it soon became a violent fire that was now approaching the more populated areas. So, more men and helicopters and planes were brought in from all over the country to help control this monster that was creeping closer and closer to our foothill homes and small communities. People were being told to prepare to evacuate at a moment’s notice, as it continued forward, crossing the river into even closer areas. It was really getting scary! Here at the Park,...