Tafoya, of Montpelier, Idaho, said her friends felt sorry she couldn’t join them, but her response was more optimistic. “Don’t feel bad for me,” she told them. “I am going to be on a white beach with you. They said, ‘Where are you going?’ Don’t worry, I said. But I’ll be on a white beach too.”

Tracy Wilks, of Fish Haven, said she wanted to join Tafoya on her adventure. Instead of booking a flight to a tropical paradise, Tafoya and Wilks set their sights on something closer to home: the beaches at Bear Lake.

The day of their outing was Sunday, Feb. 19, and the temperature at the lake was 18 degrees, what Tafoya called a “balmy and beautiful” day.

Donned in bathing suits and sun hats — err, and coats — they set down their cooler and towels and put up a beach umbrella, and then toasted to their beach party at Bear Lake.

Tafoya hired Mimi Grunig, owner of Mimi Lopez Photography, also based in Montpelier, to capture the outing.

Besides ice fishermen at the lake, perhaps wondering what these brave women were doing sunbathing in a place that had some 2 to 3 feet of snow, the women had North Beach to themselves.

“I don’t know if you call it brave,” Tafoya said, noting they stayed in their swimwear all the while at the beach and even played badminton. “We spent a couple of hours and had a ball.”

When friends saw that Tafoya had indeed fulfilled her promise to be on a white beach that day, they got a good chuckle from it.

“They know me pretty well,” she said. “I don’t think they were real surprised, but they got a really good laugh out of it.”

She also said besides the laugh factor, it shows that Bear Lake can be enjoyed in winter by more than ice anglers.

“I think people should enjoy the lake in winter,” she said. “There are lots of things to do and so go out and have fun. Don’t let the cold stop you.”

Knowing that, Tafoya said she hadn’t decided where her next beach adventure would be. But perhaps Thermopolis, Wyoming, known for its hot springs.