Okay, one of the less-than-obvious oddities this week is that Mark and Cherry are wearing backpacks. Why are they doing this? After all, they just drove down the road to the resort. Maybe that’s the only kind of luggage they have. However, why are they still carrying their backpacks, since it appears they have already checked in?

How do I know this? How come you don’t?! 😉 Well, Cherry has changed her clothes, as has Rusty. Compare July 19 and July 21. And Mark is looking more casual than normal. Even his arms are looking like they want to be somewhere else (panel 3).

So, Mark is thinking the obvious:  Fertilizer runoff. Apparently, the resort must be pretty near the lake, yet Mark and Cherry failed to notice it when they were down there. However, I reckon there could be a stream feeding into the lake, so the resort could be around the bend. Ranger Shaw’s comment about contamination from wastewater is a general response to any number of possible sources, including the fertilizer runoff that Mark is hypothesizing. How come he wasn’t more specific? Either his analysis was insufficient or, once again, he is hiding information for a reason.