This week we hiked Round Hill in Zephyr Cove on Tuesday. It featured an initial 500 feet of elevation gain and nice views from the hill, but then was either downhill or flat for the rest of the time.
Afterwards, we went shopping to replenish supplies, and completed preparing the cabin for the guests who would arrive Wednesday. We had dinner out at Kalyani’s, a restaurant that prepared dishes from the Pacific Rim. Tom had Mahi mahi and Paula had sea bass. On Wednesday Kyle’s family arrived, including (for the first time!) his sister Cathianne and her husband Brian, and their two kids Carter and Brooklyn. The kids loved the yard and set about making a “restaurant” from sticks and serving us steaks made of pine bark, seasoned with gravel and pine sprigs. Kyle and Glenny made an amazing dinner of grilled vegetables and marinated grilled chicken with baked biscuits.
Thursday The kids introduced the rest of us to Monopoly, the card game. It was fast-paced with lots of deal making, which the adults enjoyed as well. Kyle made a pulled pork lunch (awesome). Dick and Laura walked around and went to the downtown shops, Brian, Glenny, and Kyle had to work part of the day, but there was still time for the guys to scooter to a brewery and for the groups to visit the Thursday El Dorado bean market, which had live music on a stage built into the water.
Dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce, accompanied by Kyle’s special salad, garlic bread and sweet Italian sausage, again made some time ago by Kyle and a few of his friends and then frozen for future use. It was great! On Friday the kids were thrilled to hit the beach and played hard, making friends and getting enthusiastically sandy. Interspersed were times of watching the Olympics and discussing the results. Glenny and Kyle outdid themselves preparing Moroccan skewered port and vegetables for dinner. More Olympic viewing followed.
Saturday Dick and Laura made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash browns with peppers and onions and bacon. After breakfast, we had the unusual occurrence of pouring rain and thunderstorms. Fortunately, it cleared enough in the afternoon for the kids to find “treasure” in the form of coins in the back yard and to take a walk and splash in some of the giant puddles formed.
Sunday was sunny, and all the puddles had dried, so it was back to the beach for the kids, scootering around for the guys, and amazing carne asada or ground beef tacos (diner’s preference) for dinner. More Olympic viewing ensued till bedtime. Monday morning was clear, and although Brian, Glenny and Kyle had to work, everyone was able to have morning coffee, etc., while gathering belongings to return to Folsom. Cathianne and family will soon need to return to Illinois, although Dick and Laura can stay and will return with Glenny and Kyle to Tahoe next weekend.
