In case you haven’t noticed, for the purposes of these weekly posts we begin a “week” on Friday since that’s when any guests tend to arrive. So, this past week started with the usual gang (Kyle, Glennis, Miller, Dacia, Makai, Tayva) gathering for dinner on Friday evening. Paula made a seafood pasta salad that everyone loved and made for some good leftovers.

The next morning started with a workout to get the blood flowing, and then a swim in the cold lake to get the blood really flowing. The guys did not participate in either event this time. They were preparing the inflatable kayaks that Kyle and Glennis brought for some afternoon paddling.

With the kayaks all setup, Kyle and Tom tested out a plan for getting them down to the water and ready to board. They were able to use the steps that lead down just next to the backyard of our cabin.

Everyone was interested in how easy or hard launching the kayaks was going to be so all hung out near the steps to watch. Kyle and Tom went off on the maiden voyage and all went well. The only problem was that the wind picked up near the end of the trip and they had to paddle hard into the wind to get back.

The next day, Glennis and Dacia took the kayaks out for a spin. The wind and waves were much lower enabling them to paddle in any direction without difficulty.

Next was some relaxing in the backyard and some competitive games of washers. That evening, Miller made an amazing dinner of Jerk Chicken on the grill for all of us topped off with “mop” sauce, vegetable salad, and rice.

Back inside the house for the evening, it was story time for the children and an evening filled with poker and lots of betting for the adults. Miller, Dacia and the children had to leave on Sunday afternoon, but Glennis and Kyle stayed over for Monday. On Sunday night Kyle cooked pork cutlets on the flattop and Paula made a potato casserole.

Monday morning brought a first for us, or at least for Glennis, at the cabin. A big bear wandered into our driveway. At the time, Tom and Paula were out running and Kyle was in a business meeting. Glennis managed to capture it on video as it left our driveway and walked along the fence of our yard down to the water.

Bear!!

Once it got down the steps, those same steps where we launched the kayaks, it decided to go for a swim. It swam away and must have gotten back on land at some other part of the lake. Note all the “spectators” who got way too close.

He loved the water.

On Monday night, the four of us decided to try a sushi place in town that everyone raved about called the Naked Fish. It was awesome. Some of the best sushi we’ve ever had.

The next day after Glennis and Kyle left, Tom and Paula took the kayaks out for a long paddle. We decided to try and make it to a small beach on the Nevada side of the lake about 2.4 miles away. There was a light breeze coming out of the east, so we were paddling into it on the way out.

We did make it to the beach, which is shown in the featured picture for this post and had a nice fruit and nut snack sitting on a log on the shore. It was a wonderful ride with stunning views. The ride back was particularly nice since we had a little wind at our backs pushing us along. The kayaks performed superbly.

For the next couple days Paula was feeling under the weather so we hung around the cabin allowing her to rest and recover. Tom got some chores done while Paula rested, and she is now almost over it. We are expecting Glennis to arrive tonight while Kyle attends his bachelor party this weekend.