Recovering From the Weekend

My good friend, Nancy, has been feverishly working on a quilt for the bed in Camille's room.  She knew that the kids were coming to visit this weekend and she wanted to have it done before Camille arrived.  Many months ago, she came over and looked at the valances over the windows in Camille's room.  Then she poured over quilting patterns, showing me "potentials," and then went shopping for fabric.  Nancy has an amazing eye for color and she loves incorporating applique into her quilts, stitching in highlights and detail.  She made the portrait quilts for us of Flash and Kersey.  She finished up the binding last week and I went up to her place (they are neighbors) and picked it up Thursday after work, chores and dinner.  Then I put it on Camille's bed and took some pictures.  It's gorgeous.  She even made matching shams.

Friday afternoon, Camille flew into Sacramento and we hit the grocery store on the way home from the airport.  I bought all kinds of shellfish to make a clam bake that night, and food for the remainder of the weekend as well.  Once we were home, the groceries unloaded, and the chores done, we got to work with Brett -- securing three kayaks in the bed of his pick up.  We have a rack on top of the Subaru that Brett and I use when we go out, but it only holds two kayaks.  Brett has fit four kayaks in the truck bed before, all stacked neatly on their sides.  But three was an awkward number.  We had to make sure they didn't slide out the back (the tailgate was down, with the backs of the kayaks resting on a bar that was hooked into the hitch (you see construction trucks hauling lumber around with them sometimes).  We lashed, and lashed, and lashed some more.  We'd get one secure and another would slide.  After an hour, Camille looked at us and said "I think we need beer."   We finally got it done and I started dinner.  I think we ate at 9:30 pm which is late -- even for us.

Saturday morning, we fed and mucked and emptied the rat trap (woohoo!) and headed towards Tahoe.  We took Camille to our favorite place to kayak, Wright's Lake.  It's very small, shallow and full of boulders so you can't take a motorized boat out.  It is very popular with kayakers.  At the far end of the lake, we paddled up the stream that feeds the lake.  Camille loved it.

After eating our picnic lunch while drifting in a small pond, off the stream, surrounded by reeds, we paddled back to the small launch area.

Brett brought the truck over and we got ready to load the kayaks.  Except that the tailgate wouldn't release.  We ended up lashing the kayaks on top; balancing the fronts on top of his toolbox and the backs on top of the tailgate.  Again, we lashed and lashed and lashed.  Brett didn't speak the whole way home (an hour and a half) -- worried about getting that tailgate fixed.  He worried about the expense but mostly about the possibility having the truck in the shop for more than a day.  During fire season we do not like the truck to be gone at all.  Of course, without the tailgate down, Brett couldn't hitch the horse trailer to the truck anyway (it is a gooseneck) so today he is out getting that fixed.

Kyle and Ana arrived Saturday afternoon, shortly before we got back home.  We had just enough time to unload the kayaks, do the evening chores, and change before going to a cowboy concert and dinner.  We love the venue, long tables under towering oaks; a wooden stage; bbq tri-tip, chicken and beans with pie at intermission.  And Dave Stamey, the cowboy singer, writes songs which are hugely entertaining and get your feet tapping.  Brett and I even danced.  (a very rare occurrence).

The house was hot and stuffy when we got home and, despite opening all the windows wide, none of us slept very well.  Sunday, we took the kids up to Jenkinson Lake where they kayaked some more.  Brett and I ran errands and I worked a bit in the garden, until it got too hot.  We had an early dinner before Kyle and Ana left, taking Camille to the airport on their way back to Berkeley.

I went to bed at 8:30.  I was wiped.

Living in Paradise is Exhausting

Today the heat wave continued but we were ready; we had a plan.

We woke early, had the horses fed, and the pastures cleaned, before the sun rose over the top of the hill.

Next up was a breakfast of eggs, fresh from our chickens, and good strong espresso (for me, Brett isn't a coffee person) while we read the paper.

At 8:30 we were back outside, getting Lucy and Pistol ready to ride.  It was already hot -- pushing 90 when we headed into the arena.  Neither Pistol nor Lucy were too thrilled with the idea of trotting in the heat.  We didn't ride long, maybe 15 minutes, but it was long enough for me to test out my back/sciatic and do some basic stretching at walk and trot with Lucy.  I had no pain during my ride and Lucy was too busy trying to negotiate "more walk, less trot" to worry about trolls.  When we finished, my back was a bit tight but otherwise fine.  I was, however, feeling a bit queasy from the heat so I hightailed it into the house where I downed a big glass of ice water.  Lucy was at the water trough, drinking deeply too.

Next, we loaded up the kayaks and headed up to Jenkinson Lake.  The lake was quiet when we arrived, but our favorite cove was wall-to-wall boats, kayaks and paddle boards by the time we left.  Brett got a little unbalanced getting out of his kayak -- in water that was deeper than anticipated -- and decided to fall in rather than trying to salvage his disembarkment.  I have to admit that I was tempted to follow suit -- the lake water was wonderfully cool and the sun incredibly intense.

Back home, we unloaded the kayaks and changed.  We ended the day at one of our favorite wineries, sipping Zinfandel (and eating far too much fresh bread).

Even though I'm not a fan of summer, I have to admit it's pretty hard to beat the lifestyle that this area has to offer.

Fire Ravaged

Sunday morning, after feeding the animals, we loaded our kayaks onto the top of the Subaru and headed to Stumpy Meadows lake.  Our friends followed with their long, bright red tandem kayak draped over the roof of their SUV, a red flag tied to the back, waving cheerfully in the breeze.  We hadn't been to Stumpy Meadows before and I was excited; the reviews and pictures were stunning.  Stumpy Meadows was described as a small lake, surrounded by dense pines, and quiet; the speed limit on the entire lake is 5mph.

We crossed the American River, outside of Placerville, and started the climb to Georgetown.  As we left that small town (two stop signs) and continued our climb, the pines, redwoods and cedars crowded against the road so densely that we couldn't see into the forest at all.  I squirmed with anticipation.

We finally glimpsed the lake through a clearing and pulled into the day use area.  The west end of the lake, where we unloaded and launched, had trees but the rest of the lake was bare.  Two years ago, the King Fire, which burned for months, reached, and surrounded, three sides of this lake.  All that remained were blackened trees, vast areas of no trees at all, and patches of grass.  The King Fire started near Placerville, in Pollock Pines, and spread to become almost 100,000 acres.  They caught the guy who started it, and he's serving 20 years for arson.  But, that can't bring back the beauty of the blighted ridges, valleys and lakes.

We thought this stump was particularly picturesque.  I'm sure that when the lake was named, many years ago, there was no inkling of how apt that name would become; there were black stumps everywhere.

The view looking back towards the launch was pretty.

But, most of it looked like this.  We paddled up a stream feeding the lake, on the east end, and found a small cascade of water over rocks -- which was beautiful, despite the moonscape surrounding it.

It took some work, but we found a spot to beach the kayaks and have lunch under the shade of a couple blackened, but still alive, pines.

After lunch, we paddled back to the boat launch, against the wind.  I braced my feet, engaged my core, and dug into the water with my paddle.  I reveled in the feel of the paddle pushing the water, and the sight of water rippling away from the front of my kayak.  I felt strong, despite the aching in my shoulders.  Brett was flying, setting a course down the middle of the lake before turning and heading into the shore.  When I reached the launch, we drifted, smiling with satisfaction, while we waited for our friends.  Their kayak is built for comfort, not speed, and they enjoy a more leisurely pace.  When I got out of my kayak, I could hardly walk.  My foot (crushed by Finessa, one of our donkeys, when she stood on it in early May) was swollen and painful.  I strapped on my walking cast and spent the rest of the day with it up.  I'm three months into a six-to-twelve month recovery and I'm pretty tired of wearing the boot.  Kayaking is generally fine; I don't normally do more than casually paddle around.  I shouldn't have pushed it -- but I'm not sorry.  It was worth it.

The Heat is Back

...so we took the kayaks up to Wrights Lake which is about 25 miles this side of Lake Tahoe in the Desolation Wilderness area of the Sierra Nevada.  The lake is very quiet -- no motor boats allowed at all.  We kayaked across the lake and then paddled up a stream for awhile.  90F at home and 70F on the lake.

Me and Margarita -- I mean, what else would you name a lime green kayak?

Heading up stream; lots of practice steering to dodge submerged boulders, logs and sandbars.

There were lots of pretty cabins along the shore.  (That's Brett in his kayak, Squirrel - in honor of Rachel, his granddaughter, who is on a rowing team at school)

We paddled up this stream, starting at the trail bridge.

Our friends, George and Nancy, were behind us going up the stream and took this video.

Having lunch on the shore.

Those are the Crystal mountains behind the lake -- is it gorgeous or what.

Maybe Summer Isn't so Bad After All

About a month ago, our good friends (and neighbors) bought a tandem kayak.  Every weekend since then they have been taking it out on one of our many local lakes.  And, they've been bugging us to join them.  We resisted initially -- with the expense and time committement of horses we felt they were a luxury we couldn't afford nor have time to enjoy.  But after spending the last three weeekends stuck in the house, too hot to ride or do anything outside between 8am and 7pm.... and listening to their stories of fun times on the lakes... well, yeah, we went kayak shopping.

At REI, figuring out the kayak rack

Today was our "maiden" voyage.  My parents used to have kayaks so I've had some experience out on an ocean bay, but no experience on a lake or loading them on top of a car and hauling them someplace.  We went up to Jenkinson Lake which is just 15 minutes from home.

George and Nancy

What we did right: got the kayaks on the car with out smashing a window; got in and out of the kayaks without capsizing; had a lovely picnic on the shore; wore sunscreen.

What we need to practice: loading the kayaks is painfully awkward.  I'm sure we'll improve with time but we were pretty stressed loading and unloading (kudos to Brett: he only swore once); I need boat shoes -- flip flops are a major fail in sucking mud at the shoreline.

How we feel: exhausted, sore and very happy.  We were out for four hours today and paddled out into the open water where we were buffeted by wind and wake waves from ski boats.  My shoulders and core are already talking to me ... but we're also hooked.  We'll be back out next weekend; the only decision is which lake to go to next.