Wednesday, July 2
KD is letting us sleep a little longer now. She is content to lie on my bed and let me scratch her as we both fall asleep again and again. I wake up when she dreams that she is chasing squirrels and starts whimpering and flexing her legs. She snores, too.
We had our normal breakfast. I am beginning to understand the nuances of our pressed coffee pot. We still get some grounds in our cups, but it's not as bad as the first few tries.
I lazed around and read while Ann continued to organize the beach and trail to the beach. She took KD to Windy Point to make some phone calls while I watched the clothes washer. As soon as I put the clothes in the drier, I took the car to Plain to get some groceries. I bought a few things on our list, but I wasn't able to find any fresh fruit or vegetables in Plain or at the Parkside Grocery. I discovered that the Plain Grocery has free wireless internet. We could even park outside at night and connect to email. It was too hot today to do that so I joined another shopper at a table inside and did all of my internet duties.
I got back to the cabin in time to eat lunch. Then a friend of Ann's arrived. While they were having a chat, I changed into my cycling clothes and went for a ride. My route was up the main road on the north shore to the site of the old Cougar Inn, back along the old north shore road, out the Chiwawa Loop Road to Plain and back to the cabin along the main roads. A lot of the rode was in the shade, but the parts of it that weren't were very hot. There was some construction going on on the Chiwawa Loop with flaggers stopping traffic. That gave me some time to rest and drink water.
Back at the cabin, I showered and rested for a while while Ann and her friend continued to chat. For dinner, I made spaghetti. I used some Paul Newman tomato and garlic sauce with some ground beef and onions that I sauteed beforehand. We also had toasted hamburger buns and avocados with cherry tomatoes. I did this while Ann and her friend continued to chat.
It was nice not having to do the dishes tonight. Because I cooked, it was Ann's turn to do the dishes. It worked out well, because she and her friend washed and dried as they continued to chat.
After Ann's friend left, we had some down-time to relax and read. I finished my third book of the trip and began the fourth. It was bedtime before 10:00.
Thursday, July 3
Lots of lightning woke us up this morning. The storm rolled through quickly and we were able to sleep until nearly 7:00. The wind had picked up, cooling the temperature and raising the humidity. After breakfast, we took KD up to Hidden Lake again. This time I used my GPS to get some statistics. The loop up the lake trail, up the old Hidden Lake trail, down the new Hidden Lake trail and back to the cabin along the road was 3 1/3 miles with total elevation gain of 450 feet.
Ann made several cell phone calls to her sibs to plan the Fourth of July weekend. Calls were more reliable from Windy Point. AT&T and its affiliates are very weak at the cabin. After her calls, we drove into Leavenworth. While Ann shopped at Safeway, I sat with Ruth. Then we took her up to the cabin for the afternoon. There was a mild down-lake breeze and a slight overcast which kept the temperature down and most of the mosquitos at bay. Ann made applesauce cake which Ruth and I lazed. After a simple dinner of leftover spaghetti, Cheryl came by, picked of Ruth and drove her home.
John and June arrived at the cabin after 8:00 with a trove of food including salmon that John had just caught in Alaska. We had a good chat with them until 10:00 when we all retired for the night.
Friday, July 4
We all were up around 7:00 this morning. Ann talked John into starting a fire in the stove even though the temperature was in the 60's. It was the first fire that we've had since we have been here. I was the breakfast cook this morning. We had blueberry pancakes and fried spam. (It's better than it sounds). After the rest of the crew finished the dishes, we walked up to Hidden Lake via the main road and the new trail. When we got to the top, we continued around the lake to the water fall which was flowing very fast. Then it was down the old trail and back to the cabin via the lake trail. June decided to continue on to what she called the cabin loop. John took a nap. Ann started cooking. I sat and read.
For lunch, John and I had leftover spaghetti and cherry pie that Shu Min had made and sent up with John and June. Cheryl arrived with Ruth and dropped her off for the holiday with her family.
Bruce and Dawn arrived a little later and we all sat around and chatted for awhile. Ann and John got restless and decided to go down to the lake for some trail maintenance. Soon after, Bruce and Dawn went for a walk. June was writing a paper on her laptop while Ruth and I were sitting around and gazing at the lake. Ruth started to get anxious and was worried about how she would get home. June recognized a potential problem with this a began to read "Sex, Death and Fly Fishing" out loud to her. We did this as a relay until Ann and John came back.
We got a real laugh when Bruce and Dawn came back. They said that they met some people up the trail who asked them if they had seen the Tree Mover. After thinking about it for awhile, Bruce realized that they were talking about John who had taken pivy pole to clear logs from the trail. The people were amazed that one person could move trees and "what was that tool"? John is now known as the Tree Mover.
For dinner, John grilled salmon that he just caught in Alaska. We also had a green salad, rice pilaf and coleslaw. Dessert was applesauce cake that Ann had baked the day before. Of course, we also had several bottles of wine.
As we were getting ready to do the dishes, the lights started to blink. Then they went off. We got a phone call from Cheryl who was coming to pick up Ruth. She was stopped near Camp Zanika by the firemen because a tree had fallen over the power line and started a small fire. The road was blocked so she couldn't get through. We sat around in the cabin playing recall games in the candlelight until 10:00 when Cheryl finally arrived and picked up Ruth for the ride home. Power still wasn't restored so we all went to bed leaving the dirty dishes in the sink.
Around 11:00, power came up and all of the lights turned on. Ann and I scurried around, turned them all off and went back to bed.
Saturday, July 5
It was blueberry pancakes and fried spam for six this morning, although Dawn slept in - she had trouble sleeping last night. She was probably dreaming about the tree mover.
Ann, June, John and I took KD to Hidden Lake - up the new trail and down the old one. When we got home, Ann and John took the canoe uplake and up the Little Wenatchee River. Bruce and Dawn went for a spin in the Kayaks. June worked on an article that she is going to publish while I read and dog sat.
Bruce and Dawn left mid-afternoon.The rest of us did our own cabin things until dinner time. I cooked some teriyaki-marinated pork loins on the grill. We also had a green salad, garlic bread, rice pilaf, applesauce cake and wine.
It was early to bed after a nice relaxing day.
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