The Last Weekend of Summer

With the Immanuel College boys visiting over Labor Day long weekend, the kids and I took them up to the Sierras for a dose of California summer before they all headed back to Australia. The traffic out of Sonoma and Napa on Friday afternoon had us second guessing our adventure for the first couple of hours, but we were rewarded with some magic weather up in the mountains for our three nights in Arnold. Lots of time on the lake (even some late night swimming on our last night!), an introduction to Liar’s Dice and Presidents, perfect campfire weather and a prime tri-tip one night that was thoroughly demolished by the boys… Big Max (the 18 year old one) received some punishing via Fireball shots one evening playing Presidents, but it was cause for a lot of laughs and all part of the game. I have a feeling the boys will be passing on Presidents and Liar’s Dice to their mates at home in short order!

We ventured up to Ebbetts Pass one afternoon so the boys could see the Dardanelles and enjoy a swim at Lake Alpine. The wind whipped us about a little during our time on Lake Alpine, but it was fun to swim with accompanying live music from nearby Lake Alpine Lodge for the Labor Day long weekend. And on the way home we couldn’t pass through Camp Connell without a visit to The Lube Room Saloon, the boys receiving a solid dose of an American dive bar to go with their burgers and fries.

A trip to Arnold wouldn’t be complete without a swim through the cave at Natural Bridges, (little) Max was in heaven with three 18-year-olds to join him boosting off the cave walls in the dark. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve swum through the caves over the years since we discovered them 20-or-so years ago, but it’s still a lot of fun all these years later. That first submersion into the icy cold water always manages to take my breath away.