Lake Almanor Adventures

Labor Day weekend was one of those magical weekends where you never want it to end and at first it doesn’t feel like it ever will…and then it does.

We spent the entire weekend in Lake Almanor, California where the weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and the company was even better.  I was a little worried that the trip would be a little hard since at 14 weeks pregnant I just got over morning sickness and yet still felt kind of gross at times, but it was absolutely perfect and marked the end to first trimester grossness!

 

Thursday night we flew from Denver to Reno and spent the night at the Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino.  We were going to fly out Friday morning, but it was cheaper to leave Thursday night and take advantage of an online deal at the Peppermill than it would be to fly Friday…how crazy is that?!  We had a layover in Las Vegas and honestly at that point I was spent, but Nate was ready to play the slots once we arrived in Reno.  I opted out of the smoky casino and stayed in our room watching multiple re-runs of the Kardashians (you know, to make me feel good about myself) and snoozed until he got back to the room.  We slept in our nice cushy dog-free bed and got ready to make the 2-hour drive to Lake Almanor Friday morning!

 

We met Nate’s dad and his girlfriend Linda at the airport and climbed in the rental car to get moving…we were so excited to finally be near water again!  We drove the 2 hours over the border of Nevada and California and made it just in time to get in the water before it got too cold.  With the lack of water in Colorado we wanted to take full advantage of it, especially since I was feeling great and had been cleared by my doctor to partake!  We jumped in, kayaked, and rode on the water tricycles (that’s right, water trikes) to our heart’s content, then made our way to the house to shower off and get ready for dinner.

 

I suppose I should mention here that we were staying with some sweet friends of Nate’s family, so dinner every night was family-style on the patio overlooking the lake.  They also had a flat-screen that we could watch afterwards!  Needless to say we decided that a house on a lake with a flat screen is something we obviously need to get.  Obviously.

 

Lake Almanor is located just outside of Lassen National Forest, so the next day we made a trip out there to see the volcano and otherwise just enjoy the scenery.  It’s funny, we live in Denver with easy access to any mountain we could ever want to hike around, but something about this was just different and special.  The trees were different, the layout was different, and Mount Lassen was majestically residing over us the entire time.  The weather was perfect for a picnic and we had a great time exploring all of the different trails and lakes!

We also saw a ton of deer around too.  I know some people don’t like deer and think they’re weird or gross, but I love them.  They’re gorgeous and remind me of my Grandpa and Mimi who lived in the Texas Hill Country and took the most gorgeous photographs of the deer there.  To this day I still can’t believe how graceful they are and I love it when we get to see them!

 

Also, random story:  one time I was walking through Boulder on my lunch break and almost got run over by a deer.  Yes, you read that correctly:  I almost got run over by a deer.  Repeating it makes it more realistic, don’t you think?  It was running over the hill on the path I was on, dodged hitting me, and ran down to the river where it promptly popped a deer squat and started peeing in the river.  I can’t say I’ve stuck my feet in there ever since…

Anyway, back to real life.  Honestly every day in Almanor was a lot like the one before it, which was absolutely perfect.  We would wake up in the morning and kayak and ride the water tricycles, then when the water warmed up a bit we’d paddle board for a couple of hours.  Lunchtime was always leftovers and sandwiches, which I love, and then back to the water for some boating and jet-skis.  Once the lake calmed down again we’d hop on the paddle boards until dinner time, and then fall asleep watching the outdoor TV.  It was perfectly relaxing!

I love that we truly took the time to relax on this vacation; it’s one of the few times we’ll get to before the baby comes!  I will say this though:  being near water again always makes me miss it, which Nate thinks is funny since I never grew up near a lake or ocean or anything.  I have always loved water though and love how it just relaxes me and makes me feel centered.  Just sitting in a kayak and letting the waves rock me is enough to make this Texas girl smile!

We’re already planning our next trip out to Almanor and can’t wait to get on the lake once again!