~Sunday, August 2, 2020~
Day 49
Wow, what a way to start a day. Mom made a huge breakfast of homemade waffles with nectarines and peaches on top, bacon and eggs. Reminded me of the days at my Nanny’s house when she would make the nectarines on waffle breakfasts. Since my grandpa was a farmer, growing nectarines, grapes and oranges, there’d be so much fruit to go around, we wound up with a lot of breakfast dinners too. Now who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner?
We were hoping mom could join us for a day of rafting in Tahoe, but she had plans to take her good friend, Kathy out for her birthday. Before heading to Tahoe, we needed to make sure that Sadie was going to be able to join us. The rafting company’s website says that dogs must be under 50 pounds. My best guess for Sadie’s weight was 60, and I was close. She’s 63. Anyway, we called the rafting company to see how strict they were and they said, “Absolutely bring her. We love dogs!” We were so happy that she could finally get in some water action. She’s been so patient having to be in the trailer so much with all the heat. Seeing Tahoe once more is a great way to end our time here in California. She will be missed. We had so many wonderful experiences with all of the families that joined us over the years, and being back at the Truckee River Rafting Company once again, brought back all of those great memories. Rafting was one of many activities that everyone looked forward to. We couldn’t have picked a better day to come up here.
The temperature was in the low 80’s, the water level was pretty high, with definitely a lot more rapids than in previous years. Our reservation was for 1:00 where we parked the car in the quarry parking lot, and a van picked us up immediately then whisking us to check-in and in 5 minutes we were rafting. This time due to COVID, they had us fill out paperwork ahead of time, so they could keep crowds to a minimum in the check-in area.
Sadie kept whimpering with excitement between the cool water and watching the many ducks swim by. There is no better place for a lab. Lots of other dogs were hanging out in rafts or on top of paddle boards, so she had much to entertain her. In no time, Sadie had the rafting thing down, getting in and out on her own and chillin’ on the top edge of the raft when she needed a break. She’s officially a raft dog. When we got to the final rapid, Jeff steered the back, with my help in front and we made it through without any glitches. Our usual thing in years past has been to hang out at the River Canyon Restaurant, which is at the end of the rafting trip. But this time around, it was not meant to be. Jeff and I had a perfect table facing the rapids, when one of the rafting employees noticed our ID bracelets and alerted us the last bus of the day was leaving in about 10 minutes. Oh well, another time I guess. By the time the bus brought us back to the parking lot, it was time to head back to mom’s since we wanted to make sure we would have dinner together. With a worn out Sadie in the back, and a sleepy husband in the passenger seat, it was just me and the tunes for the 1 hour and 45 minute drive back to El Dorado Hills.
We got to mom’s around 7:30 and had a delicious dinner of leftover soup and crostini. We couldn’t wait to have mom’s homegrown tomatoes that Jeff had planted for her early in the Spring. A little homegrown basil, fresh mozzarella, and a drizzle of fantastic balsamic vinegar and we were set. So delicious and all under a full moon sky.