Weekend at the Lake

So I’m back from the lake. We had a great time. I feel really rested now. Much more than the last time.
Well, when 4:30 rolled around on Friday, my truck was already loaded with a couch, a grill, and a new anchor to take over to the lake. I had to get to my house, pack my bags, wait for my sister to get there with her friend K-Razz, go pick up HM, and get some crispy strips from KFC. Why crispy strips? Because the next day after they’ve cooled off, they are incredible. So how did that go down? Definitely not according to schedule. I planned on being at the bridge heading into Arkansas at 5:45 at the latest. We didn’t pick up HM until after 6. We went to a KFC over on Summer Ave after we called HM and he told us he was getting in the shower. We waited for 20 minutes in line 3 cars behind the one at the speaker. It was so ridiculously slow that a car would wait about 8 minutes before they could give their order. Apparently customer service was not a top priority for them. The other problem was we were stuck in line and couldn’t hop out if we wanted to. Believe me, I tried. We were finally able to hop out of line and go get HM. We picked him up and stopped at the KFC in Marion, AR. There we got our strips. So after all that we were about an hour and half later than I wanted to be. But that worked out in our favor, because a huge rainstorm came across the entire path we were going to take before we hit it. So we never had to cover the couch. There was a break at the back of the clouds around sunset and this is what we got to see:
Now that’s gorgeous. We rolled into the house a little after 9. Everyone else (Mom, Dad, the brother, Aunt J, Aunt C, and Graves, my 7 year old cousin) were already there having fun. Mom had made spaghetti for dinner so we had a little red wine and spaghetti. We stayed up late drinking and listening to music.
Saturday morning came too early in the form of a 7 year old saying “Philip. Wake up. It’s morning. We’re going on the boat today. Wake up. Why won’t you wake up? Hey Wake up. Why are you turning over to the other way? Wake up. Why did you turn back after I walked to the other side of the bed? Wake up.” Apparently children that age have yet to learn how to take a hint. He walked to the otherside of the basement to wake up the brother. That didn’t work either. By this point I realized that resistance was futile, so when I heard him coming back, I feigned sleep. I had one eye cracked open enough just so I could see when he was close enough. He walked up to the bed and as he was about to say “wake up, Philip” again, I jumped up and grabbed him throwing him on the bed and tickling him. He laughed and howled as kids do. Then I put him back on the floor. He was still laughing. I said “I’m up” and went upstairs to get breakfast. After a while we loaded up our gear and coolers before heading to the boats.
Out on the water we went to this first cove just to the west of the marina. It has a very deep bottom right next to some high rock walls. There was a strong wind coming through. So the end result was our anchors wouldn’t reach the bottom and our boats almost floated into other people’s boats. After dropping anchor in three separate parts of the cove (none of which worked) we hauled over to another area of the lake. I personally had that area because it is full of stumps and you almost inevitably lose an anchor there every time. Well the anchors held and we got wet. HM had decided that he wanted to destroy some brain cells so he brought a jug of Sangria (or San Gria). Now whenever we go on the water, we always take San Salvador’s pre-mixed Margaritas. They come in little bottles and are great. We also take beer. Lots of beer. But you already guessed that. Well since HM was my guest and he brought the huge jug, I decided to try it. I’ve had Sangria before at Café Ole in Midtown, and it was great. But this was funky (we later read on the bottle that you’re supposed to mix it 4 parts from the jug to one part brandy and fill the pitcher with lemon and orange slices). It had a very fruit punch like flavor with an immediate after taste of red wine. Not a good combination. So I had one of those while HM and the brother kept drinking them. I switched to margaritas. I love those way too much. So we floated and drank. I played ‘shark boy’. That’s where I quietly slip off my float, swim under water, and grab the foot of some unsuspecting person. I usually try to yank them under water or throw them off their raft. It’s fun.
After a while they took Graves tubing. He was on the big tube with my sister and K-Razz was on the other tube. Remember, Graves is 7 so they went about 5 miles an hour. But he thought he was going “super fast.” They had a blast. Then they came back and swapped out people and I got on the boat. I drove for a while and then headed back to the pontoon boat to see if anyone wanted to ski. They were pulling up the anchor to go home and cook dinner. So we headed back before I could tube or ski. Damnit. But the good news is that Graves got to drive the ski boat back. Here are a few pics with him at the helm (with some guidance):
Here’s a pic of him with K-Razz and the sister:
After we got gas, we docked the boat and went home. We started preparing dinner. HM and I ran to the store to pick up a few items and came back. He went to take a shower while I messed with the dog. I decided to watch TV and wait until I could shower. I went to my bed, and the brother was trying to sleep in my bed by the TV. I kicked him out and told him to go to his bed. I laid down on my and fell asleep. Next thing I know an hour has passed and dinner’s almost ready. I take a quick shower and run up to eat. We had chicken and pork chops.
After dinner I put Raiders of the Lost Ark on the TV. Graves had never seen it so everyone sat down to watch it. Next thing I know HM decided to smoke a few cigars. I leave everyone in front of the TV and we go smoke. It was in the lower 80s/upper 70s outside. There were only a few lights on. After while Mom turned on the lights for the path to the water which illuminated the under side of the leaves and gave a nice effect. We just sat out there for a few hours smoking cigars, telling stories, and drinking. It was great. After a while we started drunk-texting people. From that we learned a new term. I won’t share it with you because it is that good. I want to be one of three people who know what it means.
We got up Sunday morning and had breakfast. Mom and Aunt J cooked a great breakfast: sausage, eggs, biscuits, watermelon, sausage gravy (white), and hash browns. It was a feast for a king, well, a feast for a southern family really.
We goofed around the house yesterday and finally realized that no matter what we were going back in the water to ski and tube. The sister and K-Razz wanted to come back to El Memfrico. So we took our time, packed up, and cleaned up. The ride back was pretty uneventful.
I had a very nice weekend. I hope you did too. Tonight I’m going to the Ducks Unlimited Fish Fry cookout. It’s a BYOB event. I’ll pick up a 6 pack probably. It’s way out in Arlington at someone’s house.

Have a good one and don’t get none on ya.