Monday 8-26-24 Larry's Birthday, Hiking & Campingthe

 

Happy Birthday Larry.

 Matchless Campground

 

When I went to bed it was a bit nippy. We had plenty of blankets and our body heat helped. It was a very comfortable night of sleeping. It was in the high 40's this morning. When Larry got up he lit the Wave 3 heater. By the time I got up it was comfortable.

I lit the oven for our breakfast, we had cinnamon french toast sticks. Next time I may have to cook them longer and at a higher temperature. They were good but we like them crunchier.

After breakfast we went for an hour hike on the Turquoise Lake trail. We went south to the dam. We hiked 2 miles totals. As we were starting our hike our neighbor (Deb) told us they saw a bear when she took her dog (Ponder) for a walk. It was very nice of her to let us know and Larry thanked her.  At the beginning of the hike we saw a runner and no one else. When we turned around we said hi to a few people on the trail and their dogs. We saw a ski boat at the dock and a fishing boat in the lake. People were starting to get going. As we hiked were saw some wildflowers on the side of the trail. We had a nice short hike, which was our plan. We had not been hiking in a long time so we wanted to start off easy.

 

Turquoise Lake

 

Turquoise Dam

 

Daisy on the trail

 

We went on another hike after lunch, it was 3.25 miles and too about an hour and a half. We hiked the lake trail. As we hiked we saw people hiking, people fishing on the banks, a fishing boat, ski boat, people swimming and enjoying the lake. As we were hiking by the overflow camping area at Matchless we saw a group of 12 guys swimming and having a great time. Larry told them they deserve a medal for swimming in the cold lake. They said it wasn't bad. Farther down the lake trail we saw people bicycling, hiking with their dogs and without dogs. As we were walking by the next campground we saw a lady pumping up her inflatable kayak. We teased her about the workout and she teased back and said she didn't have to go to the gym and she could rest afterwards in the kayak. On the way back we saw a guy diving in the lake with his Go Pro. He said it wasn't that bad, he had swam in colder water in the Arkansas River, Washington and the Sound. As we walked we said hi to people on the trail.    

 

Paddling down the lake

 

Boating on Turquoise Lake

 

The rest of the day we relaxed. Larry started a book. He said it will take him a bit to read because it was longer than the other books, it's over 600 pages. I finished reading The Story of Arthur Truluv (Mason) by Elizabeth Berg. It was a very good book about two elderly people who brought a younger teenager into their lives. At times you will laugh and can relate to their problems. I asked Larry to chose another book for me.

For dinner we had Western Grillers Hawaiian Luau Chicken Breast. Larry barbecued it on the grill. It came out delicious. For dessert we had a piece of carrot cake. It also was delicious. I ended up doing 18,000 steps for the day, which put me in 2nd place. This is a great beginning.  Larry said he had a great birthday.

Hawaiian Luau Chicken Breast

Carrot Cake

I won't be playing a lot of games during our trip because sometimes we have limited power. LIFE IS GOOD!!!