We landed in Kalispell that afternoon where we met two of my daughter’s childhood friends, Deidra and Alayna, who were already at the airport. With the four of us, Deidra, her husband Jess, their four children, and Alayna and her boyfriend, it took two large vehicles to get us all to the lake cabins, which were more than an hour away.

Along the ride, we saw our shopping options, which included tons of coffee houses and drink stands, a few eateries and one sole grocery store. There were also a handful of casinos and people walking their dogs wherever they went. I love to see animalfriendly stores where a bowl of water is put by the store’s front door for the dogs to drink out of. I think it adds character, but at the same time, no one wants a thirsty Rottweiler running rampant through their business either.

The last time we were there, the kids gave me the main suite with a king-sized bed and its own bathroom, but it was upstairs. Now that my knees are bad and arthritic, I decided to take the kids’ room downstairs. Yes, I chose the kid’s room and I think it was a good choice. There was no running up and down the stairs to retrieve things.

The room consisted of two sets of bunkbeds with queensized mattresses on the bottom, so I slept on one and put my luggage on the other. It also had a huge window cutout where a twin-sized bed was inserted with a pile of pillows that allowed me to work from my laptop while looking at the lake.

By that evening, the kids decided they wanted to jump into the cold lake, so I sat on the deck and watched them. I laughed because the lake was probably 60 degrees or colder, and I was happy sitting in the sun and watching them freeze. It was still too cold for me, although they tried to convince me that the water was refreshing.

There wasn’t much of a sunset the first two nights because of the rain, but once the mist and fog lifted, we were met by a beautiful sunrise the next morning. I let them all sleep in while I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the deck. I was the most relaxed I’d been in a while, that is, until the kids woke up.

Since I was the grandma in the group, I guess they thought I was cooking breakfast but they were about to find out that I didn’t cook and cereal was on the menu. I let them fend for themselves after over-cooking two skillets full of sausage and took off on the golf cart for some fresh air.