Our plan for a lab retreat to South Lake Tahoe was almost foiled when our Airbnb hosts told us that they had accidentally double-booked our cabin. Fortunately, they found another property to put us up in and offered to refund the costs, making the lodging essential free. Some lab folks had already made a Costco run a few days prior, and dropped off loads of beef, sausages, eggs, OJ, milk, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and other fixings to store at our house. This made for some creative arranging in the car trunk along with Westley’s luggage as we headed out Saturday morning. After stopping by McDonald’s for a potty stop and breakfast, we headed to the Eagle Falls Trail, parked on the side of the road, then made the short hike to the top of the falls. Westley was no fan of being strapped in the baby carrier, wailing “too tight!” as I ascended the steep, rocky steps, but managed to stand briefly in the water. We shared some hot dog biscuits with a local chipmunk for lunch before checking into the rental. Westley fell asleep quickly for his daytime nap, which gave us the opportunity to unpack and shift furniture around to make room for his pack-n-play. After he woke up, we joined my labmates at Pope Beach for badminton and volleyball. Westley helped with sand castle-building but did not brave the water. Thunder and lightning drove us back to the cabin, and we rigged a patio umbrella over the propane grill for burgers, skewers, and corn. The evening concluded with a group picture followed by an intense game of Pandemic over refreshing watermelon. After a restless night of Westley tossing and turning in bed, we awoke to eggs, sausage, and pancakes for breakfast while watching France defeat Croatia in the World Cup finals. We efficiently cleaned up for check out, then headed back to Pope Beach for more relaxation before driving back. The busy traffic and lack of a rest stop led Westley to wake up to a meltdown in the last part of the trip. To recover, we feasted at Tasty Kitchen followed by durian pancakes and mango with black sticky rice at the new Sweet Honey Dessert in Davis. With just two days before our trip to Vancouver, we’ll have to plan quickly!