In September, I spent five days on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe with my favorite dude and his sweet family. We ate great food, fika'd on the porch, visited Virgina City just in time to catch the steampunk ball. We hiked through Desolation Wilderness and camped at Lake Aloha (my first hike-in-overnight-adventure), fell asleep watching tiny stars streak across the sky.

And mostly, we all relaxed. We read, we worked quietly and diligently, we waded next to splintered beams. We watched sunsets, and drank malört, and I, at least, was the happiest.