Pollock Pines: 4 Girls, 2 Ukuleles, 1 Lake

Last weekend I had a wonderful (and necessary) girls getaway in Pollock Pines, CA — about halfway between my home in Livermore and South Lake Tahoe, surrounded by woods and lakes — with a couple friends.

I didn’t take any pictures of the delicious food Cassie prepared, or the whiskey sours I made, or the heavenly hot tub, or our nail-painting session during a laugh-filled screening of Julie & Julia — but I did manage to bust out my camera during a silly and boozy trek to nearby Jenkinson Lake…

The lake was beautiful and just the kind of natural respite we all needed from our busy lives. Despite it being the start of summer and near-perfect weather, it surprisingly wasn’t crowded at all. At least where we chose to goof around, it felt like we were all by ourselves — save for a few non-human visitors!

These butterflies were all clustered together by the shore of the lake. There were actually dozens of them fluttering around; they seemed unfazed by our intrusive presence and even landed on our fingertips.

We were also visited by several geese who — needless to say — were decidedly less approachable and motivated entirely by our snacks.

They started off across the lake and were about halfway to us before I even noticed them heading straight for Marisa and our bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips!

There is something unnerving about geese which may have something to do with their reputation for being fearless and aggressive?

Luckily they didn’t chase us!

I swear we didn’t only entertain ourselves with wildlife. Cassie and Marisa got everyone festive pineapple drink vessels for some sneaky tiki cocktails and they were necessary.

As is typical when you are behind the camera, it’s very easy to never end up in front of it. I swear I was on this trip though! :)

My favorite part of the day was when Cassie and Lindsey took turns singing and playing songs they had learned on the ukulele.

Ignoring that we were all a bit on the tipsy side (the warm sun didn’t help!), it was such a sweet and relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

This trip, quick as it was, made me eager to do more exploring in my own proverbial backyard. Pollock Pines is only a few hours drive from me, but it felt worlds away. But that’s the point of a good getaway, right?

I’ll leave you with the only image I took at the vacation rental, of our fire pit, which I think is a suitable one to accompany a sincere and thoughtful Good Night.