Shade at the Lodge

For about a year my parent's have had a 17 foot long SunSetter Awning in their garage from Costco.com.  It was not until about two weeks ago that we had a way to transport it from "Camp Bradley" (aka my parent's house) to the Bradley Lodge.  On Friday night we strapped ladders and the massive awning to the new 2010 Ford Expedition (currently nicknamed the "behemoth") and headed to the Lodge. Luckily KFBK did not have to report that there was an awning or ladders along I-5 or Highway 4 because of us and we made it to the Lodge safe and sound, with everything still tied (and duct taped) tightly to the roof rack.  Saturday we took the final measurements, found studs (not easy to do when you are drilling into wood siding) and with only one trip to Ace Hardware got the awning up and working on the first try.  Now our deck not only has umbrellas, tables and a BBQ, but a gorgeous awning to provide shade, all at the touch of a button.  After the awning was successfully installed Jen and I headed to the Golden Pines Campground to get some propane for the BBQ and then I took her on a tour of the area, we got ice cream bars for everyone at the Lodge and I showed her the Big Trees Village Rec Center before taking the scenic route back to the Lodge. On a side note, the semi evil squirrels figured out how to "open" a container of bird seed that was accidentally left out on the deck for about 20 minutes, I think they enjoyed their meal.

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day in style at In-N-Out in Lodi, where my parent's and grandma had their first taste of fries well done (yummy).  To top off the weekend Jen and I headed to the movies with the rest of America and saw Toy Story 3, then headed to Bel Air for our favorite special, 4 desserts for $10.