Day 59 of the 47th year of my chronology

In the morning we had breakfast, threw things into the suitcase in a panic, pulled the tent and sleeping bags out of the trunk to fit the SUP boards in there, charged the drone — I had not taken it out in two years — loaded into the car, and headed to Lake Pleshcheyevo for the weekend.

On the way we listened to music while the girls in the back seat nonstop ate something and drove us crazy. Overall the drive was fairly comfortable. We reached Pereslavl around lunchtime and stopped at Cafe Monpasye, which my sister had mentioned the day before. We ate there. Large portions, Moscow prices, tasty food. I especially liked the fish soup. It was an explosion of flavor: clear broth, perfectly shaped and textured vegetables, and very tasty fish — and plenty of it. Bliss. Refueled and drove to the lake.

The lake is big and very picturesque. The road to the village is unpaved and bumpy, but still passable. The settlement itself is small and very pleasant. It has mini-golf, a children’s playground, a bathhouse, and several warm soaking tubs. The houses are barn-style cabins. We checked into the emerald one. It was half a house with a separate entrance, a fully equipped grill area by the porch, a living room-kitchen with a table set for four, nearly sixteen-foot ceilings, a huge glass wall, a sleeping loft above the main bedroom, a large bathroom and shower. The cabin had heated floors, a breezer, AC, minibar in the fridge, a sofa, and an Alice smart speaker. Cozy overall, though compact. I launched my drone for the first time in two years, looked around, but did not fly far.

We got ready for the lake, had a small argument, and Masha and Sonya went off on their own, forgetting to take a walkie-talkie. Leia and I quickly drove to the nearest beach with a pier and pedal boats. I sent Masha the geolocation — the internet was unstable. I did not reach her right away, but eventually they found us. I started inflating my board, while Masha rented a pedal boat and rode with the girls. I first went out on the board, but quickly realized something was wrong. It turned out I had badly underinflated it because I had not understood the instructions. I went back to shore and reinflated it three times. It kept deflating as soon as I unscrewed the pump valve. I also did not immediately understand how to read the pressure gauge — it turned out there was a protective cap on top, and the scale was underneath. Seeing me struggle, some guy came over and explained that there was a button in the valve that switches its operating mode. In the end I inflated the board properly and headed out. It became much better. The board is decent, though standing on it is less comfortable than on a larger one. Still, I am satisfied.

The lake is incredibly clean, with a sandy clean bottom, reeds and cattails along the edges. The water is cool but not icy. After the lake we stopped at a store where I bought beer and water, then we went back to make dinner. My wife ordered from VkusVill, and I lit the grill and made lamb shashlik and beef steaks. We had dinner; we could not finish the meat, but the meat was fantastic.

We put the kids to bed and went to bed ourselves not too late.