After a full day of laughing, boating, and eating, the quiet of the evening becomes a favorite time of day. A glass of wine, turn on the small instant fire, and the calm, glassy water that seems to always happen at dusk is just lovely.

Our primary mode of cooking in the evening is a grill. We have a great little oven, but by evening we are just cooling off and don’t want to heat up the houseboat or camper. So, we invested in a very nice grill for the houseboat and one for the camper. A good grill makes cooking a lot easier, the food better, and evening cleanup less hassle! Homemade pizzas, green chili chicken enchiladas, and tasty kebabs are easy with a little early prep work. The meals are delicious, and we stay cool.

We love having everyone come to the houseboat, play all day, eat all sorts of fun foods, and laugh with friends and family. However, that is usually on the weekends. We have learned in retirement that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to be at the lake if you want the smoothest water for activities. We used to have to wait for dusk to get glassy water but now, we can get calm water almost all day long. We don’t try to smash as much skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, paddle-boarding, and other lake activities into one day. We have several days and we get to have our lovely calm evenings, too. Retirement is grand!