Weekends in Markleeville

Rai, it was difficult for all of us to say "no" to your grandmother. What she wanted was to get a cabin. A cabin? Maybe. "Oh, no. It's not for me or for us. It's for Rai," she told us about a year ago. How could we say "no" to that. It's for you, after all.
Your Grandma's dream was to have a place in the woods. A place where we could build years of memories and experiences with you. A place where we could instill in you a strong reverence for nature. Ultimately, we all caved in. How could we say "no" when the cabin was for you?!

This isn't the time to be buying, but your Grandma has always been lucky with real estate. As a child, your grandmother grew up in Park Merced in San Francisco, spent much of her childhood biking along Lake Merced, past Ocean Beach and all the way to the Legion of Honor. As a young girl, she always took the same route and admired an Arts and Crafts style home on 40th Avenue. By the time she was 25 years old, she purchased that home (it was her third home in the Bay Area!). It is the same home your Uncle Sters and I grew up in and where you are spending your days. The owner of the home took such a liking to your Grandmother and felt strongly that she was the person who was meant to live there that he sold the house to her for $30,000, even though he had put the house on the market for $70,000. As you probably can guess, the home has appreciated greatly by the time you arrived! To say that your Grandma had made some smart real estate decisions as a young adult is an understatement.

Even with this in mind, we all questioned your Grandmother's decision to get this particular cabin for you. Rai, your cabin is in.......Markleevile. Where is Markleeville, you ask? We wondered the same thing. Markleeville is located strategically right in the middle of nowhere. We pointed this out to your Grandma who opened the atlas and ponited to
Markleeville. She questioned if we were able to read a map. She swiftly circled Markleevile on the map with her index finger and began listing off all the places it was near to. It is five minutes from the famous Grover Hot Springs, walking distance to waterfalls and creeks, great hiking, a few miles from stunning alpine lakes, a half hour from the breathtaking Mokelumne Wilderness (the wild flowers there are spectacular!), Kirkwood Ski Resort and forty-five minutes from South Lake Tahoe. We still weren't convinced but, we went along with it anyway. It was for you, after all.

The cabin your Grandmother picked out for you was in pretty rough shape. Over the past half year, the cabin was completely gutted and renovated completely. It was the area Grandma wanted you grow up around, not the cabin itself, that was important.
Two weekends ago, we moved in and this past weekend, we were able to enjoy time together in the cabin as a family. It only took us about a nanosecond to fall in love with the cabin and the surrounding area. Your cabin is surrounded by beautiful pines, a creek, a State Park, is near the end of a dead-end road, and, while there, one truly feels isolated in the most perfect way. We spent the weekend laying by the fire, eating and relaxing on the deck, dancing, singing, hiking, watching squirrels and coyotes run around in the forest. We took you on a tour of the area on a wagon, and had a fabulous family get-a-way. You even slept between Dad and I in bed, gazed at the stars from our bed in the middle of the darkest night you've yet experienced. After cuddling next to me all night, you woke up smiling and laughing.

Rai, we love your cabin and we can't wait to spend weekends and summers there together for years to come! We may even try to go there twice a month (your Father wants to go every weekend). As a child, we spent many winters at Grover Hot Springs State Park Campground, bundled up in goose down sleeping bags, shivering to the bone and running to the hotprings at 4 a.m. with sleeping bags in toe. Now, we won't have to brave those frigid nights in the tent any longer. We'll just lay by the fire at the cabin and make the 7 minute walk over to the springs whenever we feel like it.
It's true what they say -- Grandparents really do spoil their grandchildren! Thanks Mom (and Dad!) for this wonderful gift for Rai and for our family!






Cabin Slideshow below: