This time last Friday, I was getting ready to drive up to Big Bear for a long weekend relaxing with friends.

Today, my heart is heavy following events of the past few days. Innocent black men continue to be executed by aggressive and racist cops on a routine basis. #AltonSterling #PhilandoCastile #SoManyOthers In retaliation for decades / centuries of this abuse, three Dallas policemen were murdered last night.

I can’t write a happy recap of last weekend without mentioning these events. I am angry. The lack of justice is infuriating. Racism runs so deep in our culture, and to pretend otherwise is to cower behind privilege. To my friends who are people of color, I stand with you. I feel your grief. Even as I cannot fully grasp what it is like to stand in your shoes.

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It was a gift to spend time with this group of friends, all of whom are aware and empathetic. I love you guys.

This is the third year in a row my group of friends have rented a cabin in Big Bear over July 4th, but it’s the first time I’ve been in LA and able to come.

Everyone agreed: this was the best cabin yet.

My favorite part of the weekend was sitting on the patio early in the morning, sipping coffee and chatting with friends.

Notice our view of the lake in the distance:

Main room of the cabin:

We stayed in for all meals, whipping up tasty breakfasts and grilling out for lunch and dinner. We also brought a fully stocked bar. It was great to simply relax and enjoy our time at the cabin.

Hot tub with a view!

On both Saturday and Sunday, we went to Big Bear Lake for a few hours to swim, kayak, and sunbathe. I took the opportunity to go on long photo walks with my camera and iPod.

The water level is lower than normal due to the recent drought, but that didn’t stop people from enjoying the lake.

Here’s Amy, Jacob, Jeremy, and Will:

I saw these monks admiring the lake and tried to discretely snap a photo:

You can really see how low the water level is here — that dock is normally in the lake:

View from our back deck:

Jeremy and Will, sorry for making you look into the sun!

Grace and Rian, who are getting married in less than five months!

Hot tub action:

Sunset over the lake:

Tammie and Jeremy get major credit for sharing grill duty — they made the most tender and juicy BBQ chicken, along with both beef and salmon burgers.

And grilled veggies… I am drooling now just remembering how tasty this was:

On Sunday morning, we attempted to pour a bottle of vodka into this watermelon.

It’s supposed to slowly drain into the watermelon over 12 hours, but ours did not drain properly. By late afternoon we cracked open the watermelon and let it soak overnight in the vodka. Either way, Jeremy was going to make this happen!

On Sunday most of the group went kayaking, and had a blast — I’m stealing this photo from social media:

I went for another long photo walk around a different part of the lake.

This is the Stanfield Marsh Boardwalk:

On Google Maps, it shows this area as being covered by water. But it’s totally dry now.

I walked over to the far end of the lake for photos. It’s a popular area for kayak and small watercraft boats — and a decent beach for walking and swimming.

From there, I walked quite a distance to Big Bear Village. I passed this consignment shop along the way and had to get a photo:

And I passed by Big Bear Coffee Roasting Company, which roasts its own beans on-site, and also has creative latte flavors. I happily sipped my drink and read my book for an hour.

Then I pressed on to the Village. It was super crowded, but charming just the same. My photos don’t do it justice but you’ll get a flavor of what it was like.

I got a scoop of gelato, but should have waited for my friends — after kayaking, they all wanted ice cream from North Pole Fudge & Ice Cream Co., and their overflowing cones looked way better than my gelato! Next time I will hold out for the good stuff.

Back at the cabin, Tammie cut up potatoes and salted them to make french fries. SO GOOD.

Jeremy made a batch of White Russians… yum…

And we enjoyed another sunset from the deck.

That night, we watched Independence Day. I haven’t seen that movie in nearly 20 years and the only thing I remembered was all of Will Smith’s scenes.

After the movie we stargazed outside for awhile, which gave me a chance to experiment with long exposure shots.

Nathan works for NASA, and I love that in this photo below it looks like he’s telling us all about space (I asked them to freeze in a pose):

Rian uses his stargazing app to tell us what the constellations are:

Final long exposure shot:

On Monday morning, we went to the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, which is right near our cabin. They rehabilitate injured and orphaned animals, including a bear that has three legs.

The grizzly bears are my favorite. There are three in one giant enclosure, and this big guy was splashing around in their pool:

Major thanks to Grace for planning this weekend! You are the definition of a lynchpin and we love you!

I will treasure the memories from this weekend for a long time to come — early morning chats over coffee, lazy hours in hot tub, and playing Disney Scene It trivia. Thanks to our whole group of friends for making this weekend so special.