Floating in a lake

For the past few summers my friend and I have marked summer with a leisurely float on the lake.  The amount of consideration and planning ahead of time is inverse how much you need to consider when at the lake itself, hence we make mental notes on minor improvements from year to year, and look forward to day of _blah_ in the sun! 
He'd already refined his procedure well before I came on scene; the lake is Sasamat Lake in Port Moody, so we set aside an hour to get there from his place in Surrey.  He brings two bright green inflatable tubes and a little boat, an electric air pump and battery, rope, sunscreen, knife+cutting board and beers+snacks. I bring my ever-charming presence and more beers+snacks, in particular a mini watermelon (since one year I erroneously unpacked our melon from the car trunk, was distracted and subsequently left it in the parking lot and we were thus watermelonless.  My bad.  Hence I am now the designated melon provider).  He wraps the rope around whatever large rock he finds on shore, we load all gear into the little boat and paddle the whole works out into the lake away from the noisy crowds.  The rock anchor overboard keeps the booze boat from drifting about, and we hook our ankles over the side of booze boat to keep ourselves close in a sort of shifting triangle.  He slices up the watermelon on the cutting board propped on his tummy like some sort of otter bashing his meal with a rock. 
And we float there and doze off and bake our poor burned bodies and have a lovely time. 
In the dazzling sunshine and blistering heat I would've even just enjoyed the drive.  Listening to Weird Al Yankovic I am struck by how I recall lyrics from my childhood and wonder if I could've applied that part of my brain to research+science instead perhaps we'd have a cure for cancer by now.  The construction closures and absentminded missed turns were a reminder to pay attention to the present moment, and the driving faux pas witnessed (and recorded on his dashboard camera) were a source of jeering entertainment.
We had stopped to pick up a deli-made fresh sandwich from Safeway to share, and in that span of a few minutes added onto travel time the parking lot had filled and the park gate closed.  Catastrophe! Improvement for next year #1 - arrive before 11am on a Sunday.  Faced with cancelling our day's outing, we stripped down our gear to bare essentials (Improvement #2 - we learned the washrooms have an electrical outlet thus we don't need to bring the heavy portable battery), parked on the road and hiked it all in together.  There was a fairly shaded lakeside trail that let us walk unencumbered by vehicles leaving the parking lot (leaving, but none permitted to enter, hmmm...).  When we got to the beach we decided we'd earned our beers well, inflated our vessels with no trouble and settled in the lake right where we ought to be.  We had our sandwiches and watermelon: Improvement #3 - slice watermelon at home and then we won't need to bring knife+cutting board.

And now we stop thinking, just float and do nothing and enjoy for hours in the sun.
Having done this for a few years it's surprising that we are the only ones this organized.  We brought more food and beer than we required and were the envy of every other lake user that afternoon.   Improvement #4 - fresh pineapple.  We set alerts on his phone to reapply sunscreen every hour, and I emerged with minimal sunburn on an armpit I missed.  The hike back to the car was lighter and cooler.  Great way to spend a summer afternoon.