Kloudless Treehouse Adventure Kloudless Published: October 23, 2017 Eight weeks previous, the Kloudless HQ team found themselves in a literal treehouse in Guerneville, California, for their annual retreat. The treehouse in question……and the accompanying view!The following is a vivified recount of the trip’s exciting festivities—and, for all of our readers, a fascinating peek behind the scenes into Kloud culture.Day 1 Upon entering the treehouse, VP Engineering Tim, Kloudless’s resident man of culture, was greeted with one of his favorite things as a surprise birthday present from the entire team! Tim and his beloved Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch WhiskyAs soon as the whisky was safely delivered into Tim’s outstretched hands, beds were claimed, and the house was settled into, the team prepared to launch themselves into a bold exploration of the wild naturescapes and mysterious shorelines of Northern California… First, our engineering team went to the beach to immerse themselves in the salty sea breeze and trademark chilly temperature characteristic of beaches of the area: The elusive “outside,” the likes of which engineers are rarely able to witness.Some of our engineering team looking fresh! I mean, just check out those shades on David “dthorman” Thorman, our Head of DevOps.CTO Vinod, walking softly while also carrying a big stick.Once the team satisfied themselves with their amount of exposure to the outside world, they settled back into their lodgings for the night, ending the day with food, drinks, and – naturally – a couple of intense games of Catan. The centerpiece of the night? A delicious homemade paella cooked by Dthorman and Tim:Fun fact: Tim is allergic to eggs, which is probably why he made paella instead of fried rice.Soon enough, the Kloudless team found themselves falling into a groggy paella-and-whisky-induced slumber… Day 2The next day of the retreat began with the team scarfing down a plentiful breakfast of fresh blueberries, croissants, pastries, scrambled and fried eggs (which Tim was unable to consume), bacon, and orange juice. We have no shame in admitting that we got that box of croissants in the corner from Safeway.The goal for this carboload-fest: absorb enough energy to sustain the body for the 4-hour-long kayaking trip down the Russian River that was scheduled in the itinerary for the day.We weren’t sure why the water was green.CEO Eliot (in center) with the rest of the team! Fun fact: when Eliot was in college, he was a star athlete on the Cal Dragonboat Team…which of course meant that everybody wanted to be paddled around in Eliot’s kayak.Our lovely and chipper office manager Sophie and the effortlessly cool (though distinctly less chipper) Dthorman take a short break from rowing.Vinod takes a break (and a selfie) while the rest of the team continues to row the kayak along the river. Fret not – no enmity arose in response to his break, even if his lack of help did make the boat harder to row.For dinner, Sophie played head chef as she barked out orders to Tim (acting sous chef) to mince garlic and clean chicken legs. The finished result? An incredibly scrumptious and authentic dinner of fragrant Hainan chicken rice, with a comforting yet satisfying side of fishball and Napa cabbage soup: If you can’t tell by now, food is a huge part of Kloud culture. You won’t find any Soylent bottles here.Many thanks to Sophie’s dad for the recipe – the Kloudless team had a lot of fun making (and eating it)! After dinner festivities included classic video games (Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Brawl), more board games (Codenames and more Catan), more drinks (Tim’s birthday present, as well as varieties of beer), and to top the night off, several rounds of poker. Our software engineering intern Ellen “smashed” everyone at Smash, but Eliot cruised effortlessly into first place every single time at Mario Kart.Software Engineering Intern Matthew Soh showing off his winnings for the night. (He cashed out at $8.50 with a high-roller buy in of $1 – at Kloudless, we endorse responsible gambling habits.)All in all, a great retreat in the books for the Kloudless team! Join us!Are you a board game or whiskey aficionado? Think you can beat Eliot at MarioKart, and Matthew at heads up poker? Or do you simply want to enjoy some delicious paella, Hainan chicken rice, and ice cream with us? We’re hiring for engineering, marketing, and sales in our Berkeley and Taiwan offices! Find our job openings here.