Our Adventure: Hume Lake

We headed up to Hume Lake early yesterday morning. The night before we debated whether to head up to Hume or another lake near by. We figured if Eliana woke up early and stayed up (thus needing a morning nap) we'd drive up to Hume. If she woke up early and then nursed and went back to bed (thus immediately taking the morning nap) we'd head over to the other lake closer to us. She was up at 5:15am and was ready to greet the world. So, we headed up the mountains during her morning nap. She slept until we had to pull off to pay our $20 for entering the National Park.

I haven't been to Hume during the summer in over ten years. The last time I was there, I was a Safe Cracker on the gray team for the Hume Lake Christian Camp theme of Solus Veritas (One Truth). I have many good memories from that summer. For example, one afternoon near the end of the week a group of us decided to walk around the lake. Someone thought it would take us about an hour. We stopped by some waterfalls on the way and in general had a great time. I remember some of us starting to get a little worried as it took us quite a bit longer to get back than we expected. That night was the special dinner where people dressed a little nicer. So, I had friends in line wearing summer dresses when we arrived back at camp with no time to head up to the cabins to clean up. We did a quick clean up of the mud on our tennis shoes and legs in the near by restroom and jumped in line with our friends. Awe, good times.

While I'm reminiscing, let me share another story. There is a small dock that a few of us girls headed out to late one night after the night service. I remember us lying on our backs staring up at the millions of stars that you miss in the city. I don't remember much of what we said that night, but I remember being stunned at God's handy work way up in the sky.

I'll share one more funny story from that summer oh so many years ago. The girls I was hanging out with thought it was funny when asked by the gals making smoothies for their names to make up a new name. Although it sounded strange to me, it also sounded fun. I don't remember what my name was, but I do remember that I forgot it when the gal called me over to get my peach smoothie. She kept calling over and over, and boy did I feel silly forgetting my new name.

Eliana practiced her "spider crawl" while at Hume Lake. She realized earlier this week that crawling on her knees on the grass or concrete isn't too much fun, so she adapted and gets around just as fast. She loved the freedom of being able to get around for awhile outside of the stroller.

One of the nice things about Hume is the trail around the lake. We didn't go as far as I did that summer when I was a Safe Cracker, but we got to enjoy a lot of the scenery.

Plus, we took in some humorous sights. What you can't tell from this picture is that this rock is actually a mini island. We debated about if the dog swam after his family, or if he was paddled there and then stuck until his family moved on. I imagined him saying to us, "Help me, help me!!!"

I don't know about you, but I just feel more relaxed simply looking at these pictures.

Even though it has been very hot in town, it was actually rather cool when we first got there. It was cool enough that I realized I should have pack pants and socks for Eliana. We kept a blanket on her for the first half hour as we walked around part of the lake. Then it got warm enough to just enjoy the weather with sweaters on. It was such a lovely 70 degree day.

One thing I loved about our time at Hume was that I naturally slowed down to enjoy the day. We saw lizards darting about, fish swimming, and a handful of butterflies that made me stop in my tracks in an effort to capture their beauty.

Below are possible thoughts Eliana had while exploring the water fountain.