Molly and I went to Hume Lake Campground this past weekend. Hume is nestled in the Sequoia National Forest, an area Molly and I like to frequent. We’ve daytripped to Hume before, but this is the first camping trip.

Everything about this trip had a tinge of magic about it; we had been lazy about making campsite registrations for this weekend, but Molly managed to score a site one week before. Our particular spot was so nice that a couple cruised it with lust when we were there.

Molly found a tiny beach right near our site. We packed up our gear and got there mid-morning. Hoo boy. It was magic!

We read, swam, ate, swam, slept, swam. We had it completely to ourselves until late afternoon, when everyone in the rest of the park descended on every available inch of shoreline of the lake to cool off. PS, no thunderstorms.

Then I made a pie in my new dutch oven. I was unsure about the quality of the oven, and a little nervous about bake time. But it magically came out perfectly. Nectarine/blueberry. I am officially un-retired from the sport of pie baking.

We couldn’t resist warm baked goods so we had to make it our appetizer.

It went well with our delicious Micheladas. I will not entertain any criticism of the Michelada until Molly or I have made you one. My particular recipe includes lemon from my boyfriend’s tree, a quick shake of salt right into the drink (instead of a rimmed glass), and a splash of hot sauce. Oh, yum.

It has been noticed that the drink is appearing in San Francisco. The hipsters are being converted!

Unfortunately, cocktail time preempted our attendance of the nightly demonstration/lecture in the campground’s amphitheater. Charmingly, park personnel would visit each site (sometimes in pioneer garb?) and invite us personally to the event. First night was: bats. Second night: falcons, hawks and owls. How could I have missed them? (answer: micheladas)

Weirdly, as I am no genius foodmaker, I also managed to make really tasty (tho salty) steaks and potatoes for my night’s turn at dinner. What can I say: MAGIC!

Popout

Here’s a game: spot the summer vacation cliches in this video.

The only negatives: not enough time there, a horrendous, delay-infected drive home, and finding this guy in my sleeping bag:

Before I went to sleep, I told myself to stop being silly and imagining things crawling on me. Glad I suffocated him in my sleep, I guess! PS, no bear visits.

But enough with the negatives. This has now become my mind’s happy place:

Who wants to go next time?

You can see the rest of the photos (including the underpants!) here