August 2012 - Hermit Valley - Drive Home

Our last day at Hermit Valley was bittersweet. I wish I could have stayed forever, but I knew we would appreciate the time we had since it was so short. I have been going to Hermit Valley since I was very young. There is a photo of me sitting with my dad while we are in Hermit Valley. He has this red corduroy jacket on, with my Mr. Kitty sticking out of it. I know I have a copy of it somewhere on my computer, but I can't find it. When I do, I will add it here.

I wanted to take a photo with my dad while I was in Hermit Valley. I don't know then next time I will be able to go and I had something special planned for him.

I am wearing that same red corduroy jacket that he was wearing in the photo when I was a baby. 

We'll always have Hermit Valley. Right Dad?

We packed up and headed out. I gave the kids an Oreo on our way out. :)

We were just being silly in the car.

Look at Andrew's face. What is he doing?

On the way to and from Hermit Valley, we pass this small little lake that we call Mosquito Lake. I thought we just called it that because there were lots of mosquitoes there. Who would actually name it that? Why would anyone want to go visit a lake called mosquito lake? Then I saw this sign.

So I guess it really is called Mosquito lake. You learn something new every day. The top sign says, Pacific Grade Summit, Elevation 8050 ft. The second sign clearly says, Mosquito Lake. The lake is in the background.

There is this little cabin right on the lake that I have always wondered about. Does somebody live there? Do they like it?

 "Oh ya, I have this quaint little cabin right on a lake" 

"Oh how lovely. What lake is it?" 

"Mosquito Lake. You should come visit" 

"Oh, um, ya. That's so kind of you, but I'm allergic to.... water"

I tried to take in everything I could. I want to remember it all.

I like rock formations.

I like all the trees.

Sometimes I find something interesting like this. What is the first thing you see?

We pass one more lake on the way home. People come to Lake Alpine to swim or eat lunch or kayak across. Lisa and I were going to swim across it, but it was so busy the day we were there that we couldn't even find a parking spot! I don't remember it being that busy before. It is a beautiful lake and it was a beautiful day.

The kids were doing so well in the car. We don't have mountains or trees like this in Houston.

The Sierra Mountains.

We had stopped at a park to eat lunch, but there were so many yellow jackets that we decided to leave. We ended up crashing at my aunt and uncle's cabin not too far away. We were just going to go eat on their back patio, but we found them there. They had left shortly after we did and our detour to the park allowed them to get there before we did so we all had a nice lunch together on their awesome back deck. Bailey had a fun time exploring their backyard. She is too cute.

When we drive through the hills of California they have this area that has lots of dips in the road. When you're going 60+ mph those little dips make your stomach feel funny. We call them "who-ly humps". We made it fun for the kids so they wouldn't be scared. My mom would call out "who-ly hump!" and we would all put are arms up. The driver was not supposed to participate in this game but that rule was not always followed.

 

(This video can be seen here - who-ly humps video)

Eventually the kids got tired and fell asleep. My sweet babies.

I created a little video of our drive home. Surprisingly, Bailey is the one that is able to stay awake the longest during long drives because she finds ways to entertain herself. The first clip on this video is the drive to Hermit Valley, the rest are from the drive home. I couldn't put the video on the blog so click the following link to watch the video. Drive to/from Hermit Valley Video

The End of our Hermit Valley experience!