California Redwoods

We stayed in Oregon last night and in just over an hour this morning we were in California! The weather started out nice this morning, but as the day went on we had rain, fog and more sun. It was fine for the type of day we had planned, except the visibility along the coast wasn't great at times. The first part of the day took us through very remote territory, on super curvy roads with huge rock walls and fog hanging down over the tops of the trees. We both commented on how it reminded us of scenery from the movie Deliverance. Gas is very expensive here - in the $3.50 range. Ouch!

Most of today we were in one or another of a number of National and State Parks. After we passed the first ranger station, all of a sudden we were beginning to see huge trees. They really are amazing. We stayed on 101 South most of the day, which pops back and forth between the coast and groves of Redwoods. It was quite a contrast. Eventually we turned onto the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. The trees we were driving through give new meaning to the word massive! They are tremendous. We stopped to walk on one of the many trails through the forest, and it was a humbling experience. Standing amongst those huge trees makes you realize what a small part of nature we humans are! As we continued on we came upon a meadow with some Elk grazing - what magnificent creatures! The coast along here has become much less rocky and we are seeing more beach and less cliffs.














We started to look for a place to have lunch and happened upon a beach at Trinidad Head. It was nice to eat lunch and relax for a bit by the water. The sound of the surf here is wonderful! After eating I took a walk on the beach, but unfortunately, this one had a lot of what appeared to be some sort of dead sea-something (animal? plant?) that smelled terrible! It was a short walk!

Next, we drove along a stretch of road called Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile drive through more giant Redwoods. It was just beautiful and awe-inspiring. The Redwoods are some of the tallest trees in the world, and can grow to almost 370 ft. They can live for about 2,000 years, but average between 500 and 600 years old, their bark is about a foot thick, and their base can be about 22 feet in diameter. Avenue of the Giants has some quirky sights to see, also! Everyone needs to make a living somehow, and there are a lot of tree-related businesses along here. Among others, there is the Eternal Tree House, a 20-foot room inside a living Redwood, with the apparently mandatory gift shop/snack bar (every business has one!). We also stopped at the drive-thru tree, of course! This guy must make a fortune - $6.00 per car! But we caved...how could we not do it? Then we headed back to Rt. 101 toward our hotel for the night. The weather improved, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the ride with warmer temps and sunshine. The road from this point travels in and out of forests and canyons. There are so many trees on the hills with houses tucked right up to the tree line that we could see why so many homes are lost in the wildfires they have out here. Tomorrow we plan to drive part of Route 1 along the coast in the morning, head to Napa for a bit in the afternoon and will spend the next two nights in San Francisco!