Redwoods by the Ocean!

Leaving the Russian River, we headed for the coast and decided to take California 1.   We knew this was adding time to our trip, but we didn’t appreciate how much time.  The coast was cloaked in fog and what could have been spectacular views were obscured by the fog.  The road was very steep and windy and by the time we got to where we had to cut inland on 101 we were whipped.  The first sign we saw was “steep grades and curves next 9 miles”.  We were really deflated! Dave would let cars pass him at most turn offs and they would honk as they went by.  We were never sure if they were saying “thank you”... or “What took you so long?!”  Probably both and different times.   What could have been a routine 5-6 hr drive, turned into 8 hours of “hard driving” with very little pay off in scenery.  But we needed to move forward.  We did a “stop and drop” in Eureka and then did a short hop the next day to Crescent City.

Tuesday we got into camp by lunch time and were pleased with our campground.  The smell of pine and cedar was strong and we were nestled under the big trees.  We drove into town and had a great seafood lunch on the bay and watched the harbor seals sleeping on the dock.  We wondered how they “confined” them to 2 sections and away from the boats.  Dave took pictures for Abbie and Ella.

Deb puts her toe in the Pacific Ocean

Then we went to Mystery Tree.  We had been there before in 2001 and again with Glenn and Pat, but that time arrived too late in the afternoon to make the walk through the Giant Redwoods or take the lift up the mountain.  The ocean fog still obscured the view to the ocean but the mountains and views of the trees were spectacular.  The trail through the Redwoods highlighted a “family tree” where the Mother trees branches supported 12 other vertical trees some as high as 100 feet.  Then there was the candelabra three where 6 trees were growing up and out of a horizontal trunk.  The “cathedral tree”, which is often used as a backdrop for weddings, was formed by a “fairy ring” of trees growing around a stump.  The second half of the trail showed many of the stories of Paul Bunyan in chain saw sculptures and relief panels.  It was a lot of fun and I bought Abbie and Ella a book of Tall Tales and a pink furry creature.

Deb at the bottom of
Paul Bunyan's foot

The Family Tree
supporting 12 other upright trees

Deb at the Cathedral Tree

Back at camp we had a grand time swapping our own tall tales around a campfire with two couples, one from Oregon and another from Indiana.  The couple from Indiana was on their first trip to California, so we swapped I-5 tales and got information about Oregon from them.  The couple from Indiana said this was the first time they had been invited to a campfire and we again commented on the difference between “campers” and folks traveling in their motor homes.  The vehicles may look the same; it is all in the mind set.

After getting up and doing some routine maintenance (that ride shook several loose!) and cleaning, we are off to Roseburg where we hope to explore some more Oregon wines and take a day trip to Crater Lake.