AK to CA: The Redwoods

This is long overdue, but we have been spending most of our time settling in and getting rid of boxes.

We spent our last day of the moving adventure meandering our way through the several redwood parks, both the national park and state parks.  We took the scenic bypass route off of Hwy. 101 whenever possible, and managed to spend a full day driving just 150 miles.  The trees were so large that they didn't fit in a single photo frame.  This is three:

 

The kids loved finding "tree caves" and posing inside of them.

Even other lifeforms are huge there.

Horsetails, as we called them in Homer.  Only these were 10 times as large

Huge, gross banana slug with a friend hitching a ride

We are already missing the two-lane roads through the forests, but at least the speed limit in Alameda is only 25mph.  Not a big change at all!

AK to CA: Day 12(the short version)

Crescent City, CA to Garberville, CA: The Redwoods

This will be short since we are at a nice hotel with a bad wifi signal. I will post a full Redwoods National and State Parks description as soon as we have Internet at our new home. 

We spent 8 hours driving just 150 miles today, stopping along the way to climb into and through trees larger in diameter than our car. I took close to 100 photos, but nothing will do the trees justice. It's just one of those places that you have to experience for yourself to fully grasp. We have been lucky in that we have ended up in many of those types of places on our journeys. Standing next to a 300-foot redwood that is 1500 years old puts things into perspective. 

We are in Garberville, CA, which is having a heat wave like much of the western states. It was in the 60s along the coast, but it's 95 here. Luckily, Alameda looks to be at least 10 degrees cooler. Only 200 miles left! Tomorrow: home! (Where there is no air conditioning. Yikes.)

AK to CA: Day 11...California, finally!!

Portland, OR to Crescent City, CA

We left the Portland area this morning, but not before a little fortification for the drive ahead.

Our GPS told us that I-5 south was the fastest way to get to our night's destination, but we really wanted to get away from the city traffic.  We decided to take the extra time to cut across Oregon to the Coast on Highway 38, and we are SO glad that we did.  The drive across the state along the river valley was very peaceful, and the coastal route on 101 was breathtaking.  By the time we got our first glimpse of the Pacific, we also got to stop and enjoy watching a large pod of humpback whales.

We arrived in Crescent City late afternoon, with enough time to stop for information at the Redwoods National Park Visitor's Center.  A very helpful parks employee gave us information on a small old-growth redwood grove not far away where we could walk with the dog and stretch our legs.  The dog is not allowed on trails within the national and state parks.  We got a small taste of what we are in for tomorrow, when we take the day to drive only about 150 miles thorough the redwood parks.  If these trees are small, we can't imagine what's in store for us tomorrow!

Little girl in the big woods

Inside a tree...oh, yeah!

Me and my girlie...we are so tiny!

One more day of adventure, then on to our final destination!!