Northern California Coast

Where have we been? I know... It’s been awhile.

We arrived in California on the coast where the sign read, “The Redwood Gate to the Golden State.” It was the first time the clouds were hanging overhead since Washington. Of course, these were clouds and fog. Our first stop was Crescent City, which should be called Tsunami City (just as catchy, don’t you think?), since it has been hit by 2 tsunamis in the 20^th century, the last one being in the 1960’s. It is a beautiful place, though, fully rebuilt and I can see why people still choose to live there. Great beaches, great parks and, of course, the redwoods. The beautiful giant redwoods were what we were all dying to see, but it was late and we were tired, so we found a Best Western and packed it in for the night.

When we pulled in, right next to our room was another white Eurovan camper with an awning. This twin was not only from Washington, not only from Seattle, but from the same VW dealership as ours. My husband and I looked at each other both wondering who they might be and said, "We should try to meet them". However, now it was time for dinner. After a delicious microwave soup and sandwich special, we all decided to go swimming. At the pool, we met some folks from the Kootenays in British Columbia. They had two girls the same age as our boys and were heading to Disneyland. We thought, ‘those lucky Canadians’. When it drops 6 feet of snow on their homes, they just travel south at the perfect time of year. The time of year when few folks are traveling, there are better prices at hotels and attractions, and 50 degrees feels like summer them. They were not driving the Eurovan, though, and we did not meet who was. After a good night’s rest, we woke up and grabbed the free breakfast. When we returned to our room, the twin was gone.

We decided to start exploring. Our first stop was the Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest. It was a crazy drive in on a winding dirt road up a huge hill, but once we got there, we were in paradise. The sun had popped out and was washing its way through the foliage of the giant trees. We were inspired to get out and walk just to get a feel for how big they really were. Something like 8-14 feet in Diameter and 30 stories high, they say. All I could think was, ‘WOW!’ The kids were amazed, and my husband reminded them that this was the area where they might have shot the Ewok forest scenes in the 3^rd Star Wars film. My youngest could talk of nothing else for the rest of the walk. He was so excited. It was hard not to be. Our small, one century life span felt short and fleeting next to these 3-8 century old beauties. My head began to spin, either from the thought of this, or from the massive amount of oxygen those monsters were putting off.

We continued on our way back through Crescent City, down the long beautiful Hwy 101. It was getting too late to spend time to see the Avenue of the Giants, so we first stopped in Arcata hoping to stay there for the night. When we found the small town square, we couldn’t find a public bathroom easily, and decided the town was too weird and that it was a sign we should continue on. It is truly strange what inspires you when you have no plans, and this was just one of our crazy ideas that seemed so right at the time. We stopped in Ferndale, hoping to find a place to stay for the night. There were plenty of rooms, if we wanted to spend over $200 for a small room with a cot for the kids. That charming, Victorian town is famous for keeping up on its lovely 1910 appearance, and its high, 2007 rates even mid-week during the winter. A honeymooner’s getaway, not really for families, as the woman at one of the hotels seemed relieved as we were leaving with the two small boys. So we kept driving to Garberville where a reasonable rate was found at $80, and we pulled in at 8:00PM. Much to our surprise, who should be there, but our Twin Eurovan! We laughed as we thought about what they might think the next morning when they woke up. We parked right next to them for fun. The next morning, Husband met them first, as he was packing up the van. A woman walked up to him with a funny look on her face and as she introduced herself as the owner of the twin, my husband noticed she seemed nervous as he spoke to her and was definitely keeping her distance. He told me they were a nice retired couple and that they wanted to say hi. I found out they were traveling from Whidbey Island (our island neighbors to the North of Bainbridge) on a 6 week trip South to visit friends. We all laughed about the idea of us stalking them and they shared all their tips on how to use the Eurovan with us. They have traveled a lot in theirs and this was the first trip that they were staying at hotels and not camping. Getting older, they said, and it was awfully cold at night. It was so much fun to meet others doing a similar thing and loving their Eurovan.

We had to drive back up about 20 miles to get on the Avenue of the Giants and let me say, it was absolutely worth it! I think we were the only visitors there that day. All of the tourist attractions were closed, but we still got out to see the Immortal Tree, the Enchanted Treehouse, the drive-through tree and the Chimney Tree. We picnicked at Founder’s Grove where it’s said the biggest tree in the forest grows. The kids were walking along a fallen tree which had created a path that went on forever. What a playground! If it was warmer, we would have camped and I am sure the poetry and music would have been flowing from this forest of inspiration.

That night, we decided to stay in Fort Bragg, and we only recommend this if you love to get car sick. The only roads in and out are mountainous twists and turns with signs that say 20, 15, even 10 mph turns! I believe this was my first 10mph turn. I have always gotten car sick, so my husband let me drive, and not only did I still get completely nauseous, but my husband did too. I feel ill, just thinking about it. Once we got there, our stay was pleasant enough, though there was really nothing much to do or see. We decided to leave the next day and drive to my hometown. We took Hwy 20, hoping for a better drive, but the same winding, nauseating torture was bestowed upon us. Every small stretch of straight road was a gift, bringing with it a moment’s relief. Soon, however, the roads began to straighten, and the land, flatten and I knew we were getting close. We were in the great central valley of California, and soon we would be in the foothills of the Sacramento area, where the next leg of our journey began.

Visiting my family...