Brett & I got the best gift EVER this past week. My mom flew in and stayed with our kiddos while we had five days alone to travel the coast of northern California and explore the Redwood National Forest. We ended up in San Francisco for a few days of city life and urban exploration while BZ attended an ER conference.
The first stop was Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.
The air was thick with moisture and the trees were so huge that there was no way to accurately capture their height with my piddly little camera.
And the smell....Glade ain't got nothing on these pine fresh forest. The smell was so clean and crisp and ahhhhh....Sometimes I wish I could stuff smells up into my nose and just keep them there. Like the smell of Callie's neck or the smell of a wood stove fire on a cold day or the smell of Jedediah Smith State Park. I would have stuffed that right up there.
That first night we stayed in the historic town of ReQua, CA at this amazing little B&B that was oddly enough called, The Historic ReQua Inn. I know...profound.
The rooms were clean, the bed was super comfy and the food was incredible!!!
 |
| if you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, two thumbs way way up - stay there! |
the view from our room
After breakfast we made our way to the Coastal Trail to get a good look at the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
the air was a bit cool but we warmed up on the hike; how beautiful is this!?
 | |||
| apparently this little guy wasn't quite warm enough to get move'n but a lot of his buddies made themselves known as we hiked along the weedy trail --> yes you may read into this statement that there was a scream or two from me as a number of snakes slithered across our path |
 |
| love me a banana slug |
 |
| awwwww.... |
We made a stop at Lady Bird Johnson Grove (Did you know that Lady Bird was quite a big supporter of the Redwoods and nature preservation in general? Now you've learned something new today. You have my permission to go back to bed and call it a day.) & then enjoyed a little grocery store picnic.
We spent the afternoon hiking through the Tall Trees Grove.
Only 30 cars per day are allowed into this area to preserve it's mystical magicalness. Most of the Redwoods that we had seen so far were about 300 feet tall. The trees in this grove were over 400 ft tall.
The hike was five miles down and back with a mile side hike at the bottom of the grove. It was described as "strenuous" and they advised bringing food and water if you were to venture down into the deep dark depths of Tall Trees Grove. For those of you that hike somewhat often, live above sea level and are at least moderately in shape, the sign should have read, "Gradual hill ahead".
 |
| checking out some tree sap; it smelled so good |
 |
| now that is a big fungus among us |
BZ, being the total romantic that he is (yes, there is a bit of sarcasm there), timed our drive out of the Tall Trees Grove and into Patrick's Point perfectly.
We arrived at sunset and toasted our delicious freedom and blessed adventures with a bottle of the finest $4.99 hooch we could find. Ahhh, it was fabulous!
We headed to San Francisco the next morning and left our beloved wilderness behind. San Fran was cool but we both liked those tall trees the best.
 |
| why do i always look slightly possessed in pictures? |
Thank you Grammie for this most excellent gift. We are refreshed, rejuvenated and we can't wait for our next grown up vacation :)
No comments:
Post a Comment