Beach to Redwoods 8-31-08

We awoke to blue skies and no wind, but cold, the low was 48….brrrr. Knowing that the wind was coming we got ourselves together and headed to the beach. At the beach the wind was already cranking and from the north-west which is usually cold, but being experienced north coast beachers, we always have our big coats with us. I had to use my hood to keep my ears from blowing off my head and sunglasses to keep my eyeballs from being sandblasted.

I love watching the wind form the sand into ripples and funky designs. We always start our walk by walking into the wind…north up the beach so when we decide to turn back we have the wind at our back and pushing us back to the beginning. The tide was coming in and the water was very blue.

It was eleven when we got back into the truck and we decided we were done with the coast so we decided to go home and hook up and hit the road. We pulled out at noon and headed south on 101. The winds were between 20 and 30 mph and Eureka’s bay was whitecaps.

We took the Avenue of the Giants through the Redwoods; you’ll miss them if you stay on 101. It is a beautiful drive and so many of those trees are humongous! It is a narrow, windy, slow road, but that is the best way to enjoy the magnificence, there are lots of places to pull out to walk amongst the trees and have picnics. You really have to get out in them to get how big they really are and how they absorb sound.

We have come full circle as 31 years ago on Labor Day weekend we were married and had our honeymoon here in the redwoods. We stayed in a cottage amongst the trees near Richardson Grove. We love visiting these big trees.

It was past dinner time so we decided to pull into the Richardson Grove RV Park for the night. We’ve been here before; it is across the highway from a couple of the famous trees and gift shops. It was 2:40 and we had traveled 97 miles. This is a Passport America park and was $14 for full hook ups.

We had dinner and then scoped out the gift shop across the street. We found reasonably priced walking sticks, $10.99, which we have been on the look out for…so many places charge too much for them so we were happy with that. They are really a necessity when walking in the desert, helps to warn the snakes or pulverize them, whichever task is needed! Just kidding, I would never pulverize a snake…I would throw my stick at it and then run like hell though!

So heads up Ukiah, you are tomorrows destination! Not sure how long we’ll be staying yet or where we’ll be going from there.