Cheery And Cheer: Travelogue - In The Land Of The Giants

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Travelogue - In The Land Of The Giants

When we left Redding CA, we drove north and west to get to the Redwood National and State Parks not far from the Oregon border and right on the coastal route 101. That is where we started our tree adventure. In the aforementioned park, we had our first glimpse of the giant Redwoods or Sequoia sempervirens. And we were blown away! We followed the 10 mile Newton Drury Scenic parkway (where we passed hundreds of Elk lying and standing around) and every couple miles or so we would pull over and venture in to the forests to walk on ferny paths and gawk at the amazing giant trees. I'm not going to play park ranger or field guide here, you can go to websites for that, so just look at the pictures and have fun.

The forests themselves are gloriously stunning; the paths, ferns, mossy trees and then of course the redwoods. And the smell!

I took this picture of our car close to a couple trees so you have a point of reference for sizes.

Two pics above - cool mossy trees.

Into the forest we go at one of our many stops for exploration.

It's amazing that some of the giants have hollows at their bases (not made by man but naturally occurring for various reasons) and still be very much alive, tall and strong. Even the ones that you can drive through.

Isn't the forest gorgeous?

Only a few of the trees, like the one below, have markers or fencing near them - only the ten or so largest; the rest like the one above are just there growing and existing and being their gigantic tree selves unmarked. The forests are not touristy feeling by any means.

Aren't these ferns delightful?

Our first night way up north we stayed in the super cute little coastal town called Trinidad in a B&B. We were the only two guests in the ten room inn (November is the off season and it was rainy, overcast and cold as well). We ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Larrupin down the road from our inn and it was one of the best meals ever on my list. All farm to table, all produce and dairy locally grown and raised and bread made in-house.

And very dark and cozy on a dark and dreary night.

In lieu of a bread basket they bring this spread of cheeses, fruit, pate, and homemade pumpernickel bread.

I had a vegetarian meal because it sounded so delicious - the salad dressing was fantastic and I was given the recipe (a big bunch of basil, lots of garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar - blend until emulsified - we have some in the refrigerator right now that I made as soon as we got home!). And roasted zucchini and the main was a roasted pepper stuffed with goat and gorgonzola cheese, quinoa, herbs, tomato and topped with steamed pea shoots - so yummy all of it!

Dan had the same awesome salad and a perfect morning catch grilled snapper with herbs and lemon.

We were the only two guests in our inn as I mentioned previously, but look at the spread we were served - they promise 7 courses - we tasted a bit of everything and it was so so so good! And below the view out our window at breakfast.

Above two pictures - the Trinidad water front.

Many of the towns in this area of northern California have a victorian or New England architectural influence - Eureka, Ferndale and Mendocino especially. Below is an example of many of the homes in adorable little Ferndale.

Here we are in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and beginning the 31 mile Avenue of the Giant drive. Again, we stopped every few miles or so to go in and explore on foot. The most amazing area of the park is the Rockefeller Forest where the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th tallest trees in the world are living. We searched for and found them all.

Charming forest floor growth.

Dan exploring a naturally occurring redwood cave.

Below is the tree this sign above references. They cut through it so you can get around it and it's so wondrous how tall it is as you walk along its length.

Roots from another long ago fallen Redwood.

Dan and I taking a picture of each other through an opening in one of the giants.

Looking up 400 feet.

That night we stayed in a tree house type room in Mendocino at a place called Alegria. Below is the funky shower - it was fun to sleep in the loft and this inn makes the most delicious lemon bars I've ever eaten, truly.

Below are several pictures from the town of Mendocino. It is a beautiful community and every building there is on the National Historical Register. We had a lot of fun exploring it all day and we spent another night right outside of Mendocino at another inn which is also a farm right across the street from the sea. They raise llamas and chickens, lots of chickens.

So many plants still blooming…..

There are dozens of water tanks and windmills all over Mendocino.

That is the Visitor's Center and you can't see that behind it just beyond that green lawn is a cliff that falls to the sea (not pictures obviously).

This is the view outside our little porch at the farmhouse inn where we stayed. We are headed out to see the llamas and feed the chickens; they gave us chicken feed and permission to wander all over the farm.

This scene is just outside the other end of our room. Below is the house where our room was located.

After feeding the chickens and walking the farm, I set out to walk/run a trail out on the headlands just across from the farm. Breathtaking and invigorating. The headlands borders farms and open space where I saw many deer.

What a great trail, huh?

We were told that in the morning we would hear a knock on our wall at 9 am where we would be told how to receive our breakfast (whatever that meant). Okay.

Here is our bedroom and beyond is a sitting room with 2 arm chairs, a fireplace and a bookcase. In the morning we heard a knock on the wall next to the bookcase. Then the bookcase opened and a man walked in with our breakfast!