In Search of Giants

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We leave San Fransisco early and head out across Golden Gate Bridge towards Humboldt County. Todays long drive will lead us to the Avenue of Giants, a stretch of scenic road that's set among a Redwood Forest. I'm doing my first stint behind the wheel today and it's not too bad. Occasionally there's a narrow or windey bit I don't like and at one point I'm being tailgated by a large pickup with massive wheels. Not quite a monster truck but not far off. I can see that he's got a Jeep on his flatbed and at the next given opportunity I pull over to let him pass. As he goes by I notice that there's a flag attached to the jeep. Not your usual patriotic stars and stripes but a huge Nazi swastiker! We stop briefly in Ukiah for lunch, we meet a couple of locals from Eureka who say how lovely the mountains and the air are. As we're leaving a customer at the drive thru speaker seems to be having some trouble ordering his lunch. Looks like Kev isn't the only one who is often misunderstood due to accent problems. It takes at least ten attempts for the order to be received correctly, I'm silently pissing myself and am ashamed to recall the 'And then?' bit from one of the worst films I've ever seen in my life, 'Dude, Where's My Car'. We leave Ukiah and contine the one hundred or so miles to Garberville. We pass through Leggett where we drive through a two thousand year old tree, at one point the car gets stuck and I have to reverse! Eventually we make it to the Avenue of Giants. It's difficult to describe the sheer size and beauty of these Redwoods. I've not taken many photos as it's impossible to get all the bits in. At one point I find my mind wandering and bits of 'Deliverence', 'Cabin In The Woods' and 'Evil Dead' are playing on my mind, I guess if we're accosted by shotgun weilding maniacs at least I'll die somewhere beautiful. We retire to our Best Western and look for somewhere for dinner, the opportunities are limited but I'm sure we'll find something. Tomorrow sees the longest drive yet, from here to Reno, can't remember the exact mileage but I know it's not nice. From there who's knows but I'm looking at Utah!

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