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A little while ago, my husband and I decided to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip down Highway 1. We started in Seattle, where the Highway 101 actually begins. That highway turns into Highway 1 as soon as you enter California. Soon, I will post about the first leg of our trip. We spent two days in Seattle soaking up the rainy, gorgeous Pacific Northwest and it was one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life. Yet, I want to begin the description of our journey by talking about my absolute favorite part of the trip: the California redwoods!
I have lived in the same small town in North Carolina my entire life. While I love this part of the country and could never imagine settling down or putting down roots anywhere else, I have gotten quite used to the scenery. This is especially true when it comes to the local landscape. While I love our towering pin oaks and our pretty pecan trees, they are nothing compared to the redwoods that I had read about out west. Thus, I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to experience this wonder during our time in California. After we
left Oregon, we found ourselves in the northern part of California and right as you enter, you’re greeted with the redwoods. Though we were exhausted and most of the visitor centers were closed for the day, I still wanted to take advantage of the lingering daylight so we could take pictures and show our family back home.
The spot we decided to park at was known as the Trees of Mystery in Klamath. There, we saw towering replicas of famed Paul Bunyan and his ox, Babe. They looked like giant paper mache creations and it was such an unexpected, unique touch! We took a few pictures by Paul and Babe, then wandered a little bit into the redwood forest. I have seriously never seen trees so towering and majestic. It was unlike anything that we have back home in North Carolina. The sun was setting and the shadows were dancing and it was just such a special time for us. Of course, the only thing on my mind was how much our kids would have loved to see it and how I wished we would have brought them on the trip with us! It’s funny, you take a couples
trip to get away but end up talking and thinking about the brood back home most of the time. This was definitely the case with us, especially when we considered how important these redwoods were and how much of a teaching lesson we could have turned it into.
Of course, being the Eagle Scout and just generally curious and exploratory person that he is, my husband had to find a designated redwood that was designed to allow visitors to drive through. This was one of those “try-at-your-own-risk” type of deals that was unmanned. We said a little prayer and hoped that our tiny rental would fit through without causing any costly damage. We had decided to forego the extra insurance on the vehicle and this was definitely one time during the trip that I was regretting that decision. Thankfully, we made it through without a scratch and we had such a fun time during the experience! I’m just glad we were on the ground the whole time and weren’t trying to climb those enormous beasts. It would have felt like
climbing Kilimanjaro just to get to the first branch! While I’m adventurous as well, I’m not quite as thrill-seeking as
my husband, so I was ready to just admire the trees from afar.
From there, we went on a little farther down the California coast before turning in for the night at nearby Fort Bragg. I could spend days and hundreds of blog posts talking about how memorable the trip was and detailing all of the tiny, beautiful moments that we had, but I’ll try to condense the recount to the best of my ability! As lifelong east coasters, we are in awe of the west coast and all the beauty it has to offer. I know we’ll return one day and I’m already planning all of the things we can do, especially with our kids in tow. We spent 10 days there and I still don’t feel like we even scratched the surface of the fun.
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