Sunday, June 21, 2009

Redwood National Park



Life is supposed to slow down somewhat as we get older, isn't it? But strangely I feel my life is speeding up - as if I am heading downhill in a car with no brakes - and it is exciting and scary at the same time. And sometimes I need a little help slowing things down and my DH helps me do just that.
He told me he made reservations for a campsite 2 weeks before we were scheduled to be there- it was a last minute thing- we were going to meet some friends and their 2 kids there - when he saw how stressed I was, he told me he COULD go alone with the kids and I had visions of Tyler, Kyle and Dylan running amuck and the mayhem they could create and felt too sorry for him to go it alone - but I had to find people to sub for me at work and trying to get basic things done before I left- the work just accumulates so when I come back, I have to spend more time at work to catch up so vacations are never vacation like other people- but I really did want to go.
We stayed at a campsite at the Redwood National Forest in Northern California and it was just soooo beautiful, serene, and magnificent. You'll have to see it for yourself. The trees are really that tall and some are hundreds of years old and would take many many grownups to go around them. There was this mist that hung on the trees that the trees use in dry seasons to get moisture. I am so happy to have at least some of these incredible trees preserved for future generations to see.



This is fern canyon where downed trees, the narrow canyon and the ferns growing on the sides of the canyons make the place seem ancient. One of the Jurrasic park and some other dinosaur movies have been filmed here. My kids LOVED this place and got soaking wet, wading through all the streams that flowed, playing with mud and checking out the fish and the frogs that inhabit the shallow waters.


We saw lots of wildlife, this is one of the elk just grazing by the side of the road nonchalentaly eating his lunch.




At the Gold Bluff Beach, the sand was gray black but so clean. There were seals bobbing in and out of water and the kids ran around chasing the waves, playing in the sand and all around getting soaked- do you see the theme here- lots of changes of clothing and towels will be required on our next visit here which I hope will be soon- even if I do have to spend 8 straight hours in a car with my kids- it was worth the trip.






This is elk prairie- now I know why it is called that- they do recommend that you not approach them by foot- they are big animals and could do you some serious damage if you provoked them.





We stopped at Grizzly Creek and at one of the stops in the middle of the redwoods was this beautiful canopy of a tree and the sun was shining through and the kids were trying to climb the tree- just gorgeous!
We meandered through the Avenue of the Giants on the way home and these trees are truly breath-taking.
Just a little too short of a time to get away but I have to thank my DH for putting the brakes on my ever hurried life and making me stop and smell the flowers.






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