HUMBOLDT STATE PARK to SMITH RIVER August 8-9, 2010

I know this photo is a little blurry but that's because it was taken as we drove the absolutely stunning Avenue of the Giants. On Wednesday morning it was practically deserted which is a wonderful way to enjoy it. We had spent the previous night at Richardson's Grove RV Park, one of our Passport America campgrounds, 50% off camping with full hookups. Nice for a late arrival and an early departure. We were on the road by 8:30 Thursday morning knowing we wanted to spend some time in the midst of these beautiful redwood giants. It's one of the main reasons we take the coast route and we never tire of the beauty. The road just meanders through grove after grove of majestic trees. 

 We stopped in the little town of Miranda to drop some mail and have a mid morning coffee then drove till we found a space for us to pull off and do a walk.

 We found the Mahan Plaque Loop Trail, one of the loveliest historic trails in the park and one we haven't done before.  The plaque commemorates the area where Laura and James Mahan learned a rail spur was being built to log the Rockefeller Forest in 1924. The story goes that, when the Mahans discovered trees being cut, Laura physically placed herself in the workers' path while James, a lawyer, got an injunction to stop the work. Shortly after, the Rockefeller Forest was purchased by the Save-the-Redwoods League, through a generous gift from John D. Rockefeller.  All I can say is, THANK YOU !

 Along the way we stopped to look at the unique features of the trees, roots and burned out hollows.

We do feel dwarfed by the shear size of these beauties...which we truly are!

 After taking a couple wrong paths in and around the trail we did get to the plaque.

 From there we joined a hike that took us to the Founders Grove, and a gigantic tree named the Dyerville Giant. That's the root base that Paul's standing beside.

 We continued our drive along the 31 mile drive and came upon Eric Bendl and his dog, Nice. He was walking very slowly along the highway rolling this large world globe. Paul stopped so I could go back and talk to him for a bit. He's been walking for over 5000 miles and has passed through 37 states to raise awareness for diabetes. He lost his Mom to the disease when she was only 54 and he's out to spread the word to get healthy with exercise to control and prevent the disease, walking can help slow the disease. His website is world guy.org.

 Once we returned to present day Highway 101, we left the sunny skies and met up with fog again. It felt good after some of the hot days we'd had earlier in the week. Paul had been on the look out for a used car for our niece, Mandy. Most of what she'd found up in Portland were real duds; salvage titles, super high miles or just ugly and expensive. Emjay's Jim had mentioned that Eureka might be a good place to check out so while Paul filled us up at Costco I got on the iPad and checked out Craig's List. As we were driving out of town I was reading the vehicles and one kinda jumped out at us...a little 2002 Kia Sportage. We pulled over, called the guy who happened to be home and within an hour we had made a great deal! But with an extra vehicle it meant that I would be driving the car and Paul would pull the SAAB behind the motorhome.

  So with all that set, we got back on the road.

 Our night's destination was a visit with dear friends from Shell Beach, Les and Rochelle Odom in Smith River. Les is a master at tile design and installation and their home is a gallery for his work. They love the Moroccan style of architecture. I took a couple of interior photos, though they show only a tiny piece of the beauty of their home. This is the entry to the living room.

 and a fountain in the entry. We had a wonderful dinner and caught up on this last year. We were still able to park our larger motorhome in their driveway so we settled in for a wonderful night right on the coast.

 In the morning the fog hung along the coast. This is their view from their back yard! So beautiful!

 We had another wonderful breakfast in the sunroom before saying our good byes and promising to be back next year, same time.

It was also our goodbye to California as we now turned east for the 3 hour drive to Medford. We caravanned along Highway 197 towards Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park and from there we joined US-199 Redwood Highway for a most spectacular drive along the Smith River, the second largest river system in California that flows freely along its entire course. The river was so crystal clear , the air a crisp bright blue with very little traffic. Turnouts were plentiful and always there just when we needed to get over to let a car or two pass. Going east is so much easier with few mountain climbs and the gorgeous river gorge to our right. We followed the river for about 25 miles before crossing the border into Oregon. I know with my Mom's move to Arizona we won't be traveling that beautiful route much more but what a lovely drive it was that morning.