Paul and Julie on the Road: FROM REDWOODS to the SMITH RIVER July 16

We said good bye to Charlie and Mary early Thursday morning. We were off to the Redwoods and they were off to work. We'd had a wonderful couple of days!

We were driving north on 101 with our first stop in Ukiah for a family visit with Paul's cousin, Alberta. A nice chance to catch up and catch a photo.

Next we drove on to Willits to see a 2nd Cousin (Alberta's daughter) Evelyn and her 3 sweet boys where we met them for lunch at The Loose Caboose. It was such a HOT day and nice to have seats in a shaded patio. Evelyn brought us one of her jars of honey, actually one of her last jars...a bear had devoured her hives just earlier that week. She's an all American pioneer gal and we always love a chance to hear how things are in their "off grid" lifestyle.

Then across the street for ice creams. I passed on the ice cream but I'm so glad I didn't pass on the boxed local peach pie, sitting nearby. It was fantastic!!! Ill never drive through Willits again without a stop at the Mercantile Store on Main Street to pick up another one of those pies.

By then it was time to really get going, we had reservations for the next two nights at Hidden Springs Campground with an hour and a half still to go. The campground is about midway on The Avenue of the Giants, an alternate scenic route from 101 and a favorite drive through magnificent redwoods. Our site, #3, was a back in with a slope downward. That's gotta be a first, and a funny feeling watching Paul back that huge motorhome down a narrow parking strip, but he did it! The cool shade of the trees was so welcomed after the heat earlier. We walked the park, made dinner and just relaxed.

The next morning we met up with friends Tom and Shelly and their 2 little campers, Grace and Maddox. They were doing a Northwest camping adventure and escaping the heat of Page, AZ. After checking out their site along the Eel River we took a drive up to the Founder's Grove and a walk around the giants. Later that afternoon we sat down at the river watching the kids play while we had time to visit.

Maddox and Gracie are minuscule in comparison to the roots of this fallen redwood. I guess we all look dwarfed by these amazing trees!

Tom also showed me something new and fun to do on my iPhone: how to use the landscape option. So, I tried it on an upward view. So fun to do!

And I tried it again when we stopped to just capture the view of our house along the road the following morning driving further north to rejoin Highway 101.

We weren't too far before we came to this darling fruit stand. They were a young couple with just a fifth wheel RV on their property and an enormous garden. The tomatoes and corn I bought were some of the best! Of course, there's nothing like buying right from the farmers themselves.

And finally by about 4PM we left the foggy coast and arrived at Panther Flats NFS Campground. Fantastic park and right on the Smith River. Thank goodness I had made a reservation for Sat. and Sun. nights, the park was full, but large sites and very quite.

The river is the clearest we've probably ever seen. It's the second largest river system in Californa that flows freely along its entire course, so there's no dirt or silt moving through the water. Its sparkly and must be terrific for fishing.