Red-What? Redwood!

Day two we headed to Big Basin State Park, which we heard was a pretty good place to see some Redwood trees.

The drive up to the park was a lot of fun as I navigated Lucille around tight turns and narrow bends climbing up the mountain. It was pretty intense, but I enjoyed it. Heading back down the mountain in the afternoon was easier after having been on the road a bit already and I barely had to press the gas; Lucille was picked up speed around every bend.

But back to the forest. I've always wanted to see the famous tree stands and it certainly didn't disappoint. As we climbed the mountain, we started seeing the trees, and even the parking lot had huge Redwoods hanging over it. We took a short easy hike which let us see some of the biggest trees in the park, including "Mother of the Forest," which stands an eye-popping 329. We also got to see "Father of the Forest," which was the widest tree in the park (16 ft, 10 in diameter and 66 ft, 9 in circumference!).

After we were done with that, Susan and I went off on a 2 mile hike in the park. It was a pretty challenging hike for the two of us, even though it was the second easiest in the park, only to the one we had already done. Keep in mind I was in corduroy shorts, while Susan was in jeans and converse. Anyway, we got explore the park a little more, see some more Redwoods, and see them scattered throughout a forest with other trees. By the end we were wiped out, but we were happy we had gone on the hikes and see all the trees.

After we got back to the park HQ, Susan went to the car to take off her sneakers and let her feet relax a little bit while I wandered around and went to the bathroom.Unfortunately, she got so relaxed that after winding down the mountain and making the drive home, Susan realized she had taken off her kicks and left them outside the car. This put them currently sitting in the park on top of a mountain an hour away at 4:50. The ranger station in the park closed at 5...So yeah, we didn't get to go back for them.

Thankfully, Susan's aunt (who we've been spending the past day-plus with) took us to the mall so she could get some new sneakers for the rest of the trip. She also was nice enough to treat us to a super market visit so we could load up on more snacks and drinks for our adventure home.

After many discussions and some research, we've decided to bypass Yosemite tomorrow, and instead, are going to Napa to spend some time at a winery. We figure we are going to at least Zion and Grand Canyon, so we got the national park thing covered, and while we are up here so close to wine country, why not, right? From there, we'll head to Lake Tahoe for the night before heading to Vegas.

Anyway, there is a quick update on the journey, and I've put up a bunch of new pictures for you all to look at. Plenty of stuff to look at: Surfing, wiping out, beach wackiness, San Diego Zoo, Disney, La Jolla*, Big Sur*, and Big Basin*. Apparently I've exceeded the number of photos allowable in one album, so I've made a new one with the * next to them to look at. So both albums have new photos to look at. Enjoy!

I made sure to take plenty of pictures today of Redwoods, since Derek specifically asked for them. You better look at all of them.