Our time in Redwood can be summed up with the following: mammals, rain, and drifters. The best part of the park was all the wildlife we saw. There were herds of Roosevelt elk around our campsite as well as black-tailed deer, coyotes, bats feeding on insects, and sea lions! We spent hours searching the coast for the majestic gray whale with our binoculars(supposedly they migrate back to Alaska from Mexico this time of year), however, the whales continue to elude us.
We caught him mid-chew
Sea Lions sun-bathing on the coast
We spent Easter morning hiking through the Lady Bird Johnson grove of giant Redwood trees. We were amazed by the lush vegetation throughout the Redwood forest; it receives over 100 inches of rain throughout the year and everything is so green! The Pacific Northwest is incredibly beautiful but the rain has gotten somewhat tiresome over the past few days. It has rained every day since we’ve been here, and just when you think the sun has come out and the clouds have cleared, it rains 5 minutes later!
One other thing we discovered about northern California is the abundance of what Jack likes to call “drifters” a.k.a. hitchhikers, hippies, or parolees. We’re not sure what the attraction to northern California is for these people (seems like an awful rainy place to be walking on the side of the road all the time) but we’ve had a good time turning it into a game of Spot-the-Drifter. But like Jack says, we’re really just drifters with a little bit of cash in our pockets.
Crescent Beach Overlook- one of the places we watched for gray whales
Today we headed out of California into the beautiful state of Oregon. We followed highway 101 up the west coast and stopped for the night at a state park right on the beach. The small town we’re in is apparently known for fresh crabs and seafood, so after getting some advice from an Oregonian, we headed out to a locals-only seafood joint and enjoyed some Oregon beer and clam chowder. We mingled with some local folk and then took a short walk along the beach before retreating from the rain to continue our ongoing Skip-Bo feud.
Tomorrow we head to Tillamook, Oregon, home of the world-winning medium cheddar cheese. We hope to gorge ourselves on cheese, ice cream, and various other dairy products. We will be there for two nights before heading north to our farthest Northwest destination: Olympic National Park in Washington.
We hope everyone had a great Easter. You are with us in our thoughts!
With Love,
Jack & Megan
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