Day two of our trip started at a highway rest area, of all places. That is because a rest area somewhere in the redwoods is where we ended up spending the night - a very, very long night. After leaving San Francisco, we had hoped to find a hotel in Santa Rosa. But it turns that every room in the area was completely booked due to the very popular Sonoma County Fair. So we kept driving. Further north we found that there were no rooms either, do to serious forest fires in the area. We were told that all rooms anywhere for hours were filled with people who had been displaced by the fires, or by firefighters themselves. Sad.
Out of options, we parked our car at a rest area (under a sign that read "No Overnight Camping." Oh well. Besides, by that time it was only half the night, right?) and tried to make ourselves comfortable. Yeah, right! Let me just say, I now know exactly who snores, and have figured out how to stop them. Anytime anybody moved, the whole car moved, especially with Dylan, who tried for a while to stretch out on top of the car. Yep, it was a fun night.
We woke up early, no surprise there since sleeping wasn't really an option, and hit the road again. As we drove through the beauty of the California redwoods, we could see evidence of the fires everywhere. First we came across two huge base camps for firefighters with tents as far as the eye could see, and dozens of fire trucks and helicopters lined up and ready for the fight. Later we drove through a valley that was blanketed in smoke.
Since it was the Sabbath day, we had hoped to attend church on the road, and even though we didn't have the luxury of a shower or an iron, we decided to attend a sacrament meeting in Eureka. We found a park just down the street and got ready in the bathroom (no mirror, of course). The locals out walking their dogs must have wondered what the heck we were doing.
We were wrinkled and probably a bit stinky, but at least we were there!
It was testimony meeting, and one young lady bore her testimony saying that her small town where she had grown up had be hit by the forest fires and that her grandparent's restaurant and tourist store there that she had grown up in had been completely destroyed by the fire just days ago, and that she was sure that by the end of the week there would be nothing left of her tiny hometown. She was trying and said she knows the Lord is aware of her grandparents and family, and though she doesn't yet understand it, she will patiently wait on the Lord to someday understand why. Her testimony really touched me and made the forest fire very real to us. It put everything in perspective: How could we really complain about spending a night in our car when others were losing their homes and livelihoods. They needed those rooms more than we did!
Still, the beauty of the day did not escape us. We drove up the coast through the Redwood National Forest.
Not only were the trees enormous, but so were the ferns and other vegetation.
Even the shamrocks were enormous!
We couldn't help but looking up to try to grasp how tall these trees really are.
Way, way up!
My maxi skirt was not exactly conducive to walking through this dense undergrowth, which is why I had it all rolled up around my waist.
We looked positively Lilliputian when compared to these massive trees.
It reminded me of my favorite childhood book, The Little Fur Family, about a family of tiny little fury creatures that lived in the base of a tree.
Yes, that bit of yellow is Luke!
Of course, when the boys got over the enormity of these trees and started looking down, they discovered a real boys' playground!
You're stylin', Derek.
The ground was covered with so much decayed plant material it was spongy.
A game of throw-your-brother-off-the-giant-log quickly ensued.
Oh, boys!
Better in the woods than in the car, right? Get it all out now, boys!
And Derek is down.
Yes! King of the Log.
It was a beautiful, enchanted place!
A little smoked salmon jerky anyone?
You can't leave the Redwoods without visiting everybody's favorite lumberjack. High five, Paul!
Whaz up, buddy?
Luke is a little spooked by the big blue bull. Really.
Um Paul, you got something stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Eewww.
Hey, Babe!
With that we said good buy to Babe and Bunyan and hello to Oregon!
Woohoo! Yep, they sure are excited about that.
Our first stop in Oregon was our first of 5 lighthouses we saw - this one was only from afar.
As we came near the end of our 17 hour road trip, they boys began to get a little giddy.
OK, a lot giddy.
I love my boys!
Now get me out of this car!
We were so happy to finally get to our destination: the Embarcadero Resort in Newport, right on the Yaquina Bay on central Oregon coast.
Ahhh. A real bed!
The room was nice, but the real attraction of this room was the view!
We could see the elegant arches of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, the historic Newport bay front, and the fishing boat docks. We would explore all of those tomorrow.
Tonight we would just enjoy the cool of the evening,
watch the boats return to the docks at the end of the day,
relax,
be glad to be here,
and make plans for tomorrow.
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