tales of the faraway tree

Our journey today looked something like this, essentially the I101 south, with 2 detours through the Redwoods in the Yurok reservation near Klamath and the Avenue of Giants south of Eureka.  We saw a lot of massive trees with surprisingly small roots.

Carys -

We woke up late - for a change - unexpectedly and had to rush. well, I say rush, but we didn't move much quicker than we have done our other holiday mornings. We made use of the complimentary breakfast, and 'stole' lots of snacks for the rode. Mum and I were fascinated by a machine we called The Pancake Printer, as you pressed a button it simply printed two tasty pancakes.

After breakfast we sorted out our suitcases and loaded them into The Beast (this is what dad has named our minivan) and set off through the winding roads in the forest. It was intriguing, looking at the masses of greenery, and we stopped a few times.  These stops included viewing tree houses, hollow trees and trees that you could - supposedly - drive through. Dad didn't risk the last one though, so we payed 8 dollars essentially to watch another couple squeeze their also large car through a tree.

The trees stretched out into vast expanse of vineyards and berry farms.The cold air also seemed to turn warmer, as we arrived in what I remember California to be like.

We also had a brief stop at a gas station for, well gas, as well as some crisps - or 'chips'. Then, we drove along some beautiful roads before arriving at tonight's hotel.

I went in the pool and jacuzzi for a bit, both were really nice, and then we decided to go out in search for some dinner. We settled on Panda Express, which I wasn't so keen on, but it turned out to be quite tasty, especially the sweet chicken and beef. We're going to try and get an earlyish night before our long tomorrow. 

(Lloyd)

The day started with a bit of hotel breakfast, all the usual stuff, plus 2 bites of brisket and gravy, just to tick that delicacy? off. Whilst the others got themselves ready I strolled over to the council offices of Yurok tribe, fairly standard civic centre really.  Their 'nation' is all land one mile either side of the Klamath River for around 20 miles.   Means there is a casino next to our hotel, but will leave that side of things until Vegas.

Got on the road and took our first major detour through the Redwoods where we saw lots of big trees, some between 1500 and 2000 years old. Bet they would have a story or two to tell if they could talk.  Although still pretty quiet out in these remote parts now, so suspect they wouldn't have seen all that many humans down the years, if they could see.

Back on the road where a bit of an irritant reared its head in that our sat nav has locked and it looks like no-one can retrieve the PIN so we are driving blind for the rest of the trip. Trickiest parts likely to be in San Fransisco tomorrow, but we will see how we go.  Avis shown no interest in helping us resolve the situation, neither willing to call or email us back with any solutions.  In this day of wi fi and downloads I think we should just about get by but no doubt there will be a few interesting moments to navigate from here on in.

Stopped off to use said Wifi in Mcdonalds in Eureka before continuing south to the Avenue of Giants, tree houses, big trees, tree sculptures, moonface, saucepan man, oh wait that is another tree, equally as big though.

The further south we drove the landscape began to change, less green foliage, drier land, and the wine zone of northern california emerged. On this amount of driving you do actually realise you are passing through different climatic belts with associated flora and fauna, quite something to do.  Freeway became busier as we approached Santa Rosa, our stopping off point for the night, hopefully with easy access to San Franscisco in the morning.

Very tired, nice little motel though, rest of the family took full advantage of pool and jacuzzi activities. I was good for very little, but did rouse myself to walk to Panda Express. Chinese food back on the personal menu in the USA as they don't include MSG which disagrees with me profoundly. In fact, I think it should be banned in the UK like it is in the US.