0036 -- the last camp

We left Elk Pairie and continued north and the most inland we had gone all trip towards Jedediah Smith campground. On our way we saw a sign that said "scenic drive" so we quickly u-turned and it was easily the beat decision we made. We had found the old growth redwoods and they were unreal.

Wel also stopped at the Trees of Mystery but were crazy disappointed it was going to cost us $30 (the cost of camping for a night) just to walk through their redwood grove. We did snap a few shots of Paul and Babe!

We knew it would be our last night camping so we were particular about picking a spot. 

We had picked number 60 all ready to take it and then we realized, we had been too late. It actually worked out to our benefit and we ended up in a site right next to the river! It was gorgeous.

The next morning we woke up warm, a first for the trip, and took a walk down to the river again before packing up. 

Update again soon!

xxo

0035 -- elk prairie campgrounds

While we had been staying with Donna she told us about the wild elk that were currently on their run through the Redwoods...well, she wasn't kidding. We stopped in Arcata after Jordan recovered from some minor gut rot to get a bagel at Los Bagels, which was a really good bagel, but more so their guacamole was insane! I could have eaten it by the spoonful plain.

After Arcata we thought we would be camping near the beach but after a short stop we realized that it was much windier on the coast than we had expected so back into the forest we went.

Elk Prairie was easily the weirdest placed campsite behind a long narrow fern meadow and then down a small hill and then next to a brook under the redwoods, really, Disney could have created this scene. 

We missed the elk at night, but were fortunate enough on our way out of the campground to not only see them, but up close and nearly too personal for comfort. 

Update again soon.

xxo!

0034 -- eureka

We packed up the car and headed out towards eureka. We hadn't done a bunch of driving yet and we knew this was going to be our longest day in the car yet.

While driving through we paused to drive through the Chandler tree, yup it's a real living tree. We had to pull in the side mirrors, but we went right on through! 

A few more hours and we arrived at Donna and Phil's house in eureka, the stepmum and father of an old coworker of mine. Donna had offered to let us crash with her on our way up and we gladly accepted a soft bed and good company!!

After a shower and freshen up Donna made us a snack and decided to drive us around Eureka and show us some of her favorite spots. Seriously, what an amazing little town! After we got home she fed us an amazing home made lasagna (I could have taken her home with me, such an amazing woman)!!

Update again soon!!

xxo!

0033 -- off the grid

After Muir woods we continued north up the 1. We had no idea where we were heading other than a dropped pin in a state park. As we were driving up the coast the view radically changed, like we had driven through several different states!

We started to come upon campsites, but all seemed to be closed or nearly deserted which made us only slightly uneasy. 

Finally we pulled into a campsite that was punctuated only by a white board to find a spot. No one was there and while driving around we came across 3 different deer. 

We decided to keep north (despite not having cell service or a proper map). Finally we found a campsite that was open that had self registration and so we decided to stay. 

I cannot say enough amazing things about the site, although I really didn't get many pictures here! It was empty minus two other couples on the opposite side of the grounds. We even had a run in with a curious raccoon who kept us on our toes! 

Update again soon!!

xxo