Day 8: Redwoods to Lathrop, CA

(just south of Sacramento and Stockton)

One week down, one week to go. I can’t believe we have been living like vagabonds for a week now! Today started out at 50 degrees which felt pretty cold since we were right on the ocean. By 5pm the temperature gauge hit 92! I thought the kids and I were going to suffocate in the car when Shawn stopped to get gas. I am not ready for this. I did pack shorts. We will be in L.A. tomorrow so I guess I will need them.

Almost immediately after leaving Crescent City we started driving through the Redwood National Forest. It was everything we had anticipated. We didn’t have to venture off the main road (hwy 101) to get up close and personal with the old giants. The forest was dark in spots where the trees blocked sunlight. They blocked satellite, too. (Not like we needed the GPS here.) Then the canopy would open up and we were overlooking crashing waves and rocky beaches. We did choose the best trailhead at which to stop. We pulled over and across the road was this huge half hollowed out tree. That tree was just begging for someone to stand inside it. So I sent Shawn and Nicholas over to do just that.

Then another tourist offered to take a picture of all of us. Too bad Stella was asleep.

But when she woke up I got some pictures of her little self next to the trees.



We also saw elk. But we didn’t stop. They were way out in a field. We lived in Alaska. We have seen elk.

Other than the Redwoods, we really didn’t have an agenda. Just to get as far as we could to L.A. and stop for the night. We wanted to be about five hours away. We opted for a scenic trip on Hwy 299. It was a three hour rollercoaster ride- up and down steep mountains. We’d get to the top of the mountain, look out at about 3000ft up, and catch our breath as we looked down. The road turned and twisted the whole way. Hairpin turns, people. Near the end Nick said, “I think I ate too much.” I knew what he really meant. But I didn’t say it. And he didn’t do it. We rolled down the windows and he nodded off. Whew. Another breathtaking drive.

Then hwy299 spit us out right in Shasta. I caught a glimpse of Mount Shasta (14,000ish feet) all frosty with snow. Saw the lakes around that area as we drove. Brought back memories of when my friends and I camped on a floating cabin up at Shasta Lake. And how a Lt Colonel leant a bunch of young lieutenants (us) his boat for the weekend! Nuts! But we were too scared to mess it up so he had nothing to worry about. I had almost forgotten about all of that! Ahh the good old days. Mind you this was at least nine years ago. If you didn’t know, I used to live around here in northern California. It was my first “home” after college. Now as we drive south on I-5 everything around us looks so eerily familiar. The highway signs, the yellow grass, the Sierra-Nevadas in the distance, agriculture everywhere in between. I can’t believe it has been so long but it all appears very much the same. Pretty. Sunny. But it doesn’t feel like home for us. Good thing, huh. : )

OH, and this is what our children look like every night when we get to the hotel...bouncing off the walls!