Pacific Tide Pools

29 June 2012

We wanted to go to see some tide pools but we weren't sure where they were. So we asked a ranger and he suggested this hike. He said that it was a little ways to walk - about a mile - but the beach was really secluded and the tide pools were great. He was right!

 On the trail to the beach.

 

 Almost there. There's a little fresh water stream that flows down a small canyon and into the ocean. It runs through a little primitive campground at the edge of the beach. It would be a super place to camp.

 Tyler and Derek found some interesting sticks and rocks.

 We rolled up our pants and ventured into the FREEZING water.

Jared found a cave. When the tide is high, that big log is under water and rolls around in the surf carving the cave out even bigger. We found all sorts of rocks and shells embedded in the log. We climbed up through the cave and found an amazing secret cove full of star fish. It was so cool!

Fun fact: Starfish have no brains.

 Derek holding a starfish.

 Tyler holding a starfish.

I think this is cockles and muscles, but I'm not sure.

 It was pretty hard to keep from stepping on the sea anemones - especially the ones that weren't under water. When they are out of the water they just look like dark green mossy slime balls. The kids though they were gross.

 Holly also thought that holding starfishes was gross. She was trying really hard to pose for the picture on the outside even though she was freaking out on the inside.

 What a super fun day.



Humboldt State Park & Avenue of the Giants

28 June 2012

South of Eureka, CA is Humboldt State Park and the Avenue of the Giants. There are several campgrounds down there and lots of big trees. We took a long drive through the trees and got out for a few hikes. These are photos from a short nature trail we found.

Why is this tree growing like this?

We found this huge uprooted tree and thought that it must be the biggest root ball in California.

Until we found this root ball! It was so big! The sign said that this tree fell over in 1995. Seeing that would have been really exciting. I think that the sign said that it knocked over another big tree when it hit the ground.

Derek always does such good poses for pictures.



The Lighthouse

27 June 2012

I wanted to take the kids to see the famous lighthouse in Crescent City, CA. We started out with dinner at the town's fancy restaurant. It was very delicious. Derek found this shark at the door and we very nearly lost him!

We found these cages in the back. Maybe they are used to trap crabs?

Holly provided many photo opportunities as we explored a boat dock.

This boat dock a few hundred feet away was covered with sea lions basking in the setting sun.

When we eventually made it out to the lighthouse, it was high tide and most of the trail out to the island was underwater. So we just played around on the beach. Here are the boys trying to skip rocks into the surf. Derek got a rock to make a big splash and Tyler figured out how to make his rock skip zero times.

Holly was VERY afraid that the waves were going to come up on the beach and "get" her. She was mad that I made her turn her back on the water for this picture.

When the waves came in they surrounded this rock. Derek wanted me to take a picture that made it look like he was sitting on an island. My timing was critical!



Tyler! You are so strong!

Holly! You are so cute!

That is a very nice beach hut boys. I'm sure it will keep you very warm and dry.

The lighthouse in the sunset. I think that it will look better if I Photoshop out the powerlines.

But then how will they make the light work?

Ahhh. Nothing like a little sun on the beach.

(Even if it is only 50 degrees - in JULY!)



Prairie Creek State Park

27 June 2012

We started our day with a trip through the "Tour Thru Tree." Apparently there are four of these along the California coast. This is the one in Klamath. It cost $5 and the lady assured us that our truck would fit as long as we folded in the towing mirrors. I was going to drive but got too scared on my very first try. So Jared took over. He had to back up and reposition about 25 times but he eventually made it through with less than 1 inch of clearance on each side.

The ever popular cross section of a giant tree.

I love this picture SO MUCH! I just wish I'd used the flash so that it wasn't blurry. Man!

Jared took this cool panoramic photo of "Big Tree." I believe that it is about 20 feet in diameter. And for all you math nerds out there that means that the circumference is about 60 feet and the area of the cross section is about 300 square feet. Very big tree!

And we love.

This elk prairie is just outside the visitor's center. We were lucky to come by while a huge herd of elk were grazing. Jared let Derek get way too close for this picture but maybe that log will keep the elk from charging and maiming my little boy. (Who, as I was just informed, is not little. He is big. I stand corrected.)



Mill Creek Campground

26 June 2012

This is our campsite at Mill Creek Campground in Del Norte Coastal Redwoods State Park just south of Crescent City, CA. It is the most beautiful campground I've ever seen! I highly recommend site 50 - which is the site we stayed in. It was $35 per night and had great pay showers ($.12 per minute).

Here is Holly in her new Bass Pro Shops camp chair.

Our camp site had a GIANT stump that that kids played on all week. Here is the view from the top.

Here are the kids on the stump. They didn't fall. Not even once.

The path to the bathroom was so pretty! This is the bench outside the restroom where you can wait for your turn to take a shower. The wait wasn't ever long because pay showers encourage haste.

Ralphie loves the woods. He pretty much peed on every plant in the park. He also licked a banana slug and barfed. He barfs alot. That's why we call him Ralphie.

We brought the kids' bikes. They don't ride very well, but Holly loved it.

Our propane tank wasn't hooked up right (Jared needed a part) so we bought some firewood from a man on the side of the road and cooked our dinner over the fire. This is our "steak on a stick." The BEST seasoning ever is available from Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ in Guerne, TX. Here is the link: http://www.coopersbbq.com/prodinfo.asp?number=W%2DM17 

I think that everyone should buy some and put it on their meat. I put it on steak, chicken, pork chops, and fish. Every time I use it Jared says, "Wow! This is so good. What did you put on it?"

Here's our smokey fire pit.

After dinner the kids watched some quality DVD's. I think it might have been The Simpsons.

Good times!



Our Drive to California

25 June 2012

Last Saturday we left on our big summer vacation to the Redwoods in California! We worked on fixing up the trailer for 3 solid days before we left and I was so excited when we were finially finished that I couldn't wait to leave. So...we left at 10 p.m. I drove until we reached Fort Stockton, TX where we set up camp in a Walmart parking lot. Apparently, many Walmarts allow RVs to set up in their parking lots. It was free and we had a great place to shop near by.

The next day, we planned on stopping in Arizona but at 11:00 p.m. it was still 101 degrees. We didn't want to pay for a hotel and we didn't want to sleep in the trailer in that kind of heat so we just kept driving - all night and all the next day and then most of the next night. The next morning, Tuesday, we arrived at our campsite in Mill Creek campground near Crescent City, CA safe and sound - mostly.

We stopped at a cute little park for lunch. The town reminded us of a nice version of Dilley, TX.

 

Holly has been working on making cute faces for the camera.

Tyler did a SUPER job of climbing this giant tree!

Just outside San Francisco Holly used my camera to take about 22,000 pictures of the truck's dash board.

Here is San Francisco from the Bay Bridge. We didn't get out, so all of our pictures of the city are through the car windows :(

The Golden Gate Bridge.

On the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge we stopped for lunch at Panda Express. When we tried to merge back onto the freeway, we found that our trailer tire had a slight problem. Just our luck! This is why you shouldn't try to travel on Sunday. Karma will get ya!

We put on the spare but found that it also had problems. We bought two new tires mounted on two new wheels and put them on the trailer in the Target parking lot. After 15 minutes we heard some strange noises. We stopped to find that the original tire had bent the frame when it popped and that a big piece of metal was now rubbing against the new tire and scraping off the tread - just like it had done to the spare. We had to go to Walmart and get a sledge hammer (to bend the metal back) and yet another new tire. This set us back several hours and made it necessary for me to drive all night - again.

When we got to our campsite at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning we opened up the trailer to find this big mess. The popped tire had shredded the plastic wheel well and flipped big (and little) pieces of tire and lots of water up into the trailer. We cleaned up for over an hour and then repaired the wheel well with Gorilla Tape. We might take off the tape and fix the wheel well for real -  but then again we might not.



Stay tuned. Tomorrow I'll post some good and fun pictures from our trip.