To the Redwoods!

The previous two posts were picture messages from my phone! How exciting to embrace technology and send current updates without the internet. I left Santa Cruz shrouded in a sea of fog. I took highway one north to San Francisco and it was eerie seeing the cliffs shrouded in fog knowing that the ocean was just right there but I couldn’t see it. I stopped at the bakery near Ano Nuevo for one of their tasty muffins and a cup of coffee and waved at the seals as I drove by (couldn’t see them, but they know I waved).

Highway One takes you right through San Fran stoplight and all which can be a little hectic, but wasn’t too bad. I love going across the Golden Gate Bridge, but it too was shrouded in fog, I couldn’t see hardly any of it and nothing of the surroundings. I really had to pee so I decided to stop at the lookout and scored a front row parking spot. I snapped a few photos of the fog covered bridge and then headed north. The sun came out and the fog disappeared.

I was perusing my own blog and saw way down at the bottom a link for factory tours… how had I missed this piece of research? Turns out Mrs. Grossman’s sticker factory is north of San Fran in Petaluma… maybe I could get on the tour. I called to find out and figured out I was just a few minutes too late for the morning one and wasn’t interested in hanging around for the afternoon one. Oh well. The lady did say there was a museum and shop, so I decided to stop anyway.

When I arrived a group was coming down the stairs and heading into what looked like the factory so I just joined in (apparently I missed a movie or something). I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t know if I was allowed. Basically stickers are printed on rolls of special paper with lots of acrid smelly dyes. The machines have about 20 rollers that the stickers weave in and out of as the dye colors are applied one at a time. It was pretty neat. After the tour, we got the opportunity to make some sticker art and visit the shop. Not bad for sneaking in late.

I headed back out on the highway with the destination of redwoods. Highway 101 is kind of funny because it alternates between interstate, country highway, and main street through small towns – over and over – so speed is never consistent and any minute you could be stuck in small town traffic. The drive was further than I really had taken account of – I think I drove over 400 miles. First I drove the Avenue of Giants a section of old highway 101 that weaves in and out of small towns, homes, and massive groves of redwoods. Not all of them are massive, but most of them are still bigger than east coast trees. The speed limit is 45 or less and there was almost no one on this section of road.

Then I got back on to 100 (a highway this time) and sped further north to reach Redwood National Park. At this point 101 meets the ocean again and sometimes it was again shrouded in fog and sometimes you crest the top of a hill and are blown away by the scenery. Humboldt Lagoons was stunning with cliffs, ocean, and freshwater lagoon. I said goodbye and hung up on Aaron so I could stop and take a few photos.

RNP is joined with several state owned redwood parks into a pretty large area. Because they are jointly owned though, everything counts as a state fee and my national pass gets me nothing. I was hoping to get to a visitor’s center and talk to a ranger – but I was twenty minutes too late. I knew where I wanted to camp so I just kept going.

There are lots of Roosevelt Elk in the area and even though I checked the safe-stop-here-and-look, I was able to see some large ones right next to 101. They’re big. I stopped at Prairie Creek, my intended camp site, and found that the campground was full, but talked to a nice bubbly ranger who sent me further north to Mill Creek, the only campground with open spots. While there I poked around a bit, relishing being out of the car, and took some pictures.

I had to pay for my campsite with all the money I had – including the emergency twenty and about four dollars in dimes and nickels (because rates had increased and because I had not made an ATM a priority). My camp site is pretty amazing and right in a redwood grove. Most of them I cannot get my arms around. I set up my tent, heated some water for soup for dinner, and brewed some coffee using the car coffee pot (I started that first because it does indeed take 45 minutes). Then I crawled into my tent with my beach chair and all and sat up for a while drinking coffee, reading stuff about redwoods, and then spending a little time working on my take-home midterm. It’s a pretty sweet set up being able to sit in a chair comfortably inside the tent and drink coffee.

I rolled into bed and made myself and slept ok. I was a little chilly and had my mummy bag all cinched up. I am not sure what the temperatures are, but I could see my breath when I had arrived and set up my tent. I woke up a little cold and having to pee. Upon retuning from the bathroom I grabbed Aaron’s sleeping bag from my car, slid me and my bag inside of it, snuggled up truly warm and went back to sleep. I slept much better the second time around and even slept in a little.

Pictures will have to come later