Sep 24, 2012 - Day 87

Did some housekeeping chores today and then drove down the Avenue of the Giants to the Founders Grove to view the Founder's Tree. Before we left the campground, we took some pictures of the Immortal Tree located next to the office. There was also a hollow log redwood that you can climb on. On the way, we stopped in Redcrest to view the Eternal Tree House. Further down the Avenue of the Giants, along the Eel River, the Founders Grove is dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods League. The Save-The-Redwoods League was founded to...

Sep 23, 2012 - Day 86

We left the Sounds of the Sea this morning to travel about 60 miles south on 101 to Redcrest, CA. We left US 101 at mile 674 to drive 5 miles down the Avenue of the Giants to reach the Ancient Redwoods RV Park. Once we got set up and had lunch, we drove further down the Avenue of the Giants to the Rockefeller Forest to view the Flat Iron Tree, the Tall Tree and the Giant Tree. We then continued along the avenue to the Visitor's Center. We then drove down to the Shrine Drive Thru Tree and drove thru the tree, learning some facts about...

Aug 14, 2010 - In the deep redwoods

Hi all, Yesterday and today we have toured the redwoods. First was a drive down the Avenue of the Giants (the old 101) and stopped at the visitors center. They had a nice display of trees, wildlife, and people of the redwoods. We also stopped at a number of places of interest and small shops. Today we went out to Rockefeller Forest, about four miles up a narrow road, were the Giant Tree, Tall Tree, and Flat Iron Tree are located. Then we headed back to see Founders Grove where more large and old trees are located. I can not believe that I...

Aug 12, 2010 - Moving Day - Redcrest CA

Well it is moving day once more. The trip is almost coming to an end but we still have some miles to go. We departed Harris state campground in Brookings Oregon about 9:30. The first stop was at the California Agriculture check point. We did not have any veggies but they took our fire wood. Bummer I wanted it for some campfires here. Any way we continued on driving along the coast in and out of the fog. The drive was nice and then we arrived in the Redwoods and the campground. Tomorrow we will head out and visit some of these old trees and...

Aug 12, 2010 - The Visitors Center at the Avenue of Giants

We had a short day with a drive down the Avenue of Giants with breaks to read the history plaques along the drive. We saw where the 1965 flood virtually destroyed many small communities along the Eel River. We stopped at one spot that had a telephone pole with a sign that said 1965 flood level but the arrows pointed to the top of the pole--about 25 feet off the road! The water rose 19 feet in 1 hours. Many towns never rebuilt. The Visitors Center at the Avenue of Giants was very good with a good movie on how the only ancient redwoods were...

Aug 10, 2010 - Moving to Redwood Country

Today was moving day. We drove north on US 101 to Redcrest, California. The trip was through wine country and then redwood country. Redcrest is not protected from the Pacific Ocean breeze as Petaluma is. When we arrived at 2:45PM, the temperature was 69! Tomorrow we will check out the local area.

Jul 26, 2010 - The Redwoods

We left Russian River Saturday and had an uneventful trip up to Redcrest on the Avenue of the Giants in the Redwoods. There was little traffic which surprised me in a tourist area on a Sat., but I was very grateful since I was behind the wheel. Some of the areas through the Redwoods can be narrow and twisty even when you aren’t driving a 40 foot motor home pulling a full size car. It gets really narrow when a big rig is coming from the other direction, and on a curve at that. Mark’s vision varies from day to day so we use our theme of...

Jun 30, 2010 - Redcrest, California

Humboldt State Park, about 30 miles south of Eureka, California, is one of the places where you can see the awesome redwood trees. Some of them are over 2000 years old, 300 feet tall, and big enough around to live in, as you can see from some of the photos. There are many trails, picnic areas, and streams which make this an idyllic area to explore. The Eel River also runs through the park. It has sandy beaches and clean, clear water for swimming. The locals showed us back roads to swimming holes the that tourists don't know about, where we...

May 2, 2010 - Redcrest, CA "Redwood Trees area

Vacation 2010-7 May 2, 2010 We left Sacramento and headed north to the Redwoods. After turning on to I-5 we traveled along the valleys between the Sierra Nevada and Costal range. There was snow on the peaks. It appeared to be above 3500 feet. It was very windy and the coach was blown from one side to the other. We turned on to CA20 and started across the Costal Range. It was a very scenic drive with many turns and twists to the road and the speed was about 50 mph. We passed a few little towns and then we came across Clearlake. This was a...

Oct 3, 2009 - Winchester Bay to Redcrest, CA

Traveling with Carol, Lou & Beau ............ Knowing we had 280 miles to go, we wanted to get started on time - oops, 3 minutes past 9! We stayed on the Oregon coast for a good part of the trip, inland a little, then back out to the coast, down our infamous Rte. 101 - scenic galore! I don't know if I mentioned it, but there were tsunami evacuation route signs pretty much all along the WA and OR coasts. Reminiscing back, I think we were a little sad to leave Winchester Bay - when we choose a place to stay, we are never quite sure what the...

Jul 7, 2009 - Mendocino to Redcrest

On July 6th we moved 103 miles from Mendocino to Redcrest, California. We left the coast and climbed a narrow steep road over a pass to connect with Highway 101 where the Pacific Coast Highway ended. We planned our stop at Redcrest because it is located in the Humbolt Redwoods State Park. We stayed at the Ancient Redwoods RV park, which is in its second year of operation. The RV park is located on a highway called the Avenue of the Giants at a gift shop that was in business when we visited this area during our trip in 2001.

Jun 30, 2009 - The Lost Coast

We started out this morning driving south on the Avenue of the Giants. It winds for 32 miles through the towering trees, skirting around the largest ones that sometimes are right on the edge of the road. The Eel River part of the National Wild and Scenic River system parallels the road offering views of blue water reflecting the majestic trees.. Under the canopy of the Redwoods are smaller shade loving trees and fern grows profusely. Once in a while, in a rare sunny spot a wildflower will lift its head. After 10 or 15 miles we got on 101...