From Mendocino, we drove north to Humboldt County.
Since we'd been "Boon Docking" the past several days at Susan's home, and then George's home - in the words of cousin Eddie, the shitter was full! As we learned in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, dumping the contents of a chemical toilet down a storm drain is not an acceptable environmental, nor social, practice - so we opted to find an RV park with full hook-ups, which refers to water, electric, and a dump station at each individual campsite.
Using Park Advisor, we found the quaint Elk Country RV Resort in Trinidad, California. Aptly named because of the elk that roam through the campsite. Or, rather, the campsite that is situated in the middle of the elk roaming grounds.
We didn't see any elk when we first arrived at 6 PM, but they sure showed up en masse early the next morning, as observed through the window during my 6:00 AM conference call.
WOW! There they are!!
While we suspected that we were close to the coast, we didn't realize just how close - until William and I rode our bicycles with Elizabeth on a run.
We arrived just in time for a beautiful sunset over the Pacific.
As was the case in so many places we visited this summer, we were the only ones there.
At which point their mother is contemplating staying on the road forever....
We only stayed at the campground one night, but before we left the area, we took all of the kids back to the beach. The massive driftwood along the Northern California coast is incredible.
Considering the proximity to the giant redwood forests, it makes sense.
A short jaunt up the road from Trinidad, we went to Redwood National Park.
Getting off the beaten path, we took a road through the park and were in AWE at the majestic towering trees that have have flourished in this area for thousands of years.
Groves and groves of trees.
MASSIVE, BEAUTIFUL TREES!
When they fall - they nourish the earth for more majestic trees to grow. They are washed down rivers, churned in the ocean surf, and wind up on beaches as the perfect smoothed perch to contemplate our very existence.
How incredibly perfect is this network of life!
We looked inside a tree that had fallen, and tried to confirm the age by counting rings, but gave up after 33. We'll trust the dendrologists to age date these giants that have stood the test of time: enduring fires, earthquakes, all kinds of weather, encroaching civilization, and bugs.
We had somewhat of a schedule to keep, so needed to push on. But I definitely could have stayed in this area a lot longer, and continued philosophizing about the earth, time, life and our place in it.
I'll be back.
With my hammock ... and an additional 200 feet of rope to reach around the trees.
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