The Northern California Redwoods

 Spring Break 2024 was spent in the Northern California Redwoods.

None of us had ever been to the Redwoods...

(minus the Muir Redwoods above San Francisco)

So it was an adventure for all of us.

We went with Mike and Kensie Hansen and their kids Linkoln, Elsie, Trek and Haddie.

They don't travel as much as us... and finding a place that would work for both of us was rough.  Their kids had never been on a plane so we were hoping to find cheap flights somewhere, I looked everyday but couldn't find anything that was where both Mike and Kensie wanted to go.

Finally,two weeks before spring break we settled on road trippin' and this is where we ended up!

It was a super great time... a little chilly... but we definitely saw LOTS of big trees. haha

We left Easter Sunday March 31st at 4 PM... after cleaning up from the dinner at our house for 38 of us.

That night we drove to Ontario Oregon (about an hour past Boise) and stayed the night.

The poor Hansen's were ALL sick that week.  Coughs and bad colds... that never makes things fun on vacations.  I was sad for them about that. We were grateful that none of us caught it from them because we were sure we were going to.

The next morning we left bright and early and drove the rest of the way to Crescent City, CA.

 

It should have been a 9 hour drive but... we hadn't set the GPS yet and Shane just headed onto the highway so I assumed he knew where he was going.

He didn't...

About an hour and ten minutes into the drive I was texting Kensie asking if any of them were carsick yet because of all the windy canyons we were going through.  (they ALL get carsick) The texts back didn't make sense, cuz they hadn't come to any canyons yet... except they left before us...

On further investigation we were headed north west... instead of south west.  So OUR drive took us 11 hours instead of 9 ;).

And in case you were wondering, none of us were mad at each other about it.

However... the girls and I did roll our eyes after the 10th time of Shane telling us that he was glad we had come that way, because the gas station clerk had told him this was a MUCH more scenic drive.

Admittedly, it was.  The drive back didn't take us through nearly as many canyons... but I was glad we took the shorter way home.... haha

We arrived in Crescent City just before sunset.

Our AirBNB was nice and spacious.  With an incredible view out to the ocean.

The Hansen's were dying about my "google spreadsheet schedule".

I had everything scheduled for each day... how long it would take to get from one hike to the next etc.

That's how I like to travel.

I think Kensie and Mike liked it because we made it to so many things.

But the boys... were kindof whinners... they were NOT happy that we were leaving at 8 am... this was their spring break and they wanted to sleep in... and they didn't want to hike to nowhere... and they'd seen enough trees etc.

Oops... too bad.

Honestly I think they had a fabulous time, but I wasn't sure during it. ;)

We headed out on Howland Hill Road where we did the Stout Grove hike.

The height and width of these tree really is unexplainable.

It's like being in another world!

After another small hike we drove to the "Klamath Drive Through Tree".

This was stupid haha.

You pay $5 at a little kiosk by a house... drive down their driveway... and drive through this "manmade cutout".   We did it twice for the pictures and as you can see, we BARELY fit!

Check that off our bucket list haha

We stopped at the Battery Point Lighthouse Museum for a tour.

We had no idea the tour was going to take 1.5 hours.

Those tour guides were super long winded since it's only like 2 rooms and the tower. haha

(that's the lighthouse in the background)

That night we tried our hand at "crabbing".

We rented 3 pots, bait, bucket, measuring guide etc. and headed to the pier.

It was cold, we got no pictures, and we caught nothing.

Actually, everyone except Mike and Shane ran to the store to buy dinner because we weren't going to be eating crab that night. :(  While we were gone they did catch one!  But it was too small and they had to throw it back.

Hopefully they remember it as a fun adventure though.

We left the kids home to eat pasta and we went to this fabulous restaurant.

I got crab after all... and it was DELICIOUS!  I wanted to go back here again but got voted out!

Each night we played games.

The next morning, we headed further south to more of the Redwoods.

The first hike was the Fern Canyon.

It was a little early in the season to be able to see all of the foliage in all it's grandeur.

But Jurrasic Park Lost World was filmed here!

You know those times when you've done all the research and read 10 times that your feet WILL get wet.

And then you tell the group 10 times that their feet WILL get wet.

But then SOME of them wear gym shoes cuz they thought their feet WOULDN'T get wet.

Yep that would be Linkoln, Trek and Mike.

The rest of us finished the hike down the river... and the canyon that the hike was for.

Those three hiked back around and met us at the end. haha

PS it was just as cold as it looks.

Most of the ferns on the wall were still dead, but this would have been gorgeous in May!

Enderts Beach was fun.

It was quite a hike to get to it but we all had fun exploring the tide pools.

Brrr

More hikes that day to see more trees... and this is Elk Meadow... apparently, they are always here.

Banana slugs... they're pretty much only found here.

We're growing our own redwood tree now...

(indoors... in a pot... it wouldn't make it through our winters) 

Stinky sea lions on this pier!

The next morning we drove north to Brookings Oregon.

Gorgeous!!

These crazies played in the ocean... wow that's a "polar plunge".

A few more games, packing up and the next morning we headed out early for Boise.

We had baptisms scheduled in the Boise Temple...

and Meridian Temples that night.

after a short night in a fairly creepy hotel in Boise... where the power went out at 11 PM.

We drove home the next morning and caught the first session of General Conference on the drive.

Overall it was a fantastic week!

Beautiful scenery, good friends and lots of adventures.

The long drive was TOTALLY worth it!