Vacation in Crescent City Part I, The Redwoods

The air is a light, humid fusion of sweet Redwood and musky brine.
It's one experience I can't bring it home in a picture; you will have to trust me. The Forest, the Ocean, the humidity. Together they are one of Nature's perfect blends.
I don't know how Crescent City can stay so quaint amidst the popularity of the surrounding Redwoods, but I am glad. A small town nestled between a looming, graceful forest and brisk, northern waters.
Our vacation lasted four days, and it was over too soon. We were spontaneous; the only schedule we kept was arriving at our hotel. Each day, we would go online and pick something to do, or drive until something caught our attention. A local restaurant gave me my first good taste of Calamari while we watched the sunset over the ocean. An excitable Sea Lion named Kora clapped and balanced her favorite pink ball on her nose at the aquarium. We stood, small and new, next to ancient, Redwood giants. A tram ride reminded me how frightened I was of heights. A tide schedule guided our crossing to the Lighthouse, and I saw my first Gray whale with her calf along the Klamath river.

Just south of our hotel was a billboard advertising "The Trees of Mystery Tour", so we spent our first afternoon walking the forest path, taking in the immense life around us.

ONE BEAUTIFUL WORD

REVERENT

The Cathedral Tree
800-1000 years ago one large tree stood in the center. These 9 trees grew from the roots and burls of its stump after it fell.

This Tree's Rings began during the Crusades

The Brotherhood Tree, over 2,ooo years old

Moss is everywhere

You can huddle under the roots. Crazy!

The Tram to the top Vista. eeeeek. All photos on the ride up are blurry with panic

From the top vista point, looking down over the forest

Looking down over the ocean

Saturday's Note

It is great to look into my yard and not see a gangling wall of weeds along my fence line. We go through it each year, and yes its our fault the weeds come back. After we spray weed killer we get lazy and forget about doing anything else. Our final landscaping WILL HAPPEN this summer. Nothing elaborate, tidy ground cover rocks will take up the space where the weeds have been. Hopefully we can find a landscaping company to do it; I'm not sure it would be a large enough job, but we really don't want to do it ourselves. Our home is 11 years old now, and the back porch needs a lot of work. I love the vinyl porches, and maybe we can save for a small one to be put in.