More amazement

On Sunday we made a beeline for Jedediah Smith State Park because we wanted to visit Stout Grove, which they say is the world's most scenic stand of redwoods. On the way, we drove through these:



Look at our teeny, tiny car!

We also stopped along the way for a hike to a waterfall.
We laughed when we came to the end - I think we were both expecting something more grandiose :)
On our way back we passed quite a few people hiking in, and we stopped to chat with one couple who asked what kind of pay-off they could expect for scrambling over fallen redwoods for 3 miles. We showed them our pictures, they appeared disgusted, and I think they ended up turning around. It makes me laugh every time I think of it.

For some crazy reason we didn't take our customary hundred pictures in Stout Grove, but just imagine tons and tons of this:

Fern Canyon

Of all the things we saw in the Redwoods, Fern Canyon was our favorite. We were really kind of awe-struck, actually. I think our mouths were hanging open the entire time we wandered through it :)

The canyon has been carved over the eons by a small stream, and the walls are covered in five different kinds of ferns. The trail is just one mile and it's also flat, so it's accessible to everyone from kiddos to grandmas and grandpas. And it's where Jurassic Park 2 and one of the original Star Wars movies was filmed, so we're counting it as hob knobbing with a celebrity, too :)

Trees of Mystery

First, please pardon us for accidentally putting the camera on a crummy setting and taking grainy pictures. It made us madder than wet hens, too. Now, then:

At the Trees of Mystery, you can have your picture taken with Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox, walk beneath some of the world's biggest trees, and take a gondola ride through the treetops on the Skytrail. We endorse it enthusiastically.


There are 12 living trees on this Family Tree, all with one trunk.

The Lightning Tree
Lots of people are married each year in front of the Cathedral Tree. Almost 1000 years ago, a huge tree stood in the middle of the formation, and instead of dying when it fell, the roots sprouted and these nine trees grew together in a circle around the original stump.
This is the Brotherhood Tree, and it's one of the largest living things in the whole world, even though it once lost 74 feet of it's top in a terrible storm.
One whole section of the trail was full of things carved with chainsaws. This snake is only slightly smaller than the one that invaded our campsite on the Upper Missouri.
The logger is pooped, but my Jan Michael is NOT!

We'll take one of these models on our next canoe enterprise :)

Living in the trees

So we spent our nights just outside of Crescent City at Del Norte Redwoods State Park in #62, the rockstar of campsites. We prowled around and found one or two double decker sites - the picnic table was on ground level and then a flight of stairs led to to the tent spot - but our tent was too ginormous for such a thing.

Sleepy head!
And another!
No tiny, cramped two-person accomodations on this trip! It's fun to lug the beheamoth when we're car camping; you could play a game of tag in that thing without any trouble :)

Del Norte is full of second growth trees, so we weren't surrounded by the biggest of the big boys, but they made us ooh and ahh nonetheless.

Redwoods sneak peek

Until we post the pictures...

In which we find one pleasant thing about Seattle

We do not like Seattle. It takes an hour and a half just to drive there, even though it's probably only 20 miles away, and besides that, there are throngs of people everywhere. It's loud and crowded and busy and we can feel the very life being sucked out of us every time we visit. BUT. My brother Adam lives there now, and he is the very reason we're changing our tune about venturing into the city. He lives in the best neighborhood, and roaming around it with him has been brilliant. Seriously, hanging out with him has been one of the best parts of the summer.

I have agreed, at great personal sacrifice, to use this our weekend house.
And this one, too, when I become bored with the first.

4th of July

I'm awfully behind with the updating around here, mostly because I can't keep up with all of the summer fun we've been having. For now, a belated 4th of July post...

Eric's parents graciously allowed us to invade their house on the harbor again this year, so we spent the all of the 3rd and the morning of the 4th languishing along the beach. The neighborhood always has fireworks on the 3rd, and this year's show was especially fantastic.


I take a picture of this house every time we visit. I think the owners expect it by now.










We had a great, jolly feast the evening of the 4th with all four of our parents, Derek and Sara, Brent, Danny and the boys, and then the two of us spent the night with Brent & Danny. The grown-ups played a loooong board game, Derek held his first sparkler while we watched fireworks at the end of the block, poor Caleb battled a terrible cough, and we all celebrated another fine holiday spent together.