We Bid Farewell to The Redwoods

This morning we hit 101 and headed north to Oregon. But before we left, we did more exploring.

With all the rain this area receives, everything is green and there were many plants that we could not identify. This is a mystery plant that fascinated Bonnie and I. I guessed it was an asparagus fern. Hope someone will let me know if I am right.

So, we are driving through the redwoods one day this past week and someone in the car says, "I thought moss only grew on the north side of trees." To which Barry responds, "They must rotate these trees at night." We all laughed at that one but in the days to come, we began to believe he was right - moss was everywhere.

We braved the rain to stop by the largest redwood; it is over 30 feet in diameter.

Umbrellas are a necessary part of your apparel in this part of the world. Note the moss all around each branch... and there are ferns that grow 6 feet tall. You can see some prettty large ones in the picture below.

We drove down a winding road, through a puddle or two,

and what do we find, but a beautiful beach,

complete with enough wood to build a huge bonfire,

and a baby harbor seal. A couple on the beach had called the ranger and were told that it is not unusual for mother seals to leave pups on this beach and that we should stay away and not touch the animal and that the mom would probably return. I hope so; this baby seemed weak and certainly wasn't very old.

The last day of our stay, Bonnie and Barry made sure they did the mandatory drive through the tree and then we headed down the road to the mouth of the Klamath River in search of the perfect piece of driftwood and we were rewarded!

This is what the beach looks like from an overlook across the river. It is the strip of sand on which all the other pictures are taken.

The walk getting there was not easy. The water was high so we had to go through the brush and over the rocks. Rocks were a challenge for me, and you can see what challenged Mike...

I found many pieces of wood that would look mightly fine in your yard, David. Too bad your boat wasn't around...

And have you noticed the man with the hood that is guarding the area?

Everywhere you looked was driftwood. All of us found pieces we just had to bring home with us.
I hope the sun shines so they dry out a little bit!

There were also seals on this sand bar and they let us get pretty close.

As we plan and prepare for our touring in Oregon, we all have great memories of tall trees and beautiful scenery.

I have a feeling Mike and I will return to The Redwoods. It is just that kind of place.