Sunday, May 7-Tuesday, May 9                                                                                   Northwest California

I have thing about trees. I spent many happy hours of my childhood playing in the woods, making play houses around the roots of the large oak trees and climbing as many trees as I could. I love looking up at the bare branches of the winter trees on Maine’s country roads. I gain strength and comfort from their solid presence and their beauty. Maybe this explains why Redwood National Park will definitely make my top 5 list of favorite parks.

We had our own private redwood right in our campsite. At Redwood, the state park service collaborates with the national park service and the campgrounds are maintained by the state.  This was the only park collaboration that we found.  It seems like a good idea to combine funding, especially considering the budget cuts that have been on going for some time on a federal level. Jedidiah Smith campground, located in the northern part of Redwood, is one of my favorites so far; the sites are large and not too close together.  And of course; trees.

Not only does this park contain 350ft tall redwoods, it also has my other favorite landscape; coastline and beaches!

We hiked through amazing forest groves one day,

and the next day we walked a trail that brought us here…

Along the way, we encountered the famous banana slug (yuk)

We had a beach all to ourselves

We left little monuments to our visit here.

I am not forgetting this place; gotta come back!