Redwoods 2011 - Day 3

This morning was off to an awkward start. And probably against my better judgment, I am going to share the uncomfortable story with you all. Ahem… Let me just start by saying that - Sometimes Mommies and Daddies take showers... At the same time.  So I SHOULD have been prepared for Ashley's question: "do you guys stand back to back when you are in the shower?" But I wasn't. "Uh huh. Yes, we do" I said, as I slowly inched my way backwards toward the door, ready to run for my ever lovin' life. "Good! Because I don't want a baby brother" she said matter-of-factly. If ever a needle-scratching-a-record sound effect was needed! Anyway... moving on.

Chad used his phone to find a diner to stop at for breakfast after we decided to forgo our hotel’s “complimentary continental breakfast” of halved brown bananas, stale muffins and sour orange juice. The restaurant is called The Powderhorn Cafe and it was packed with locals, the waitresses were pleasant, and the décor was terribly tacky. It was an ideal Road Trip diner. While waiting for our food to be served, Chad told me my new favorite joke. “Did you hear about the Italian chef that died? He pasta way.” I am STILL laughing and I plan on telling that joke for at least another month. That was the highlight of breakfast (we are not very exciting people, you see.)

We filled up Jane Honda and drove south on 101 heading for the Redwoods, and our first stop: The Trees of Mystery. A very cheesy road side attraction that boasts a 50 foot Paul Bunyan and a 35 foot, (almost) anatomically correct Babe the Blue Ox in the parking lot. We spent some time talking to Paul Bunyan – or the man with the microphone hiding somewhere nearby pretending to BE Paul Bunyan. He heard me say Ashley’s name and he said, “How are you doing Ashley?” and she ran and straight to her Daddy and buried her face in his butt. “Hiding behind your Dad isn’t going to help!” he said. All the while, I stood there with a dumb grin on my face looking up at the giant fiberglass statue, like he was really talking to my little girl.

When the novelty of our conversation with Mr. Bunyan wore off, we paid the high-priced admission and spent a couple hours wandering trails, and riding the Sky Trail, which is a gondola that takes passengers on a 9 minute ride up to the summit where we got to enjoy views of old growth redwoods and Hidden Beach (although it was foggy over the water.) On the ride back down, my kids tried to give me a heart attack by swinging our gondola off the wire and killing us all. We let the kids run all over and see the sights and then, to guarantee their love for us, we bought them fudge.

On the drive to Eureka, we ended up being lucky enough to experience what I consider a once in a lifetime event. As we drove over a bridge spanning the Klamath River, we noticed close to a hundred people gathering on the bridge, stopping their cars, running back and forth across the bridge, and everyone was looking over the edge, taking pictures. I rolled down my window to ask a lady what was going on. She said, “There’s a whale in the river!” Chad let the kids and me jump out right there on the bridge while he went to park. And there we saw one of the coolest and saddest things ever - a huge, 45-foot gray whale that has been stranded in the river for weeks. We found out that she came to the river with her 15-foot calf in late June. The calf eventually went back out to sea but Mama Whale won’t go. Scientists and researchers have been working to figure out what is going on, and help her get back to the ocean, but she isn’t budging. She is still healthy though – and watching her was simply magnificent. The kids were excited and thankful as they watched her swim. The pictures don’t do it justice (how many times do we say that when we try to capture the awesomeness of nature?) Anyway, next to the Italian Chef joke, that was the best part of our day!

The kids slept the rest of the way to Eureka. I even dozed off a couple times. Thankfully, Chad did not. We checked into our room at Econo Lodge (please be warned, do not ever find yourself checking into a room at ANY Econo Lodge!) And we walked across the street for dinner at Big Pete’s Pizza. Now we’re in our room, resting and watching Sponge Bob Squarepants. Tomorrow we’ll head down to Avenue of the Giants – because there you can explore the Redwoods for FREE.

He's sixty three axe handles high, with his feet on the ground and his head in the sky - Hey, Paul!

Paul Bunyan!

The Niemeyers