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| Glass Beach - Fort Bragg, WA |
The KOA in Willits, California must be charmed because
Chad and I slept in until 8 o’clock. On a cheap air mattress, in the back of a
van, in the middle of nowhere, we actually slept in late. We finally got up and climbed out of the van as other campers were stirring and a line was forming at
the bathrooms. We made super-awkward small talk with a lady in line, and we laughed
as a mom struggled to get her 4-year-old son to walk on his own, but he kept going boneless and collapsing to the ground in protest. Thankful that we weren’t in that mom’s position, we brushed our teeth and got back on the road.
as a mom struggled to get her 4-year-old son to walk on his own, but he kept going boneless and collapsing to the ground in protest. Thankful that we weren’t in that mom’s position, we brushed our teeth and got back on the road.
We drove to Fort Bragg and stopped for breakfast at a place
called David’s Deli where Chad ate what he calls “the second best biscuits and
gravy” he’s ever had. When I asked him what the first best was he said, “I
don’t know, but there probably is one.” I’m sure it’s the biscuits and gravy I make
by adding milk to dry powder that comes in an envelope. We’ll just say mine are
his first favorite. He probably just forgot.
We drove to Glass Beach and spent hours exploring. In the early
to mid-twentieth century, seaside communities dumped their garbage into
specified dumps. Fort Bragg had three until California got wise and closed
the dump sites. The ocean took all that trash-glass and turned it into gorgeous
bits of sea glass that covers the beach. There were at least 50 people on the beach and
all of them were filling bags and buckets with sea glass. Simone, our waitress
at breakfast, is a local and she told us the beaches used to be much more beautiful, but
collectors and beachcombers have looted so much glass, despite state law prohibiting
its removal, that the beaches just aren’t as stunning anymore. We searched for
red sea glass (without taking any because we aren’t jerks), we climbed rocks, and
stood at the edge of the water, hypnotized by the waves. Eventually, we knew it was time to move on, so we hiked back to the van.
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| It costs $5. Why? |
We spent the rest of the day driving along the coast and
through the redwoods, stopping only once to use the restroom and once to pay 5 bucks
so we could drive through a giant redwood tree like the nerds we are. It was
really anti-climactic.
About 3 hours into the drive, we called and made reservations at a KOA
in Crescent City because we needed showers and wanted a campfire. When we
checked in, we joined the KOA Klub (or whatever it’s kalled) and enjoyed our
evening surrounded by giant trees and ferns so big we felt like we were in
Jurassic Park. KOA campgrounds offer fun events like ice cream socials and
movie nights. I think this night’s event was called, “Kids Under 10, Scream as
Loud as You Can,” and it lasted about an hour. We burned our little $6 bundle
of wood, cooked dinner over the fire, and then went to bed. In the middle of
the night, all the air leaked out of our mattress. We got up at 2:30 so Chad could
refill it, and I bet the tent campers around us were thrilled to hear our
high-pitched pump whining in the night.
In the morning, outside was damp and slightly foggy,
almost making me miss home. But it’s currently a ridiculous 90 degrees in
Olympia, so the homesickness passed quickly. We stopped for gas, bought coffee
and breakfast burritos, and drove for the next 5 hours.
On the drive through Oregon, we discussed our last stop
before going home. We settled on Multnomah Falls, but as we approached Salem,
and I saw the castle-shaped sign announcing, “Enchanted Forest Theme Park: Next
Exit,” I yelled, “I wanna go there!” And Chad took the exit. The falls will have to wait.
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| Storybook Lane begins here |
Enchanted Forest has been a roadside attraction/theme park
for over 40 years. It was built on a hillside just off the freeway by a man named Roger Tofte and
his family. Admission was $10.95 per person and from the moment we entered the
park, we adored every single sweet little enchanted thing we saw.
We began at Storybook
Lane by entering a castle and following a trail through the forest, every so often
coming upon a scene from a fairy tale: Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red
Riding Hood—tiny vignettes tucked away in the woods. As charming as Storybook
Lane was, there was something a little dark about the characters. Something
very Un-Disney that made me feel like Freddy Krueger was hiding
behind a tree ready to invade my dreams.
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| Don't eat the house, Chad! Don't you know what happens?! |
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| See Chad's feet in that tunnel? Why did I follow? |
When we came upon the White Rabbit’s hole, Chad got down on
his hands and knees and climbed inside. I followed, and when I was about 10 feet in, I learned that that I must suffer from claustrophobia because I could not get out of that
constricting tunnel fast enough.
At the Snow White attraction, we climbed
inside the witch’s mouth and when we got to the top, I exited down the stairs
and waited for Chad, who was in line behind some 3-year-olds to take the slide.
I watched from the ground as a father stuck his head inside the opening to the slide’s
exit waiting for his little boy to come down. When Chad came sliding out the
hole instead, both men's reactions were worth the price of admission. It
was so uncomfortably funny.
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| See what I mean about the spookiness? |
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| Humpty's not scary, though. This is the only time I wasn't slightly terrified |
We continued through the park enjoying the little western
town and European village. The steep hills that make up the park’s trails really
got annoying as we trudged along in flip flops, but we enjoyed ourselves
regardless. We were noticeably the only adults there with no kids and as the
park filled up and the temperature rose, we were ready to leave.
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| Cutest town ever |
We got home late in the afternoon and felt like we’d only
been gone a few hours. We unloaded the car and when we went in the kitchen,
Chad noticed that our fridge door was open, and the kids had been staying at my
sisters since the day before. He emptied our fridge, that was full of groceries
I bought the day we left, and threw it all in the trash. When he turned on the
garbage disposal, there was a measuring spoon jammed in it. The enchantment of
our getaway vanished and we were back to reality. But oddly enough, there was nowhere else we wanted to be. Driving 1,645 miles will do that to you.
Fun Fact To Make You The Life Of The Party #3: The tallest redwood tree, named Hyperion, is 379.1 feet tall. A redwood can weigh up to 1.6 million pounds and its bark can be up to 12 inches thick.
"The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always... they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time."
- John Steinbeck
- Rachel
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