Redwood National and State Park / California

As beautiful sunny and clear as the day showed and said goodbye in Gold Beach yesterday, Oregon's south coast was foggy and gloomy today. Our ocean view room did not show us any distant views today.

In the dense coastal fog, we set off for the Redwood National and State Park near Cresent City, California. The fog remained our companion for a long time, showing itself only generously in smaller gaps.

The Redwood actually consists of several state parks and has no central focal point. The state parks are partially far apart, and it takes time to visit all parts of the Redwood.

We reached the Redwood NP around noon in glorious sunshine and set off along the Stout Grove Loop. First, we made ourselves unappetizing for the mosquitoes and smeared our exposed skin with an "anti-mosquito gel" that didn't really smell pleasant to us either. But better to smell a little bad than to constantly scratch the bite marks afterwards...

The trees are extremely tall. The old trees grow over 100 meters high. Some trees have a massive trunk circumference, while others are comparatively slender but just as tall. What makes them all unique is the bark of the trees. The paths of the bark run along the trunk, either twisted or straight upward. The density of the trees in the loop we walked was quite high, so we couldn't really make out the enormous size of the trees. But impressive in any case.

On our way to the next state park, we had to return to Highway 101 along the Pacific coast. If we thought the fog had also cleared up here by now, we were wrong. Not much had changed. No sea was visible...

Oh well, that's not why we're out and about today. There is a view over the Redwood from the Redwood Creek Overlook. We drove up to 700 meters to get the view. It offered a lot of green, but also a view over the cloud cover that still wafted over the sea.

On the way down, we took the invitation to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Here, too, there was a circular path that led through a much more beautiful, less densely overgrown flora. Here, the Redwoods could be better observed and their height recognized. The path or the name comes from the former wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, US president from 1963 to 1969. She particularly liked to come to the Redwood in November to enjoy it... ?!?(that's what it says on the plaque by the wayside).

Okay, enough trees for today. Now we're going to our accommodation in Eureka. When we arrived there, we were a little shocked. First, the road led us to Walmart, we needed groceries. It was in a "shopping center" surrounded by shady characters. Homeless people were loitering around there as well as in the neighborhood we drove through. Driving through this neighborhood even brought the most disgusting weed smell into the car. Some of these messed-up people move around like the characters in "Walking Dead"... get out of here, was the clear thought.

Now we were only curious about our hotel. Thank God it was clean and well-maintained. It is one of the many Victorian buildings in Eureka. It must have been a popular city in the past. In our elegant hotel, there are pictures of famous people who have lived here. They are world-famous actors and politicians.

Despite the good impression the hotel made on us, Thorsten quickly became nervous. Our car with all our belongings was parked in a parking lot near the hotel. Because the over-60s Harley gang, which wanted to check in before us, didn't 'get a move on' and it took a while until it was our turn, Thorsten became impatient and already saw our car being broken into (it was 3:30 pm!!) ... To calm him down, I then went to guard the car in the parking lot... the car and I remained unharmed... 😉

Finally and as an addendum, a few impressive impressions from our Victorian hotel, which was built in 1922. Here, you can immerse yourself in a world that is not as broken as the one out there beyond the door.