By Shannon Williams
And the trip continues…. After we refreshed with a brief stay in Reno, we headed to Eureka California, which is a really neat community and also home of one of my favorite persons in the world, my son. He has lived in that area for about ten years. Both his wife and he like small town living and both grew up with few trees, small hills that they said were mountains and thinking all beaches had brown water, but they were full of adventure and both greater readers thus set their sites on living where they could have mountains and a beach. The Pacific northwest fit the bill and off they went. The fact that Humboldt State University (now California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt) was in the area and has an outstanding Forrest Program all fit together. They found a home in the mountains and you can see the Pacific Ocean from their living room window. I had more than a few trips to visit, but my husband had not yet been able to go and visit the area, so this was his first visit, which also allowed him to put his toes in the Pacific Ocean.
We took a drive to see the Avenue of the Giants, which is a scenic drive among the redwoods. I had done this drive several times and each time I do, I am totally in awe of the Trees and the simple majestic splendor of them. The area is referred to as California Redwood Coast. Coast redwoods follow the fog and grow best at less than 2000 feet elevation in areas with heavy rains and moderate year-round temps. They are the world’s tallest living things, with some reaching about 360 feet, and they are old, I mean really old! We got out several times and discovered some of the forest. They were easy hikes and we got up close and personal with those trees. To see and learn of the life cycle of these beauties was such fun, and having a son who has a forestry degree, makes it just almost too much fun. We spent a whole afternoon and into the evening with the trees.
The remaining several days, we golfed, shopped, ate great food, including going to Gills by the Bay for a sourdough bowl full of the best seafood chowder there is! On our last evening, we attended a game of the Humboldt Crabs, a collegiate summer baseball league, also called the Wood bat league. These games are just a ton of fun. There is a great little community band, made up of people of every age, size and musical ability. A group of “cheerleaders” (old guys who sit together each game and shout out insults to all), keeps you laughing as they come up with all types of one liners to shout at the players, refs, and fans. My favorite of the evening was when a player dropped a ball, the insult was “you wash your cast iron pans in the dishwasher!”. I also enjoy getting to watch a baseball game, dressed like I am watching football, with long sleeves, and a blanket!
We woke up early the next day to drive to Portland, Oregon to see old friends and go in search of waterfalls, but that is next time.
