Day 18. Eureka to Rohnert Park

Quote of the Day: " I'm old, fat, and sassy, so I ask you again: how are you? Short, cute, and beautiful?!"

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Humboldt Redwoods: Avenue of the Giants

Inside of a Redwood

Estrella in front of the "Giant Tree"

Christina before a Chopped Redwood

The "Flat Iron" Redwood

Katherine in the Forest

Haley and a Redwood carved into a Panada

Confusion Hill's Large Shoe

Playing around at Confusion Hill

               Due to the lack of internet connection in our hotel room, I am writing our blog/eavesdropping on a couple meeting with their wedding planner in a Rohnert Park Starbucks, acting like a wifi gypsy.  After a terrible night’s sleep (partially due to a consistent fear that Haley might wake up in the middle of the night and step on my face), Estrella and I grabbed breakfast for the group. We really were quite eager to leave Eureka, I mean Katherine was under the impression that a bomb went off in the middle of the night because of all of the noise. We knew that our only goal of the day would be to see the redwoods in all of their majesty.

                We decided to travel down the Avenue of Giants, a scenic alternative to the 101. At first the redwoods were not that impressive, but as we drove deeper into the abyss of the forest we began to appreciate the trees. We stopped at a tree called the Immortal tree because it had been struck by lightning, survived forest fires, and escaped the logging efforts in the area. The strong, persevering tree really put things into perspective; its height and overwhelming presence placed a sort of serene quilt of happiness over the group. The forest proves to be an excellent place to reflect and I think that we all gained some insight when we took 5 minutes to sit alone in the depths of forest. It is really interesting to see nature’s positive effect on people. At around 12 we parked the car and took a short hike to see the “Giant Tree” and the “Flat Iron Tree,” both of which lived up to their names.  We continued on to complete the 32 miles of the Avenue of Giants with a restful peace with Jack Johnson singing softly in the background.

                We left the Avenue of Giants in search of a place from Estrella’s childhood memories, a place where the water runs upstream (yes it sounded really odd when Estrella told us about it at first). The GPS had a little bit of chaos with finding Confusion Hill as it lead us in circles around the interstate “Head onto 101 N, make a legal U-turn, head onto 101 S, make a legal U-turn, head onto 101 N” and so on. We finally found the Hill and ate while we explored. It was somewhat fun, definitely built for little kids. For example, there was a large planter box full of rocks with the instruction to build a pile—not really interesting or fun in my eyes but hey maybe if you are 4 you could appreciate it.

                We drove through beautiful wine country, past vineyards and fresh-fruit stands. Haha I felt like I was in Parent Trap when Lindsay Lohan drove to her home in Napa Valley. Rohnert Park is only a few miles from Santa Rosa and we arrived at our hotel at around 5. Not soon after we had unloaded our car a charter bus full of football players pulled up. I’m just going to be honest and say that our night turned a lot more giggly and fun after we saw them. Estrella and Katherine had a nice dip in the pool while Haley and I drove around town. Overall it was a very satisfying day, but we are so eager to get home soon!

Best:

• Redwood trees
• Vineyards
• Football players
• Friendly forest people
• Nice hotel

Worst:

• Expensive gas (no more cheap Oregon gas)
• No hotel wifi
• Nothing to do in Rohnert Park because we can't drink wine