May 2011 Vacation Day 6- Friday Redwood National park

On Friday we headed through Redwood National park. Our first stop was at the Ranger station, which was a great plan since he told us all the great places to go and see in just one day. I could spend a year there and not see enough to satisfy me, I think. Redwood National park is heaven to me. Our first stop was Lady Bird Johnson Grove, where this giant stood watch. I truly did not realize that the effort to preserve the redwoods just came about when I was a kid. I am so thankful to Lady Bird Johnson for this AND her beautify America campaign. Remember her "Keep America Beautiful" and not throwing trash out the window of the car. Seems unimaginable that people ever even did that without thinking. Showed the picture below to my oldest grandson to give him an idea of just how big the trees are and he said, "Bopp, it is the perspective.... look how far away you are from Wood". Yah he is pretty smart for a 6 year old.... but gee they really really are big trees. I would love to have a conversation with one of them. Ron S., this picture is for you, so you can see how long Wood's hair is. We drove on Newton B Drury Scenic parkway.. which the ranger said was even better than Avenue of the Giants. Boy was he right. We took the turn off to see the 'big tree'. We hiked a little more throughout the park and then headed away from the park and the ocean and turned inland for the next phase of our trip... a fun filled visit with the Budds.

So Thursday morning we drove back over to Jenner for our trip up the coast. I am so glad we did . It was very windy and slow but just so gorgeous and peacefulLots of rock stacks when the land used to jut a wee bit more out to the seaI think I posted a closer shot on my picassa web album of this one where you can actually see flowers growing on top. We headed up toward Humboldt State park and stopped along the way to drive through the Chandlier tree. They say a Hummer can fit through, but I am not exactly sure how. Same tree side view. Isn't it pretty and still so very much alive. This is just one tree among many to drive through in all the redwood parks. We arrived next at Humboldt state park and drove through the Avenue of the Giants. We were both in awe of the ginormous trees!Doesn't this one look like a giant hand is breaking out through the bark?

May 2011 Vacation Day 5 Muir Woods to Jenner/Windsor

We left Monterey early Wednesday morning and headed for our first redwood encounter I had forgotten how much I enjoyed coming to Muir Woods when I lived in Walnut Creek, CA. So close to SF and so very very beautiful and verdant. I spent a lot of time looking up trying to see the tops of these giant coastal redwoods. On the way to Muir Woods we stopped to get a view back at the city from on top of Mount Tamalpais. I meant this picture to be first but am tired of trying to move it to the beginning of the post... sheessh.I just love this quote by John Muir, because for me at least, it is very true. I would rather be lost in the woods then found in the city any day. I spent a lot of time looking up and Wood spent a fair amount of time reading about Redwoods and the history of the area. His favorite thing to do. I just can't get over how green and mossy everything is here. But as you can see, the day we visited it was foggy and misty...perfect weather for this area. Got a kick out of this banana slug that had crawled up onto this sign about salmon and trout. Indeed a timeless journey for him.... but someone told me they actually travel relatively quickly. We left Muir Woods and continued up the coast through Point Reyes National Seashore and turned inland at Jenner. I am really bummed that I didn't get more pictures of this part of the trip because we went through some ginormnous eucalyptus groves. I LOVED them and Wood thinks they smell like cat pee. I had no idea there were so many groves and that the trees got so large. We went inland to Windsor where we had a room for the night, but then came back to the coast in the morning for our next day's journey up the coast to McKinkleyville and the Coastal redwoods

May vacation 2011 - Day 4 recap

So on the 4th day of our vacation we drove from LA to Monterey. I have already posted pictures several posts below the last on our tour of 17 mile drive and how pretty it was. We weren't able to drive up the whole coast on Hwy 1 because just south of Big Sur Hwy 1 had been washed out. So we drove up 1 as far as we could and then cut over on Hwy 46. What a pretty drive. We were sure we would see lots of motorcyclists here since that is how Wood and I wanted to be driving through this area, but there really weren't too many. We did cross some wineries as we got closer to the 101 but mostly it was just sloping hillsides and a few farms. We were fortunate enough to stay at a Holiday Inn express right on Cannery Row and I would highly recommend staying there to anyone. It was a great location to walk from as well as easy to get to by car, plus the room was kind of in a courtyard. We drove around a bit and found several really nice Bed and Breakfasts in the area- one that looked like it was right out of Anne of Green Gables.... in fact I think it was called Green Gables B and B, and I immediately thought with the Monterey Aquarium right there what a great place for all the family to meet for a family vacation. The B and B is just across from the beach and a park I believe, and right up the street is Pacific Grove. A town I would much prefer to hang out in then Monterey, at least than Cannery Row.

May 2011 vacation day 3

On Monday Wood, Jill, the little T guy and I headed off to the Los Angeles county natural history museum. Wood and I were sort of intrigued by this can you lift the truck display outside. Wood was able to easily do up to the 2 times effort. Took all my might to hang off the first one and get the truck off the ground. Our next stop was the outdoor butterfly exhibit, which inspired me to plant some lantana when we got home. There were butterflies every where and the little T guys was quite intrigued by it all. That was he was intrigued until we got inside where it was really really noisy and there were giant dinosaurs everywhere. Then I am afraid the little T guy got the same feeling as his grandma which was let me outside to some peace and quiet. Wood and I checked out a couple of exhibits- him the old stuff - me the bugs- and then we headed off to a fantastic diner lunch in Pasadena. We bid goodby to J, G and T and headed off to meet Bob and Sheri for dinner. Really great to see the both of them and admire Bob's new rock cutter and polisher and also Sheri's cactus dish gardens- they are really pretty and I don't even like cactus that much.... but then Sheri has always had a way with plants and flowers of all kinds. After a wonderful visit and delicious dinner at Claim Jumper, Wood and I headed back to pack up for the rest of our journey up the coast. More pictures of the first 3 days on my Picasa web album.

May 2011 Vacation Day 2

On Sunday Wood and I rode with Brian and Allie all together. I got to ride as a Queen on the back of the super duper extra special harley. After a REALLY delicious and HEALTHY breakfast at Jenky's in Sherman Oaks (oh how I miss California cuisine) we headed off for a tour of Beverly Hills, Wilshire Blvd, and Melrose. Can't believe I lived in CA most of my life and had never been down some of those streets. It was a first down Rodeo Drive for Wood. He was surprised at how short it was. I was surprised at how the edgy part of Melrose had all the shops fully rented out and bustling but as we headed toward the more expensive end of the Blvd, lots of shops were empty. Guess folks still have money for tatoos and such but not for expensive clothes. We headed on out to Malibu and road up the coast for a bit. I LOVE the smell of the ocean and it was just a beautiful day for this part of the ride. I didn't remember Malibu being as long as it seemed. But I will take all the beach I can get. After passing the older Getty we headed up into the canyons and back over to Brian and Allie's. We enjoyed this part too, but give me the curvy mountain roads of Georgia any day, to the next part of our ride which was a short stint on the 101. I do NOT like riding a motorcycle on the FWYs of CA. A really great time had by all though. Brian escorted us back to the Harley dealership where we turned in the bike and then headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up before meeting Bruce and Ilene for dinner. And that weekend is when Wood got the bug to replace his trusty Beastess with a new and improved Road King Classic which I have decided to nickname BB King.... for Beloved Bike King. Also had a great visit catching up with Bruce and Ilene and chowing down on some grub at Black Angus. Always a good time with those two. Ilene makes me feel like we are the Betty and Wilma duo the way we can laugh and laugh.

May 2011 Vacation- Day 1

Wood and I were able to take a two week vacation ( a real one with little to no work involved) and had such a wonderful time that I wanted to share and memorialize it here. We started out flying into LAX on a Friday and after getting our Ford Escape Rental (which we both really liked) headed over to our hotel and got settled. Then we met Jill, Gavin and the little guy for a wonderful dinner at La Grande Orange. On Saturday, we headed over to Glendale and picked up a Harley for Wood to ride with his best pal, Brian. They didn't have the one he had reserved available so he got an Electraguide Ultra. And well that was the beginning of a beautiful thing, but more on that later. So while Wood spent the day with Brian out and about riding Harleys, I headed over to spend the day with Jill and T. We had decided to go to the Huntington Library and had just the best time. There is a new Chinese Garden there which is just SOOOO peaceful. There is a restaurant there too, that smelled delicious but we are saving that experience for our next excursion. We also tooled around the rose garden and gift shop before heading home. Wood met me at Jill and Gavin's later that day and we babysat little Tguy while Jill and Gavin celebrated an early anniversary dinner. A wonderful and peaceful babysitting experience. Those are always good to have. Then Wood and I were off to our own dinner at El Torito. Great margarita but way too much food.