West Coast - Day 8

We got a real late start today, as it was 10:45 before we left the hotel, and as we were sick of fast food, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up some real food to eat. That meant it was 11:30 by the time we got out of Ukiah and on the road. Actually, I guess it was 10:30 local time - we haven't switched to Pacific time, but have kept the kids on Saskatchewan time, as we figured it would allow us to get up an hour earlier. Unfortunately, that did not work out real well today.

After a short time driving and trying to convince Xander that redwoods still had green leaves, we stopped at a rest stop, ate lunch and then continued on our way. We soon arrived at the Avenue of Giants, which is a very scenic drive through the redwoods that runs parallel to the main highway. It was a very impressive drive, with huge trees on either side of the road and multiple spots where you could pull over and take pictures, which we did. The only problem with this was that we had driven very slowly and stopped multiple times, so it was getting late and we had not even made it to Eureka, so we went back on to the main highway and drove past Eureka. Eureka is on the coast, so we got our first view of the ocean this trip and after arriving in the park, we stopped at a beach to let the boys play in the sand and see the waves. Evan loved it, but Xander was terrified of the waves and kept trying to go back to the car.

It was 4:30pm local time (5:30pm for us) when we arrived at a tourist trap called the Trees of Mystery. It was kind of late but there was still time to walk through the forest, so we did. There were some very impressive trees along the path - I was amazed by the way that the trees would grow anywhere. One of the trees actually had multiple other trees growing out of its branches. There was also a cathedral area created by nine trees that grew so close together that they created a little alcove. They hold Easter services and weddings in the location. It looked like a place where Kyle and Andrea should have got married - we could have all dressed in green and carried longbows. At one point on the path, there is a Sky Train - basically an enclosed ski lift - that takes you up to an observation point on the mountainside. Being scared of heights, I really did not want to go, but the guy running it kept pressuring us and Xander got really excited about it, so we went on the "ride". It wasn't too bad, except for the fact that it stopped moving at three points on the way up (and on the way down) so that other cars could be unloaded and loaded. I did not like sitting there with the car rocking back and forth that high above the forest. Unfortunately for my future, both kids loved the ride - Xander wanted to get right back on as soon as we got off.

We left the Trees of Mystery and drove to Crescent City, where we tried to get a room for the night. We were a little worried that it would be busy due to the Memorial Day weekend, and we were correct. Both the Best Western and Super 8 were full, but a local hotel called the Lighthouse had two rooms left when I arrived. As we moved all the stuff into the hotel, a whole bunch of people kept arriving looking for rooms, so I guess this weekend is a busy travel weekend, at least along the coast of California.

The hotel is very nice, but our room is at the far end of the hotel and the wireless signal didn't reach, so I had to sit in the lobby to do my blog posting. That turned out to be a very good thing, as I overhead the hotel worker telling some tourists that the Endor scenes from Jedi were filmed near here, so I got some information on it and we're going to visit that location before leaving town. Sandra thinks Xander will be super excited when I tell him where we are going. I also reserved a hotel room in Coos Bay, Oregon for tomorrow, since we don't want to be stuck without a hotel room with the boys.