Travel Tuesday: Redwood National & State Parks

During the second week of June, three of my brothers and one of my sisters hopped in my car and we started our five day roadtrip from Oregon to San Francisco.
We stopped for a bathroom break and our first view of the California coastline in Crescent City.

We had no idea the beauty we would experience, especially on our first day when we experienced a glimpse of the grandeur and majesty of the Redwood National & State Parks.

Little did we know how vast the Redwoods expanded. We drove miles and miles through northern California, yet were still considered in the Redwoods. The parks boast 133,000 acres to be exact! Multiple parks comprise the Redwoods and we only had a few short hours to get a sneak-peak. We drove by ginormous redwoods and eventually stopped to catch site of the well-known redwood, Big Tree. After 5ish hours of driving, we were eager to move around, so we explored the area around Big Tree and nearly lost one of my brothers since we did not have phone service and the winding trails all looked so similar.

Big Tree is big indeed. Towering at 304 feet tall and 21 feet diameter, it is located in an old grove full of character and charm near the Prairie Creek Visitor Center along the Newton B Drury Parkway (2).

Big Tree

 My siblings were teasing me because as they were craning their necks to gawk at the gigantic redwoods, I excitedly point out and squeek "Oooh! Look at the fern!"

 

This is one of my favorite photos because my little brother reminds me of Waldo, casually strolling through a forest! haha! I laughed so hard.

We soon hopped back in my car and drove to our next stop: a short 1.5 mile easy hike along the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. The fog and woodchucks in the distance created an eerie forest vibe, reminiscent of  Predator. The guys actually made the uncanny clicking noise of the creepy Predator that was on a mission to destroy Shwartzenegger in the 1987 film. And then one of them proceeded to freak me out TWICE by hiding behind trees and jumping out towards me. I scare easily, ok?!

 By the way, how absolutely handsome are my three youngest brothers?

 Because of its elevation (1,200 above sea level!), it is literally in the clouds and has more fog than the lowlands groves. Imagine that, we were hiking in the clouds! (3)

Adios from the roadtrip crew! 

Next week: an amazing day in San Fran!