Day 4 - What a hiker!

This morning we went back into Trinidad and dropped our laundry off at this little laundry mat. They actually do it for you! I mean you pay for it! It’s however much the laundry costs to do x 3. It turned out to only be $10.50! I would say that was worth it for us to keep sight seeing and not be stuck in a laundry mat for a couple of hours. It freed us up to go whale watching – and someone else is washing our barf and sand clothes!!!

Dallin – what a trooper today! He hiked his little heart out! We went to Klamath River Overlook. This is where a river flows into the ocean.

It is very beautiful. There was a ¾ mile hike down to an overlook that is pretty steep. Dallin had a blast going down it. On the way back though he was very discouraged and hot and tired and wanted to be carried. But he did really really well!! We got back to the top and he said, “I don’t want to hike something that tall again.” It was a tough hike for mommy – I can’t imagine what Dallin felt like!

I really wanted to see the whales migrating while we were here! And I got to do that today! These pictures aren’t all that great – but until I can afford a bigger lens they will have to do.

I thought the whales would be farther out – not right close to the shore. But – I was pleasantly surprised! (By the way - it's a little difficult to draw a straight arrow in a moving van)

Then we went back through the scenic parkway we had gone through the day before. This time we stopped and Dallin and I took a little hike into the forest while Scott and Maggie took a little snooze in the car.

Dallin preferred this hike over the earlier one. So did bunny…

I am absolutely amazed at the enormity of these trees. It’s crazy how the sound of everything but birds is blocked out by these trees.

Just beautiful.

We are quite surprised at the sparseness of towns around here. It really adds to the character of the area – but it’s hard when you need a gas station and there isn’t one on every corner.

This is where we had to get gas before going to the beach yesterday.

We actually passed the "Got Gas?" sign not really thinking it could possibly be a gas station. We saw this in the distance. But then we got up close and saw that it wasn't exactly working.

Although - when was the last time you saw one of these???

Then we went to another beach. This one was good enough to have a warning sign about the water posted clearly for all to see!

I was in heaven going to all of these beaches. Dallin was too.

Maggie on the other hand – as soon as her feet were touching the ground she would turn right around and go back toward the car. She was not at all interested in being there. But Scott was good and held her the whole time. Except for when we tried experimenting with her feet touching the ground. It was hilarious!

We got there and saw there were surfers out.

I love the continuous shooting mode on the camera! It makes me feel like a professional photographer – even though I am not even close! But hey – I can think it!

Dallin now wants to have a surf board when he gets bigger.

He wanted to get into the water again today. (way to get back on that horse!!) But he wanted to take off his pants. Yesterday when “mommy and me got waved” his pants got really heavy and were falling off.

But he never actually got into the water this time.

We hadn’t showered yet on our trip because in the mornings it’s too dang cold. So we decided to head back to camp, make grilled cheese sandwiches and shower. I was pleasantly surprised at how hot the showers were. But then there is the dilemma of drying my hair. I have very thick hair and I knew if I didn’t get it at least partially dry it wouldn’t be dry before bed which would result in a VERY cold Monica that night. We brought a power inverter for the car and I thought ok – I can just plug the hair dryer in. It didn’t work. And I managed to blow a fuse. I did make the trek over to the bathrooms and use the outlet there after Scott and Dallin got back.

After we got all clean and fed we went back into town to pick up our laundry and propane for the Mr. Heater that we borrowed to keep our tent warm at night.

Day 3 – Pounding surf and rip currents are treacherous!

This morning we decided to go to Gold Bluff's Beach and Fern Canyon. We did the hike to Fern Canyon first thinking that if we went to the beach we would get wet and wouldn't want to hike. It was really beautiful but not as much as I think it would have been in the summertime. A lot of the vegetation was still brown from the winter. The information that I read on it said that you had to cross over a creek. What I didn't realize was that it was cross over this way and then cross back over and then cross back over again and again and again and again. There were logs that you could balance on to help you!

Or you could just wear your rain boots and walk in the water!

I don't really know what we were thinking that if there was water involved - that our little boy wouldn't find a way to get soaked?!! He did. Oh well. Several people made comments that they were going to wear their boots the next time they came and did this hike!

Then we went out to the beach. It was absolutely wonderful! I haven't been to the beach since Scott and I went on his graduation vacation and went to the Bahamas. It certainly wasn't any kind of warm. But it was amazingly beautiful! We took our shoes and socks off and walked in the sand and surf.

Dallin loved it… And of course was throwing rocks!

Maggie wasn't so sure about it though..

In fact she pretty much hated it! She kept walking away from the water instead of playing IN the water.

At one point she went and got her shoes and gave them to Scott to put on for her. She was done!

Dallin, Maggie and I were out in the surf. I had just finished telling Dallin that he couldn't go out there without one of us with him and this huge wave came and knocked Dallin over and almost me - while I was holding Maggie.

I must say that I was quite frightened. I couldn't see Dallin anywhere at first and then caught a glimpse of his head. I reached down to try to find a body part to grab onto. I found his arm and we were both almost pulled backward. Needless to say - Maggie was screaming, I was scared out of my mind thinking that Scott is too far away to get to us in time. He didn't actually get the best of the photos - I think he was headed our way during the sketchy part and then when he saw me pulling Dallin out he started photographing again.

We found lots of crab shells. I don’t know what kind they are. But I do remember eating them at the Chesapeake Bay Seafood House in Maryland where I grew up. I remember specifically my dad finishing eating them and putting them on the salt and pepper shakers and crashing them into each other.

Dad – I found you “All you can eat” crab legs! Oh wait – I only found one though. Just eat it real slow!


We also spent time collecting sand, seawater and shells and rocks. It was really a fun day. Although we stripped Dallin down to his underwear before getting into the van.

Sometimes I really hate being a girl. This is the bathroom that I had to use a lot during this vacation. Did I mention that I have a phobia of public restrooms? Well this is worse!!


Now - this is for all of you who think that mini-vans are wussy. Look what we got to go through to get to this beautiful beach!

We got to do this THREE times!!! It was really cool! Scott was really missing his 4Runner. Bad!

On the way back to camp we drove through this scenic parkway that got me really excited to go into the forest! This is a fallen tree that I took a picture of. Then I realized that there wasn’t a point of reference for you to get how BIG these are!! So here is my 5’11 hubby with his arm up and it STILL doesn’t reach the other end!


We also stopped at the Redwood Forest Visitor’s Center on the way to camp and got a map. One of the things that was on the map was: Heavy Surf: The pounding surf and rip currents are treacherous. Stay away from the water. Hmmmm…. We could have used that info a little earlier today!

We got back to camp and got Dallin out of his wet undies.

When we first drove into where we were camping Dallin informed us that we were camping in the Jedi Forest. It actually really does look like it. We kept looking for ewoks - but never found them...



Then we went into this quaint little town of Trinidad that has been our place to get gas and groceries. It is totally tourist supported. We went to dinner at this little café that was absolutely adorable! It totally reminded me of Mystic Pizza. Maybe none of you have seen that movie. You really aren’t missing anything. I mean it’s a cute show – but there isn’t any good moral point to it. But I don’t know that I have ever had better Clam Chowder and Scott said that his burger was REALLY good. They grilled the buns with a garlic butter spread.

After dinner we located a laundry mat, secured some firewood and headed back to camp.

Day 2 - Driving and Barfing

We got to Sparks and stayed over. Then we ended up getting off the main highway (80) and moving onto a little road.

***Sidebar that will be necessary to remember later*** Now let me say that we have some friends who did this trip last year. The dad warned me that they went on SR 36 from Redding to the coast. He said it was really back and forth with all sorts of winding around. One or some of their crew ended up getting car sick. So I made sure that our route did NOT include SR 36. We decided to go SR 299. ***

So we went from big highway and speed limit or usually faster to little road with lots of construction. This was frustrating for Scott as this is a sight that we saw frequently. This is a one lane each way road.

As frustrating as it was and as LONG as it took - it really was extraordinarily beautiful! I felt like the scene from the movie "Cars" when Lightning McQueen realized what he was missing by riding on the big fast road all the time.

We stopped in this teeny tiny little place called Shingletown for lunch. There was a little park next to this little library. The first thing that Dallin does? Throw rocks into the little stream going by!

In case you were wondering - Yes - he did fall in...

There was a library that had a very clean bathroom (thank goodness). Road trips are really difficult for a person with a phobia of public restrooms!

As beautiful as it was, it was extremely tedious to stop because only one lane was working due to construction. And the winding. The winding was terrible. And then we realized that our little girl gets motion sick. Luckily it happened right by this little cafe in the middle of nowhere. The very nice man mowing the lawn let us use his hose.

Just so you know - both 36 and 299 are windy and curvy and induce vomiting.

We were on our way after getting her changed into another outfit. Not 20 minutes later she did it again. This time we weren't around a hose. Therefore - our car smells REEEEEAAAAALLLLY bad right now.

We didn't bother to put her in clothes again. We also think that we are going to try to find another way home. We just don’t think we like this!

We got to McKinleyville and new we were close but decided to stop and get Carl's Jr before setting up camp. I thought this sign on the drive up window was hilarious!

After we got in our site and all set up (we are right on the cliff by the beach) we decided to hike down to the beach. Dallin keeps calling it the sea. He was SOOOO excited! This was him playing in the waves. One actually got to him and he was terrified....

I wish you could see his face more clearly... Maybe if you click on the picture - a bigger version will come up. Sometimes it works, somtimes it doesn't. We thought it was hilarious!

Scott and Maggie on the beach.

Maggie on the beach.

This is the site that welcomed us to this wonderful vacation we are enjoying!

Day 1 - Off like a herd of turtles!

Forgive me if this is boring for you. Since this is our family journal/scrapbook I want to get all the information in and correct. If it bores you too much to read - just look at the pictures!

We were definitely slow on the start of our vacation. Dallin didn’t get done with his testing until almost noon. Then we were had to stop at Costco to get gas, ice and cliff bars. We got to the Costco in Bountiful and found out they didn’t sell ice. So we had to stop at a gas station. Then we realized that we left the cash we had been saving up for the trip at home, so we had to find our bank in a town that we aren’t familiar with to get money for the trip. UGH… But finally about 2:00 in the afternoon we finally got on I-80 headed for Reno. We had hoped to get to Susanville, CA on the first day of driving. Needless to say – that didn’t happen. But we cruised right along on I-80. And there is something to be said for leaving on a road trip at naptime!

After we passed Tooele there really wasn't anything out there. But I have now seen the Salt Flats. It's weird - I can't tell if it's water or just mud and salt. There are mirages everywhere. This was a pretty cool shot that Scott took as I was driving.

Then, what is this? Some civilization???

Oh... Maybe not...

We stayed at the Silver Club Hotel/Casino in Sparks. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, that's for sure. Poor Scott got the side of the bed closest to the window that had about a 1/4" gap. There was a breeze all night. What a guy to take one for the family!

Well - we will let you see how the trip is going! We love and miss everyone! Well- maybe not ;-)