Seconds With Steff

Side note before we get into the day…So not so funny story to start the day … if you read yesterday‘s blog, you know we got to the hotel around 9:15 which is late for us. Hunter helped unload the car and immediately got into bed (showers in morning). As I was blogging away, I thought he was asleep when suddenly I hear, “Mom, I have a hurt ear.” The one thing you need to know about Hunter is that he has an incredibly high tolerance for pain, so if he tells you something hurts, you better take it seriously. I immediately called his pediatrician’s service number three times and each time it rang until it disconnected. So within five minutes we were driving to the hospital. After Covid and flu tests it was determined that he had an ear infection, and his ear drum was almost perforated.  He is now on antibiotics as we continue the trip. Thanks to the staff at Sutter Coast Hospital! Dr. Duncan and Nurse Hailie were so good with Hunter. I never once had to utter the word autism or explain the diagnosis.

And today he told me his ear feels much better.

And after that onto the day… I know we technically crossed over into Cali yesterday, but … you know what we’re singing…”I’m going back to Cali, Cali, Cali …”

In 2022, I took Route 17 from San Francisco Airport straight to feed my face at Nepenthe. I had just intended on following my GPS, which I did, but I had no idea the road I was about to drive and the sight I was about to see. Without any pre-hand knowledge, I drove though the most eastern side of the Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve along the Lexington reservoir. There was a short part of the trip where the trees rose towering over the cars making their way. I desperately wanted to get my phone and take video or pictures, but I dared not reach for it. So, today, Hunter and I explored all the Redwoods have to offer!

After getting coffee, our first stop of the morning was the Redwood National and State Park sign where I noticed Hunter limping and instantly remembered seeing him limp into the hospital last night… I was so concerned about his ear, I had forgotten about the limp. I examined his foot thought the tongue of his shoe was rubbing him the wrong way, so later in the day we would be buying new sneakers. And legit sneakers not pants like I have to get him some thing that will hold his foot.

The Trees of Mystery were actually really cool! I expected it to be a cheap roadside attraction but it’s acres of trees and exploration. For $30 bucks a person the skywalk and the gondola ride kinda makes it all worth it!

Funny story… We get to the top of the gondola ride and there’s these three kids at the observation point two girls and a guy. The guy and I kind of look at each other, and I say, we’re you guys at Mount Rainier?  We had seen them quite a few times on our Nisqually River hike. 

Drive through a tree, you say? Well… ok!

Let’s have a quick convo about The Redwoods: They are confusing! Yup… that’s it… just confusing… But seriously, The Redwoods are made up of three state parks: Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Prairie Creek Redwoods combined with the Redwood National Park to form Redwood National and State Parks. But that’s not all! There is also Humboldt Redwoods State Park which is not included in this group because it’s managed separately by the California Department of Parks and Recreation

Today we drove the eastern border of Del Norte and right through Prairie Creek and then the National Park will be to our west as we stay on the coastline.

Going through the Newton B Drury byway was really pretty but with a sleeping Hunter and a sore foot we didn’t do the big tree wayside although I did see it. And I stopped and took some picture of elk while he napped. We also skipped the Ladybird Johnson Grove Trail as the main focus was to get to Eureka to get him new sneakers.

On the way to the sneaker store …finally… nectar of the Gods! In-N-Out Burger

New sneakers were procured from the Bayshore Mall Footlocker, and CVS has his script ready to go with an ankle brace as now I’m convinced there’s something wrong with his ankle along with a variety of decongestants. He’s well on his way to getting him better.l, but every little bit helps.

Sequoia Park Zoo which Hunter and I had planned for quite a while it actually just in the middle of a neighborhood and really very lovely small and completely doable within a half an hour with a gorgeous redwood walk. The only problem being none of the animals are out I think with the crappy weather a lot of them were just hiding.

There were a bunch of little things I wanted to do in Eureka, including looking for a bunch of old gorgeous mansions, but with the shoes and pharmacy, they got pushed aside.

By the time we left the zoo it was raining and as we drove south to enter Avenue of the Giants, I was feeling fairly dejected from the day. Even though the Trees of Mystery and the Sequoia Park Zoo were actually really amazing, I just had a feeling the rest of the day wasn’t going to go our way especially with the rain.

Once we got off the exit for the Avenue of the Giants, it was like the skies cleared and although still cloudy and overcast, it was totally dry. We started the drive in what I thought was going to be a fairly straightforward drive-through of the, redwoods with various pull offs and trailheads, and although it was that it was also so much more.

Peppered through the drive amongst the trail heads and pull offs were a few gift shops, a post office, a really nice RV park gift store, and a state park visitor center.

We came first to the Immortal Tree. At the edge of a parking lot and where we could easily take a picture, there was also a photo op with a hollowed-out log which I happily did. My mood started to lift.

Next, we found The Eternal Treehouse which was an absolute tourist trap, and I was totally fine with it.

We finally arrived at Founders Grove for a short half mile loop with a step-by-step guide to each area of the Grove. We met a lovely couple from Utah and we kept trading off taking pictures of each other, so there’s quite a few of Hunter and I together.

Once Hunter and I settled in the car to leave, I thanked him for taking the walk with me because it was truly what I needed after last night to get my head back in the game and get this trip back underway…although I still am worried about his ankle (in contact with his aunt who is a podiatrist).

But one more tourist trap, The Grandfather Tree.

With a new spring in my step, Hunter and I left the Avenue of the Giants and proceeded to Route One! We got a picture of the northern terminus of Route One which some people consider the true Pacific Coast Highway so if I wasn’t on it before I certainly am now…

And once again, despite my research, I had to climb us and two mountains with many many many switchbacks and no guard rails. I felt like I was right back at The Sidewinder on Route 66 and the only thing I was missing was the donkeys.

But somehow we did it and we were rewarded by, gorgeous elk feeding in the middle of a field at the foot of the mountain.

We then took the bend in the road, saw the ocean and continued straight only to be embanked with fog. I have driven PCH three times now, and I’ve never not had fog.

And speaking of Route 66…remind you of the Blue Whale of Catoosa?

We did a fast stop in Mendocino to surprise Jeannine who loves Murder She Wrote more than anyone I know…or should. The Blair House. SURPRISE!!!!

No I’m not making that up. It’s her fave! Thinking it would be easy to find a place to eat in Mendocino, I quickly realized I were wrong. So Hunter found us a pizza place in Point Arena that when we arrived was literally closing and threw in a cheese pizza for us to bring to the hotel. But we were rewarded with this sunset.

Vertullo Summary – Big Trees, a Zoo, and Double Double Animal Style