Last Leg! Wright’s Beach and Redwood National Park!

Deb
3 days ago
3 min read

We left the Sierra Mountains and headed for the coast on Friday April 10th and traveled to Sonoma State Park Wright’s Beach. We were a little bummed the weather forecast was for rain but the ocean is great no matter what the weather. When we booked we could only get a site that did not have an ocean view and Tom mentioned that and the park attendant said an ocean view site became available so we took it! What a wonderful view! She told us to come back in the morning to see if any more beach sites become open. It took a little to level the motor home so we hoped our site would be open. As luck would have it the person who was walking ahead of us arrived at the office to switch his site - he was supposed to be in our site! So we got it for another night!

We left on Sunday to get to our next destination, Trinidad RV resort, but first attended mass at a lovely little Catholic Church along the coast. They were very welcoming! Along our way we stopped at a restaurant on a pier to have a fresh seafood lunch!

We drove more on Route 1 after lunch and the views were just spectacular. The one thing I will always remember about California is the rolling hills, the mountains, the crops, and the beautiful rocky coastline!

Arrived at Trinidad RV Resort Sunday the 12th. The resort and our site overlooked the ocean. We could not get access to the beach unfortunately and we could hear the elephant seals down below barking non-stop!! We were missing our cousins Denise and Amanda who live in Oregon and Colorado who were going to join us but due to a medical issue they had to cancel 😥

On to visit our last National Park in California-Redwood National Park.

Some facts about redwoods: they are the tallest living thing on earth reaching heights of 379 feet! They can live to be 2,000 years old! Their bark can be as much as a foot thick and contains tannic acid that protects the bark from fire. The trees get 40% of their moisture from the coastal fog. They grow on a 450 mile strip on the west coast.

We drove through an area where Roosevelt Elk graze and hang out. Roosevelt Elk are only found in Northern California. We watched some graze and then when we came back through they were in the middle of the road with no intention of moving any time soon! We backed up but the people on the other side were trapped!

We drove on a scenic road that had old growth trees. They were very cool. Only 5% of old growth trees are left. Redwoods grew throughout the western hemisphere until extensive logging took place after gold was discovered. Redwoods are the fastest growing conifer and their cones/seeds are quite small.

The first redwood fossils were dated 200 million years!

We always love to go to the visitor center and chat with the rangers. We chatted with Ranger Sara and told her she had an awesome job at a visitor center right on the ocean! Tom expressed his appreciation for their hard work and dedication during this difficult time for the National Park Service. She appreciated our appreciation!