Eureka! California

We are now settled in Reno, so time to update on the last two days that we spent on our trip from San Fransisco to Eureka! "I Have Found It!", California. We traveled up Highway 101 for a descent amount of time, and and then Highway 1 to experience the beautiful valleys and oceans up the northern coast. One spot was so awesome we made a pit stop and decided to explore a bit. (plus we needed a break from the winding mountain road as we were all turning a bit green from nausea)

The guys playing around on the rocks

We risked our lives (not really) jumping from oceanic rock to rock to spread Frankie's ashes into the crashing waves. What this picture doesn't show is the moment when i slipped,  was about to smack my face on a rock, grabbed Alex, she slipped, and got her foot soaked in a tide pool. That's sisterly love. I bet Frankie was laughing about it too.

As we were nearing Eureka, we encountered signs for the ever so famous Drive Through Tree! It was... in a word... BIG. Sadly, it was made for cars to drive through it, not Texas Edition trucks, so Alex and I simply walked through it. We stopped in the exact center and spread some ashes so she can forever be a part of this amazing tree's growth.

Redwood National Forrest. It was chilly, but that made the hiking all the more enjoyable. There were multiple trees that you could walk and crawl through. Many of them were burnt on the inside, but were still living. Frankie and I talked about the renewal of life, and I know she would have enjoyed to be in such a rejuvenating environment.

Alex getting in her tree love time.

Banana slug!! We saw many of these little guys, and they were so cute we decided to give them some shadow love. Frankie loved all living things and she would have adored these guys, no matter how slimey. She believed in the life of all things no matter how small, and no matter the language barrier. To her, a slug and a tree are both the same level of alive as we are. Never take for granted how precious life is, no matter the size or species.

I foraged my way through some vicious ferns and poison oak to spread Frankie at the base of this tree. It was tremendously tall and sweetly green, so we picked it as the lucky recipient of her love.

Alex and I being sworn in as Redwood National Park Junior Park Rangers. We even got little plastic badges! Our Ranger Guide was really friendly and kept making us want to laugh during the oath.

That sums up our stop by the redwoods, although a traveling fair moved in next to our campground. Gotta admire how fast they can put up roller coasters.

Random bit of advice for the day: Leave everything a little better than you found it.