Northern California

From snow to desert. Dry to wet. From no humidity to 100% humidity. From brown to green and everywhere in between. These last few months it seems as though we have experienced every type of weather there is to be seen!

Our next stop brings us to Northern California by the Redwood forest. We left our last spot because snow was moving in. Not that we don’t like snow. It’s just that we didn’t want to be stuck in it for good for the next few months. I’m told when it snows in the mountains you could easily get a few feet and it doesn’t just melt over the next few days. Also, it was so cold that everything…I mean everything was freezing. My olive oil, electronics, big jugs of water, the coolers, even the tent had turned condensation from our body heat into sheets of ice on the inside of the tent!

So we headed up towards Eureka where my sister lives. We ended up camping at a local campsite because all of the forest roads were blocked for winter. The weather was damp but a lot warmer than what we had just left.

It was so nice to be able to visit my sister and her partner. We had engaging conversations and cooked a meal over the fire to eat together. The second day she came back and we went on a lovely hike that lead to a beautiful view of the North Pacific Ocean. It was so amazing! I could of stayed there for hours watching the waves crash into the huge rocks that were tucked under the water. I could taste the salty air and smell all of the lush green vegetation around us.

There were so many mushrooms. It seemed that everything grew giant compared to the Midwest. I saw clovers that were three times the normal size and wild mint was everywhere. So much of a variety of plant life. Green grass, huge redwood trees that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The forest is dark and quiet here. This was the quietest campsite I had been to. Although there were plenty of people there, you couldn’t really hear anything. I assume it’s because the huge trees do such a great job at muffling sound. When we left the coverage of the trees it was a cloudy day, no sun. Even so, the kids complained about how it was so bright that it hurt their eyes! Mine too.

I was a bit disappointed about the lack of access to public lands here. My sister told me that it’s because of the homeless epidemic. I can’t vouch for that explanation because I don’t have enough info to confirm that is the reason. I suspect there’s more to it but we will just leave it at that for now.

At $10 a meager bundle, and coin operated showers, I was more than ready to find a place with free camping, free wood, and free shower water!!! That means it’s on to the next spot!