Day 54 – May 3 – We Walked Among Giants

We departed Sleepy Hollow Campground a little after 9 this morning and headed towards Eureka, California and the giant redwoods.  We talked about heading straight to the campground and then doubling back in the Jeep to drive through the redwoods, but in the end we decided to do the sightseeing on the way north.

We drove highway 101 north until we saw a sign for the drive-thru tree.  We paid our five-dollar entrance fee and wove our way through the trees for about a half-mile into the forest and then there it was, a tree with a hole carved in the middle large enough to drive a car through.  The lady at the entrance had told us we were too large to drive through, I thought that was understood but maybe some tried it and they have to warn people now?

We parked and Rick unhooked the Jeep so he could drive through the tree.  Dorrie wanted to stick her head out the top as they went through, and she did.

Road leading to the drive-thru tree

 

Dorrie with her head out

Us in the base of a tree

We looked around in the gift shop and then Mary said she wanted to go through with her head out the top.

We took a few more pictures and then moved on up the road.  We turned on the “Avenue of the Giants” road for a drive through the redwood forest.

Dorrie by one of the giants

Dorrie inside the log

Me on top of the log

The whole log was about 40 or 50 feet long , the roots are on the left  of the picture

At first we were disappointed because we only saw a large tree here and there, then we started getting into areas where the road had to twist and turn through the big trees.  We found a good place to stop and get some more pictures.  These trees are really impressive.

We were all getting hungry and Dorrie had seen an ad in one of the brochures for a café at a place that featured a 20-foot room in a 2800-year-old living redwood.  We stopped, but the café was closed.  She took a picture and we moved on still looking for a place to eat.

We got off the highway a couple of times but could not find a place to park our rigs.  We got to the campground, Redwood Acres RV Park and found out it was another fairground.  We had already paid for two nights stay, so we pulled in and set up camp.  We then all drove back to 101 and the Marie Calendar’s Restaurant.  It was about 4 o’clock at this time and we were all very hungry.  We each had a different type of pie for dessert.  Back home until tomorrow.