Oct 03 - Fortuna, CA
We left windy Crescent City this morning just before 9:30 a.m. But before we left, I couldn't resist taking this picture of all the bird life in the bay.
We ventured out onto Hwy 101 and headed south. The weather was beautiful and the scenery continued to be spectacular.
When it was time to take a break, we pulled off the highway, made coffee and tea, and just sat, enthralled with the Pacific ocean and the waves pummelling the sandy beach.
At the south end of the drive was an "Elk Prairie", a field where wild Elk roam. Hmmm, kinda reminds me of our BC trip - nary an elk to be seen!
Oh well, we turned back onto Hwy 101 and headed south again. We came around a corner, across a bridge and started a climb up and over a hill. Jen exclaimed "Did you see the elk?" "Uh, no, I was paying attention to the road". We discussed turning around but by the time we'd gone up and over said hill, I really didn't fancy doing it twice again just to see some elk. I'm sure one, or more of them, looked like this.
We arrived at the turnoff to the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway, a 10-mile-long drive through the Redwoods. At last, we were going to see some big trees!
They were impressive. I hope you can imagine the feeling of standing by these majestic old trees. It was a very humbling experience. Jen shot 3 videos as we travelled - they're at the bottom of the page.
It was hard to leave, but leave we must - we have big Redwoods to find.
If you view these videos on YouTube, you can view them "full screen". Apologies as it was difficult to get a decent picture when shooting through the windshield with the sunshine coming in and out.
We continued south, did a quick side trip through Trinidad - down to the beach and back, then continued south and ran smack dab into the middle of Eureka. I guess we knew we were getting close to something big when signs to the "Freeway" appeared. Oh well, so much for moseying along a 2-lane coastal highway.
We stopped to replenish our supplies then got outta town as quick as we could. I don't know how long this stretch of freeway is, but our exit in Fortuna to Riverwalk RV Park soon appeared (and the freeway continued on!)
It's Saturday today, so we decided to stay the weekend; get some chores like laundry out of the way tomorrow and do a bit of sightseeing in the local area. Jen wants to go visit Ferndale.
It's also Apple Festival time in Fortuna this weekend so we might go and see what that's all about too.
So that's it for today. See you tomorrow.
Just a short distance down the highway was Humboldt Lagoons State Park. Here is a picture of the Big Lagoon, the largest of the 3 fresh-water lagoons we passed by.
