Family Reunion in The Redwoods

Saturday August 3rd was the day of the big Family Reunion in The Redwoods . What can you say about a gathering like this other than what you see in these pictures?

 

Hiking in The Redwoods

August 1, 2013, Redcrest, California. We have finally worked our way into the heart of the California Redwoods with a one week stay right on The Avenue of The Giants. Dan's sister lives in this neck of the woods, and for one week all of Dan's brothers and sisters, their spouses, a couple of cousins, and assorted nieces and nephews converged in Redcrest, Scotia, and Weott for a big family reunion. The giant redwoods are beyond amazing. All the usual words to describe them don't begin to come close, but here goes: towering, majestic, humbling, sacred, beautiful, awe-inspiring. As many times as we come to this area, I never tire of walking among these giants. This time around we took a 10-mile hike through the Rockefeller Forest, the largest remaining old growth redwood forest in the world. Needless to say, this was a gorgeous, impressive hike. I simply cannot fathom the vast lives of these trees, the immensity of change in the world from the time they were saplings, up until now. Hopefully some of our pictures have captured a small glimpse into the magnificence of these trees.

Redcrest, California

Our last stop before coming off the road for the next eight months was in the beautiful California Redwood Forest in Redcrest. We stayed in the Ancient Redwoods RV Park, and were surrounded by the tallest and oldest living things in the world, the striking redwood trees that line the world famous Avenue of The Giants. Dan's sister and family live in nearby Weott, so visiting with them was also on tap. No matter how many times I am lucky enough to visit the Redwoods, I never grow tired of the majesty and wonder of these gentle giants of nature.

Visit to Weott, California

One of the advantages of being in the Sacramento area is both Dan and I have a lot of family that live nearby. We are taking advantage of this time to touch bases with as much family as possible before we take off again in March. In December we drove to Weott, a small town in Humboldt County in Northern California to visit with Dan’s sister and her husband (Becky and Alan). Weott is right in the heart of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and as you can imagine, the gentle giants that are the Redwoods inspire humility, awe, and delight. The weekend of our visit was pretty cold, and in fact on our way back we ran into a snow storm on Highway 101, so we didn’t get outside too much. But we were able to make the Avenue of the Giants drive a couple of times, get out and touch the trees, and take some pictures to preserve the memory. We also enjoyed our time with Becky and Alan, they were marvelous hosts! In addition to visiting and catching up with each other’s families, they took us to Eureka for a day of shopping, sight-seeing and dinner out at Bless My Soul, a soul food restaurant. Hard to believe how fast time flies, and we were grateful we had the opportunity to spend some time together while we were nearby. Above are some pictures from our weekend visit.