Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Road Trip Part 2 – The Magnificent Redwoods!
The Coast Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and among the oldest living things on earth but you have to see them to believe it. They’re found on a thin strip of land 450 miles long and 25 miles wide, along the Pacific Ocean, from southern Oregon to Central California. On the third day of our road trip we arrived at this magical part of the earth stopping by the Visitor Center in Crescent City before heading to nearby Jedediah Smith State Park.
We started our walk at Simpson Reed Grove entering almost reverently into the presence of the Giants. For no matter how many times I’ve seen the Redwoods, I’m awed just the same. Whatever ails you – in body, mind, or spirit – all melts away as you enter their domain.
We spent the night in Crescent City and continued our journey south the next day, taking the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
We stopped at Big Tree Wayside for a look at the 286 feet high, 23 feet wide Redwood, estimated to be 1,500 years old.
We continued to the Avenue of the Giants through the largest section of Redwoods in Humboldt County.
A handful of tiny communities and hamlets dot the scenic road including this one at Redcrest and we stopped to peruse the shop for souvenirs.
Next up was our final walk of the day at Founders Grove, dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods League, started in 1917 inspired by the trees in this grove. Founders Tree stands a whopping 346 feet tall and has a circumference of 40 feet.
We did our best to capture the full panorama of Founders Tree on my phone.
Founders Grove also includes the Dyerville Giant – 370 feet long and 52 feet in circumference – which toppled in 1991. It’s now one of many nursery logs providing water and nutrients for other trees and plants to grow.
According to the Founders Grove brochure, “The greatest accumulation of plant mass ever recorded on earth was a redwood stand in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This temperate rainforest has seven times the biomass (living and dead organic material) of that found in a tropical rainforest “
Wow. And yet of the original 2,000,000 acres, only 5% of original old-growth forest remains. Can you imagine if the entire Redwood forest had been left undisturbed from logging? Thankfully conservation efforts continue.
After a long day we stopped in Garberville for the night, where I had the best ribs I’ve ever had at Cecil’s New Orleans Bistro (get the Asian Cajun Ribs.) I also found a mural describing where we’d been and where we were going.
Indeed, the next day we took the winding road from Leggett to the coast where we found more wonder and beauty which I will save for a future post.
~ Susanne
P.S. Here’s Part 1 if you missed it! Down the Oregon Coast.
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Happy Cats and Birds in the Garden
We must have brought the good weather back from California as we’ve had blue skies and sunshine all week here in the Northwest. In fact, we’ve had record breaking temperatures with Seattle reaching 80 degrees yesterday.
I’ll take it. It would have been hard to come back to rain and gray. But regardless of the weather, the cats are happy we’re back. After being cooped up inside for a week and a half, they are relishing the outdoors.
Yesterday as I sat by the stream, the dappled shadows from the Douglas Fir provided color and cover from the sunshine. It wasn’t long before Benji joined me on my lap.
Today it was Tiger’s turn to rest with me in the garden.
We both watched as a towhee came to drink. Tiger’s slow and Benji was inside so I wasn’t worried this time. I do what I can to protect the birds.
It’s good to be home.
~ Susanne
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Road Trip Part 1 – Oregon Coast!
There’s nothing like a road trip to chase away the covid blues and there’s no better way to start than with donuts and coffee.
It would be our first real vacation in over a year – at least the first vacation more than a few days long and farther afield. We would drive down the Oregon Coast, through the Redwoods, to San Francisco via California’s Highway 1, then come back up through the middle.
We wished the kitties well and hit the road, crossing into Oregon at Astoria, then found 101 under blue skies and sunshine, more than we could have hoped for in early spring.
A stop at the overlook in Oswald West State Park showed us what was ahead; we’d have views like this the whole trip. We had Oswald West to thank for that, at least in Oregon. He was the governor who established Oregon’s beach highway law declaring that the entire Pacific coastline up to the high tide line would be a public highway, ensuring public access for all future generations. Squint and you’ll see the tiny cars high up on the left.
We spent our first night in Lincoln City arriving just in time for sunset, at the only hotel we booked in advance. Risky perhaps, but we weren’t exactly sure where we’d end up each day. As the rhythm of the trip took shape, I started booking hotels the day before we needed them.
The next day we stopped to watch the wild action of the waves at Devil’s Churn, Cook’s Chasm and Thor’s Well at Cape Perpetua (click on the pictures to enlarge them.)
Further up the road we stopped for a look at Heceta Head Lighhouse, the most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon Coast and perhaps in the country. I added a few more pictures to my collection.
Next was Old Town Florence on the Siuslaw River for lunch and shopping – though I did most of the shopping.
The Siuslaw Bridge opened in 1936 and is one of many funded by the Public Works Administration during the 1930’s. You can see the Oregon Sand Dunes in the distance.
We spent our second night in Bandon, one of my favorite towns on the Coast. Surprisingly Bandon was under stricter covid restrictions than previous stops so no indoor dining was allowed. Dinner came from a drive-thru burger joint and I think the whole town was in line. Social distancing was easy as we mainly shared the beaches with birds, seals and sea lions.
Our last day on the Oregon Coast we enjoyed beautiful vistas along the Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor including, Natural Bridges.
I’ve forgotten the name of our final stop but I do remember a walk through the woods on a trail that emerged near the edge of a cliff. Uh-huh. Still the views were good (click to enlarge.)
California and the Redwoods are next. Stay tuned for that.
~ Susanne
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Home Again, Home Again from a Wonderful Road Trip
You may have noticed I was off the grid for the last week or so – then again, maybe you didn’t as I tried to stop by occasionally when internet was available. (You wouldn’t think there’d be a problem with cell service in the wilds of California, but you’d be wrong.)
Anyway, it’s good to be back home after our first real vacation of the covid era. It was done safely and according to the rules – Bob’s fully vaccinated and I figure I’m at 80% after my first Moderna shot. So off we went, equipped with plenty of masks and sanitizers and common sense too – for a nine day road trip down the West Coast, through the Redwoods and to recently opened San Francisco.
Oh what a great time we had! The weather was perfect – blue skies and sunshine and temperatures climbing every day. We enjoyed ocean beaches, giant trees, wildflowers, lighthouses and wildlife along with a fun weekend exploring San Francisco. I’ll be sharing more about it in the coming days after I settle back into ordinary life at home. In the meantime here’s a foretaste.
Oregon Coast
This is Coquille Point in Bandon, one of my favorite coastal towns. There were seals and sea lions resting on the rocky ledges in the distance but I’ll save that for later.
Redwoods
No matter how many times I see these magnificent trees I’m impressed just the same.
California Coast
There’s so much to show you from the California Coast but for now you’ll have to settle with Mendocino, a charming town that rests on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
San Francisco
Finally there’s San Francisco, a city I could visit again and again and probably will, where the natives were happily out in the sunshine after being cooped up for months. We carefully joined them on Fisherman’s Wharf.
There’s lots more to tell but that will do for now.
~ Susanne
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Springing with the Birds!
I love this time of year when color brightens up the garden, starting with the azaleas.
The birds love it too as they woo a mate and look for nesting places. Wrens and chickadees visit the tiny houses, and the choices are endless.
“How about one of these, Midge? Do you prefer stationary or swinging?”
‘A little too close to the neighbors, Bill. And I was hoping for something more traditional, perhaps in stone. What about this one?”
“Perfect,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”
-Susanne
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Indian Plum
I discovered a new shrub this spring – or should I say I discovered its name?
I’d seen it many times on my walks in the woods, always stopping to admire its growth in the dead of winter and its blossoms in early spring. But it was only recently I learned its name – Indian Plum – and since then I have a new appreciation tor this native shrub, one of the first to bloom in the Pacific Northwest.
I saw it growing abundantly on recent walks in filtered sunlight under the canopy of trees and also under bright sunshine near the edges of the trail.
‘We should get one,’ I told my husband! ‘See how beautiful they are and how easily they grow!’
Little did I know, for as I scrolled through pictures I’d taken earlier in my yard I found one – yes, an Indian Plum I didn’t know I had. It was growing in an unkempt area near the driveway, alongside some blackberry bushes where it got no attention or respect. I could transplant it but since it sprang up where it chose why should I interfere?
Prized by Pacific Coast Native Americans who used the berries, twigs, and bark for food, teas and medicine, it’s also loved by birds and other wildlife.
For Cee’s Flower of the Day and Becky’s BrightSquares.
~ Susanne
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Hood Canal Bottoms Up at Alderbrook
Hood Canal will always be a special place to me holding childhood memories of fishing and swimming at Pleasant Harbor where my grandma ran the store and my grandpa hauled in fresh shrimp on his boat.
But that was many, many, years ago in Brinnon on the north end of the Canal; I’ve spent very little time at the south end where most of the lodging and services are. So on a beautiful day last month we spent the night at Alderbrook Resort at the bottom of the Canal and oh! what a pleasant surprise!
We took the ferry from Fauntleroy in West Seattle for a 40 minute ride to Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.
From there it was a short drive to Belfair at the very end of the ‘fish hook’ of Hood Canal, where we had lunch and visited Theler Wetlands Nature Preserve.
We continued south to Twanoh State Park where Bob fished and I wandered with my camera – this always works well for us. 🙂
The oyster covered beach reminded me so much of those youthful days at Pleasant Harbor, where we fished from the dock using mussels as bait dropping our line next to the piling where the perch liked to feed. I still remember the smell of those mussels and was surprised to learn that people eat them today. They will always be fish bait to me!
It was all so familiar but noticeably different too – at this end, the Olympic Mountains form a backdrop to the Canal; in Brinnon they were behind us.
The same wonderful views greeted us at Alderbrook Resort. We walked the grounds, dined at the recently opened restaurant – limited capacity – no problem for a weekday in winter – and spent a peaceful night.
The next morning we walked in the woods and the thick understory was just as I remembered from taking the trails down to Pleasant Harbor.
We were happy to find a great place to stay on Hood Canal so close to home. During the summer there is even more to do with swimming and boating. We will return.
~ Susanne
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Cat in Motion
It’s been a long winter and rainy spring and the cats are getting restless. Though Tiger sleeps the day away Benji demands more action so I thought it was time for a new toy. Not that he doesn’t have 47 others strewn about the house – he does. But he prefers the interactive ones and I misplaced the measuring tape he’d grown to love.
Enter the new mouse on a stick. I keep it in the drawer next to the chair in my office and first thing every morning he comes in ready to play.
“Benji not now,” I say, “I’m trying to drink my coffee,” but who can resist those eyes.
So I open the drawer while he waits patiently as I extract his favorite toy.
I dangle it overhead and he’s all over it – twisting and jumping – attacking till he brings it down with his sharp claws;
Only loosening his grip when he’s ready for more.
We both are entertained.
Shared with Sunday Stills, Respect your Cat.
~ Susanne
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A Conversation with Benji in Quarantine
I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I had this conversation with Benji, but it feels like we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!
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Snowbirds of the Skagit Valley
Last week I visited the daffodil fields of the Skagit Valley
and got to see the snowbirds too!
Thousands of snowbirds including snow geese from Russia’s Wrangel Island and trumpeter swans from Canada and Alaska migrate south along the Pacific Flyway to spend the winter in the fertile farmlands of the Skagit Valley.
Maybe they come for the views.
It won’t be long till they start their long journey back to the Arctic.
Sharing with Cees’s Fun Foto Challenge, Birds of All Kinds!
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 