I never imagined this drive of a mere 320 miles would take
us 13 hours. But that is exactly how long it took us to drive from San
Francisco to Orick/Redwoods National Park.
Our day started with our last view of the Golden Gate
Bridge, which was of course, breathtaking. Then we headed out to begin the
journey. I knew this scenic drive would be curvy and slow going but I had no
idea we would average 25 MPH for most of it. At first it was fine but after we
had only gone about 150 miles in 6 hours we were both at our wit’s end. In
fact, I had to do something I never do. We pulled off at a gas station and
napped for an hour. This recharged us for the second leg of our trip and we finally reached our most exciting destination: Chandelier Tree!
Yes, we drove through this 2500 year old Redwood and it was
incredible. Totally worth the drive! Actually, the coastal views along Highway 1
were truly worth it…
Along the way we witnessed some of the largest trees Brad
and I have ever seen, the Redwoods are an enchanted place and something that
will not soon be forgotten. We were lucky enough to drive through The Avenue of Giants and see some of the largest trees before it got dark.
Then at around 9pm we rolled into Eureka, CA and found this
dive of a pizza place called Big Louie’s Pizzeria. The servers were more than
helpful in directing us towards our campground and served us piping hot, delicious, and cheesy
pizza.
I had mushrooms, jalapeno, and garlic. Brad had his standby: pepperoni and cheese.
After driving another hour we entered a
rather creepy dark forest, paid for a camp site and set up our tent in the
middle of the night. The journey was well worth both the views on the way and the final destination today.
