Redwoods

Redwoods was voted the favorite park of the trip by all parties involved. The huge trees were similar to what we saw in Sequoia, but everything was far more overgrown and fern-y in Redwoods. Also, they have a beach! I definitely didn't realize that before this trip. 

Our first stop was the Klamath river overlook. Apparently it has a view of the river running into the ocean, but the entire thing was shrouded in fog so we couldn't see any of it. 

Picnic above the clouds

Alice, ever stylish, gives Elliot some messy face competition

Then we went for a short hike in what might as well be Jurassic Park. Or the Planet Endor from Star Wars (they filmed all the ewok scenes somewhere around here).

Robb kept making Ewok sounds for Colby and Alice

Lakin with her typical get up, and Aaron and Colby studying the sign in the background. Colby REALLY likes signs. 

Plants growing on plants. I have missed forests since moving to Arizona. 

They aptly named this one "Big Tree." it is smaller than General Sherman from Sequoia, even though it looks bigger since we could get closer to it. 

Blurry but adorable. He's a guy on the go!

Who says trees can't be horizontal?

Back in the beloved dirt

Robb's Endor speeder chase reenactment

He was much farther up than this picture gives him credit for

 Our other short hike was Fern Canyon. This was my favorite spot of the whole trip. I have never seen anything like it. 

The very aptly named Fern Canyon

You walked through the shallow creek on plank bridges. Colby loved it.

Elliot could care less about the bridges and ferns. He was all about throwing the rocks in the water. 

The view above the canyon

A deliciously climbable tree. Elliot was far too enthralled to stop throwing rocks long enough to look up at me.

Fern Man

 We camped at Gold Bluffs Beach that night. Robb has been talking about the wonder and glory of Gold Bluffs Beach since the earliest stages of planning this trip. We were promised astral planes and spiritual vortexes. 

Robb embracing his astral plane

The water was FREEZING cold. Probably around 40 degrees. 

Elliot was a pro at identifying the "wa wa"

Beachy Bloods or a Bloody Beach?

Colby loved being chased by the waves. He always pretends that things are chasing him even when they aren't, but I thought that the danger of being caught in the frigid waves would be too high stakes for him. But he loved it and we all ran from the waves for a long time and got our legs thoroughly numb. 

Being splashed by freezing water is an acceptable price for the joy of throwing sand in water

I caught a few sand crabs. Catching sand crabs will always remind me of being at Myrtle Beach with my dad growing up. I definitely missed the Myrtle Beach water temperature!

The bluffs before they were obscured by fog 

Not a bad view

No spiritual vortexes were spotted

 The only downside was that there was a sneaky spikey plant growing all over the place in the sand. Colby stepped on one barefoot. We had to lie him down while Robb pulled all of the stickers out. Poor guy.