Humboldt Redwoods | Shelter Cove, California

Tuesday | 2 May 2000: Hello from the Redwoods! We had a great time in San Francisco, but need to begin our way back to Beaverton. Yesterday afternoon, DT and I visited our favorite stores in San Francisco: Sanrio and FAO Schwartz. Sanrio is heaven to me - two floors of Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars! They now have Hello Kitty kitchen things and Hello Kitty in an India motif! I tried to control myself and DT only put one thing back from my shopping basket. It is terrible, since our child is in college, that we spent an hour at FAO - but there is so much to look at and explore - so many toys to play with, stuffed animals to hug and Barbie galore!

Then we went over to San Francisco Center, took the curved escalators up to Nordstrom, hit the men's department and left two hours later - arms heavy with shopping bags. We had spent so much time in Nordstrom, we didn't have time to get up to the needlepoint shop (DT was so relieved!) and went to dinner with Poo, his youngest son, Karuna and their friends at the Harbor Village Chinese Restaurant. Harbor Village is one of the best Chinese restaurants ever - and, you will have to trust me on this, I have been to a fair number of Chinese restaurants... in China. They did not have a huge menu, but it was fabulous and very interesting. They had real birds nest soup and sharks fin soup for ONLY $60 per person! (Eeks!) We ordered "family style" and had sharks fin soup, whole crab in garlic sauce and whole crab in ginger sauce, Chinese broccoli with ginger, pea shoots, Ma Pao Tofu, Beef with Mushrooms and some sort of Halibut. (This was for 6 people and we ate it all.) Everything (I tried) was so delicious - no one could stop eating - and if you DID stop eating, Poo would only fill your plate again. A great evening and a great visit with Poo and his children. Poo headed back to Jakarta today and we are headed home.
 
We pointed Goldie North on 101, over the foggy Golden Gate Bridge. We had to use the windshield wipers! We drove past vineyard after vineyard - over territory we have covered many, many times and then entered rolling hills, carpeted with wildflowers and finally began to see forests and mountains. For lunch, we stopped at a rest stop and pulled up next to a "Sister of the Road" - another member of RVing Women! Of course, I introduced myself and we chatted - she is a member from New York. In all my travels, this is only the 2nd time I have come across a fellow member on the road - I recognized her from the RVW sticker on her motor home. Just a few miles South of Garberville, we stumbled upon a "RV Resort" and we pulled in to find a golf course, swimming pool, park-like setting (brochure read "country club" setting) and telephones at every site. We rented a campsite! I don't know how long we will stay - probably depends upon the weather and how my driver is feeling.

Wednesday | 3 May 2000: California is an interesting State. Cities seem to have the strangest reasons for existing... they all seem to be the "Gateway" to something. It is like they just want you to pass through, buy an Orange Fanta and get on your way to a place deserving a gate. Merced is the "Gateway to Yosemite" (as is, by the way, Modesto, Fresno, Mariposa and Oakhurst). Even the bridge to San Francisco has to be somehow associated with a Gate. More gates today: Garberville is the "Gateway to the Redwoods".
 
My driver needed a "rest" day, so we decided to remain at the Benbow RV Resort, for another day. We phoned to see if we could be excused from a charity event on Saturday, and were given a reprieve. Now, we can continue at a leisurely pace towards home. So... we rested all morning, drinking coffee and enjoying the sun. By the afternoon, DT felt up to driving me to look at a few gigantic trees and the seashore.
 
We drove just a few minutes to Humboldt Redwoods State Park and admired the beauty of the ancient Redwoods. There is an antique car rally this week on the "Avenue of the Giants", so it was fun to watch the old roadsters cruising down the old, winding highway. Here are a few photos for your pleasure:

Coastal Redwoods, to the top


Coastal Redwoods, at the bottom

Of course, while in the Redwoods State Park, it is required that you spend $3 to drive through a Redwood, so here is a photo of yours truly behind the wheel of the BC2, as I handily maneuver her through a tight spot:

Terry the Tree-Hugger: luckily we didn't drive Goldie today!

DT and I have been to the Redwoods several times, though always farther North - and we are headed that way again this week, so we did not linger... there are bigger and better trees to drive through near Orrick... so we drove to Shelter Cove. Isn't that just the cutest name for a little town? There is only one narrow winding, twisting road to Shelter Cove. It is dotted with informational signs telling how many crashes have occurred on the road - so we took it easy. The road travels through BLM land and at one point, on King's Ridge, you can see to the Pacific Ocean and to the East towards Trinity and Mt. Lassen! Snow-covered peaks to one side, Pacific Ocean to the other - imagine that! Truly a King's view! The wild flowers were blooming in abundance - especially the poppies and lupines. In Shelter Cove, we walked on a black pebble beach. The shore drops off and the surf was twice as loud as on a sandy beach - the waves push and pull the round pebbles and they make a tremendous roar in the surf. It was very pretty - the black rocks against the white surf, so I snapped this photo for your enjoyment:

The Beach at Shelter Cove
 

The Lighthouse on the point at Shelter Cove

Then we drove up to the point, still part of the BLM Nature Conserve, and had a late lunch at the grocery store-deli-restaurant-liquor store slash campground-post office-bait shop-motel-airport! There was a little landing strip on the edge of the ocean - you miss the strip and your plane is either in the water or in someone's motor home! From the deck at the above-mentioned establishment, we had a view of the lighthouse (photo above) and the beautiful sea. It was windy, but warm. After lunch, we walked down a rocky path beyond the lighthouse and were poking around in the tide pools, when we came around a bluff and surprised about 20 sea lions! When they spotted us (and our dog), they began sliding into the water - so we backed away.
 
Back to Goldie and resting! Tomorrow we will continue our journey North on 101. Probably not much luck on the cellular service, but we sure keep finding more and more campgrounds with phone service or a modem connection in the office... guess it’s not like camping at all, is it?