Avenue of the Giants | Benbow Inn

Sunday 4 June 2006: Garberville, California - In the middle of the night I heard the unmistakable whirr of the motor on the ceiling vents - they close automatically when it rains. No! How could it be possible - there wasn't a cloud in the sky when we went to bed! Later, we heard the vents open and close several times until one of us stepped out of bed and turned the danged things off. When we woke this morning, it was warm and sunny - the mysterious rain and clouds had just stopped by long enough for an evening lawn watering.

We walked under the highway this morning to attend the Arts & Music Festival and paid our $10 admission fee to see babies, belly dancers, pottery, hippies, artists, pregnant women, food vendors, jewelry designers, knitters, hemp clothing, organic cotton clothing, cookies baking in a solar oven, nursing mothers, old hippies, young hippies (and several unbathed hippies) tattooed hippies, musicians, magicians, hoola-hoop artists, henna tattoo artists, drunk people, stoned people, drunk and stoned people and local election candidates. Eugene had been transplanted to the Redwoods for the weekend. It was great fun.

Belly dancing at the art festival


Avenue of the Giants


Forest floor

We spent the afternoon in Redwoods State Park, driving along the Avenue of the Giants and hiking along the trails to look at trees bigger than imaginable and older than imaginable. In the spring, the Redwoods are simply outstanding - the forest floor is thick with lush ferns and the rhododendrons are in bloom. Much of the Avenue of the Giants follows the Eel River and there are numerous stops, pull-outs, and photo opportunities along the route - plus many places to hike for a few minutes or a few miles.

At the Visitor Center you can gather any information you need for your exploration and also visit one of the first "RVs" known - the TRAVEL LOG built by Charles Kellogg. Kellogg is a fascinating character in California history. Born in the Sierras, he was raised by two of his father's hired help - a Chinese man and a Native American woman. Kellogg had the gift of mimicking singing bird songs and was a born naturalist. His father sent him back east to be educated and Kellogg earned a degree from Syracuse University, but always returned to his beloved Redwoods between his famous vaudeville and radio performances where he would amaze the masses with his bird calls and stories of the west.

Charles Dennison Kellogg (1868-1949) wanted to do all he could to help preserve the Redwoods, so with the help of the Forest Service, he took a chunk of a fallen tree and turned it into his TRAVEL LOG - mounted it on Nash Quad chassis (15 miles per hour max speed) and turned the interior into living quarters. The TRAVEL LOG is the largest piece of hewn Redwood in the world.

 
The Interior and the Nash Quad Truck

Kellogg spent months of each year, driving the TRAVEL LOG around the country, educating people about the Redwoods and selling Liberty Bonds to support the war effort. The TRAVEL LOG was recently completely restored by Chris Myers.

Another nice place to visit in the Redwoods is the Founders Tree Grove. Here you can see the Founders Tree - at 346 feet the tallest tree in the Humboldt Redwoods. The Founders Tree is 40 feet around. In the grove you can walk on a great path amidst the huge Redwoods and the forest floor carpeted with gigantic ferns.

Founders Grove path


Forest floor in Founders Grove

The Historic Benbow Inn is across the highway from our campground and the two establishments are actually owned by the same family. (It is possible to dine at the inn and charge your dinner to your campsite and Benbow Inn guests come to the RV park to use the pool and spa!) The Benbow Inn opened in 1924 and has been serving royalty, tourists and movie stars since. Tonight, it served the Taylor's.

The Benbow Inn


The Benbow Inn

The hotel and gardens are fashioned in the Tudor style and the lobby brings you back to England - actually quite strange in the California Redwoods.

The pretty hotel lobby

The dining room in the Benbow Inn is also nicely appointed and decorated in the Tudor style with wall-sized tapestries and windows overlooking the terrace and views to a pretty stone bridge arching the Eel River below. We dined on Vietnamese Ahi tuna rolls, iceberg wedges with blue cheese from a local dairy, shrimp bisque, penne with chicken in a light basil cream sauce topped with caramelized leeks and a 14 oz. New York steak served on a bed of sautéed chard with garlic mashed potatoes. We tasted only, brought home leftovers, and did not have dessert. The only disappointment was the bisque - DT felt it wasn't hot enough.

Fresh Vietnamese salad rolls with Ahi tuna


New York, New York - in Garberville

Service was remarkably spectacular at the Benbow Inn. Through our numerous courses our server (Nari) did not neglect our cutlery needs and our wine glasses remained filled.

RV Park:Benbow Campground