Day 4 - Redwoods and lunch with Kalli
We woke up on our Ukiah hotel to a lovely breakfast before we drove north several more hours to find some redwoods. :-) The hills of California looked the same, but started getting bigger and dotted with evergreens.
Then came the big babies. The redwoods. Right by the side of the road! So beautiful.
But before we saw the trees, we were able to meet for lunch with my cousin, Kalli. Somehow, I'm 32 years old and this is the first time I'm meeting my first cousin. Unreal. She is absolutely gorgeous, inside and out, and I just wanted to take her with us on the rest of the trip. Kara fell in love with her instantly and wanted so sit next to her at lunch. :-)
While us grown ups talked, Kara put marshmallows together with toothpicks to make neat shapes, thanks to mommy's researching pinterest for ideas.
Here I am with my sweet girl. Man, she is definitely the light of my life.
Three generations!
Kalli was next. Apparently great eyebrows comes from my mom's side of the family. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous she is. I said, your skin is amazing. How old are you again? When she said 19, it all made sense. ;-)
After we said goodbye to Kalli, we headed for the trees. Look at this giant one - covered in burls and moss - it was so interesting.
Lord, we thank You for Your amazing creation, which you filled with variety, just because You can.
Signature of a redwood tree - bark in the form of stripes.
Ah, the majesty. I love this one of her.
Looking inside a tree that was cut down. Weird.....
I love this picture!
We saw a log laying down (that had been cut down) and it's bark was perfectly smooth. I am guessing insects did it, but I'm not sure, of course. It was definitely eerie because you can see the picture right after it is how the bark is supposed to look.
Then the sun came out and lit up the tree across the way. The camera didn't capture how warm and bright that tree was in the sun....
Here's Kara in front of two trees in one. Huge.
See what I mean by two trees in one?
We visited the One Log house, which is so neat, especially for Kara. This tree was cut down, hollowed out, then turned into a trailer like house. We went 3 years ago also, check out the pics. (The weather 3 years ago was cold and rainy while this year was warm and sunny!)
Here we are inside. Kara signed the guest book while my mom and I took a look around.
Then we drove away from the state park, and headed for the 'real' woods, where we went last time - just pulled off the side of the road and went for a walk.
Of course Kara found an awesome bug along the way. She wanted to keep it. And bring it in the car. And name it. And feed it. No thank you.
I am not sure which is prettier - my little girl, or everything else around her....definitely her.
She loved climbing the rocks. She said, "I'm a pro, and I know what pro means."
Sweet peas! My mom grew up right down the street from here and she said wild sweet peas grew in her yard. What pretty colors.
Then we headed down to Eel River, which is absolutely beautiful and clear. The shoreline wasn't sandy, it was rocky. So pretty, we just had to bring a few home. :-)
While I laid on those big rocks and stared at the gorgeous trees and sky....
My mom and Kara sat with their feet in the crystal clear water, then skipped rocks.
Kara gave my mom "a climbing lesson"
Where I snapped their picture.
Kara and I with a giant redwood.
Then we drove to Leggett, CA, to drive through the tree. It's called the Chandelier Tree because the branches look like, well, a chandelier!
Here's what it looked like driving through it.
And Kara's amazed face as we did it. :-) She thought this was very cool.
We stopped in Laytonville, where my mom grew up, to have dinner.
And from the cafe was a view of Geiger's, the little food/mercantile market. She had loads of memories of shopping there, classmates who worked there, etc. We went inside after dinner to get some cookies for the hotel, but they had completely changed everything inside and she didn't even recognize it. Oh well, the cookies were good. :-)
We brought our cookies to the hotel, which we ate while we had a make up party. Kara was in charge.
She looks just lovely - so colorful. ;-)
Then grandma had a turn because Kara said, "Grandma, can I do your face next?" And as I'm coming to find out, Grandmas never say no to that sort of thing. :-)
Then we went to bed, no one was loud, and we slept like the dead. Up tomorrow, our second visit with Uncle Jay. :-)
Then came the big babies. The redwoods. Right by the side of the road! So beautiful.
But before we saw the trees, we were able to meet for lunch with my cousin, Kalli. Somehow, I'm 32 years old and this is the first time I'm meeting my first cousin. Unreal. She is absolutely gorgeous, inside and out, and I just wanted to take her with us on the rest of the trip. Kara fell in love with her instantly and wanted so sit next to her at lunch. :-)
While us grown ups talked, Kara put marshmallows together with toothpicks to make neat shapes, thanks to mommy's researching pinterest for ideas.
Here I am with my sweet girl. Man, she is definitely the light of my life.
Three generations!
Kalli was next. Apparently great eyebrows comes from my mom's side of the family. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous she is. I said, your skin is amazing. How old are you again? When she said 19, it all made sense. ;-)
After we said goodbye to Kalli, we headed for the trees. Look at this giant one - covered in burls and moss - it was so interesting.
Lord, we thank You for Your amazing creation, which you filled with variety, just because You can.
Signature of a redwood tree - bark in the form of stripes.
Ah, the majesty. I love this one of her.
Looking inside a tree that was cut down. Weird.....
I love this picture!
We saw a log laying down (that had been cut down) and it's bark was perfectly smooth. I am guessing insects did it, but I'm not sure, of course. It was definitely eerie because you can see the picture right after it is how the bark is supposed to look.
Then the sun came out and lit up the tree across the way. The camera didn't capture how warm and bright that tree was in the sun....
Here's Kara in front of two trees in one. Huge.
See what I mean by two trees in one?
We visited the One Log house, which is so neat, especially for Kara. This tree was cut down, hollowed out, then turned into a trailer like house. We went 3 years ago also, check out the pics. (The weather 3 years ago was cold and rainy while this year was warm and sunny!)
2009:
2013:
Here we are inside. Kara signed the guest book while my mom and I took a look around.
Then we drove away from the state park, and headed for the 'real' woods, where we went last time - just pulled off the side of the road and went for a walk.
2009:
2013:
Of course Kara found an awesome bug along the way. She wanted to keep it. And bring it in the car. And name it. And feed it. No thank you.
I am not sure which is prettier - my little girl, or everything else around her....definitely her.
She loved climbing the rocks. She said, "I'm a pro, and I know what pro means."
Sweet peas! My mom grew up right down the street from here and she said wild sweet peas grew in her yard. What pretty colors.
Then we headed down to Eel River, which is absolutely beautiful and clear. The shoreline wasn't sandy, it was rocky. So pretty, we just had to bring a few home. :-)
While I laid on those big rocks and stared at the gorgeous trees and sky....
My mom and Kara sat with their feet in the crystal clear water, then skipped rocks.
Kara gave my mom "a climbing lesson"
Where I snapped their picture.
Kara and I with a giant redwood.
Then we drove to Leggett, CA, to drive through the tree. It's called the Chandelier Tree because the branches look like, well, a chandelier!
Here's what it looked like driving through it.
And Kara's amazed face as we did it. :-) She thought this was very cool.
We stopped in Laytonville, where my mom grew up, to have dinner.
And from the cafe was a view of Geiger's, the little food/mercantile market. She had loads of memories of shopping there, classmates who worked there, etc. We went inside after dinner to get some cookies for the hotel, but they had completely changed everything inside and she didn't even recognize it. Oh well, the cookies were good. :-)
We brought our cookies to the hotel, which we ate while we had a make up party. Kara was in charge.
She looks just lovely - so colorful. ;-)
Then grandma had a turn because Kara said, "Grandma, can I do your face next?" And as I'm coming to find out, Grandmas never say no to that sort of thing. :-)
Then we went to bed, no one was loud, and we slept like the dead. Up tomorrow, our second visit with Uncle Jay. :-)
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