Oct. 28 - A Baker's Dozen

Today, Diane and I are in the Redwood Forest area of Northern California. We drove nearly 300 miles today exploring the beauty of this part of California.

We are also celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary today.


As we drove up North today, in the city of Orick we spotted this herd of elk having an early morning swim.


Those were not the only elk we saw... I spotted these elk in somebody's yard while we were driving and Diane got a shot of them from out the car window.



We stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Redwood National Park. This area was dedicated to Lady Bird Johnson in 1969 by President Nixon. The redwoods are huge. They are also difficult to photograph - most things 200 to 300 feet tall are.


Here is Diane taking a breather sitting on one of the redwoods.


Along the coast we came across these two "farm houses". They are actually cinder block buildings that were built to look like farm houses during World War II. The contained radar equipment to serve as an early warning system. From the road, the sky, or the sea they looked like farm houses though.




Driving south down the coast, we came across the city of Trinidad. This is the Trinidad lighthouse.


Back in another forest area, Diane is standing next to the base of the tree the "Dyerville Giant." This is what the massive redwoods look like down below when they fall.


Yesterday was fun also. We started the day in Fairfield and stopped by the Jelly Belly Factory to do a factory tour before we headed north.



You must wear a paper hat on the tour. Diane caught me looking pretty sexy in mine.



After our tour, we drove to Eureka, California. The only thing I know about Eureka is Ronald Reagan went to college here. I got a nice picture of the harbor from the Eureka boardwalk.


We also found out Eureka is known for its Victorian architecture. Here is the former home of William Carson - a lumber mill owner. The home is now a private club and not open to the public, so this is all I have of it.


That is the story of our last two days. We are heading out to an anniversary dinner tonight, and then heading down to the city by the bay in the morning.