Lady Bird Johnson Grove
Saturday, June 21, 2025
We left around 8:00 AM in the morning. I wasn’t going to attempt the entire drive; the plan was to visit Sophon’s Aunt in Visalia for lunch and then continue to Ukiah where we would spend the night. We would then venture into Eureka, CA and into Redwood Tree territory.
Everything went as planned. It was nice to Sophon’s Aunt, and she was excited to see us. We are planning on spending more time with her on our way back. Visalia is close to the Sequoia National Park which we also wanted to see.
Visalia is in Central CA and it isn’t close to a big city. We made it appoint to bring Thai specialties from the Thai market along with some baked goods we picked up from our favorite bakery.
After lunch we headed to an REI in Frenso to pick up an Annual National Park pass. As I purchased it, I found myself thinking that this is the first time I have purchased an annual park pass and I plan on using it!
We arrived in Ukiah, found a place to eat, filled the car up with gas and turned in for the day.
Sunday, June 22, 2025
The following morning, we headed north. Our first stop was “The Legends of Bigfoot” a gift shop located off of highway 101 in Humboldt County selling souvenirs and handcrafted items. It is a fun stop that we had disccovered on our previous trip. It reminded me of when I was a kid; every year we took road trips and there were always gift shops at almost every stop filled with fun souvenirs. We decided to add another coffee mug to our mug collection. I always think that there is nothing better than starting the day with a cup of coffee in a mug that reminds me of a fun trip to a fun place!
We had lunch in Eureka and checked out some of the Victorian Mansions. We continued to head North where our “Guide Along Audio” tour kicked in. Our first stop was the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. We decided to hike the loop, and I immediately noticed the rhododendrons were in bloom
The Guide Along app talked a lot about how that the Redwoods only grow in a certain area and how that of the original old growth redwoods, less than 5% exist today. In the old days, it would take days to take down a tree, in modern times with modern equipment, they could clear acres in a day and yet, when they started establishing the parks, the logging industry protested. I wonder if it weren’t for the national parks, if there the redwoods would exist today.
We continued heading north on the 101 but on the recommendation of our Guide Along app, took a scenic route. We were glad we did; we saw a lot of great views of the coast! It was getting late in the afternoon so we headed to our hotel in Brookings, Oregon, just north of the border, and checked in.
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