June 11: Russian Gulch State Park, Mendocino, California

Rising with the sun, we continued down the coast (after clearing up the mystery of the country music loving park ranger). The Oregon coast was as beautiful as we remembered from the night before. We took in the views until California where we had to go though an agricultural inspection at the border. They tried to take our avocado since it apparently had scale pests. However, the guard took pity on us and allowed us to keep the avocado once we assured her we were planning on eating it that day for lunch and thus it wouldn’t be getting too far into the state. They didn’t inspect our cucumber. Apparently they don’t host scale pests or other undesirables.

California was very welcoming (in our whole time in California, we saw at least 3 California Welcome Centers, only one of which was anywhere near the border). Our next destination was the Redwoods. Again, signage was unclear. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the Redwoods is a series of state parks, not one cohesive national park. Also, our trusty guidebook travels up the coast rather than down it, making all of its recommendations a little confusing. We tried to drive along the scenic Coastal Drive where seals and sea lions apparently like to hang out. We didn’t see any seals or sea lions and the road was closed halfway through. We almost accidentally visited a state prison since that was our only other option at the fork in the road. We almost missed the sign that said in large letters “Not a through road!” and then in much smaller font the important fact that it lead to a prison. We turned around and headed back to 101.

We drove through the northern parks, pulling over sporadically to check out some very large (shocking, we know) trees and ending up at Prairie Creek Visitors Center. We parked, checked out a trail map and decided to have lunch. We ate our avocado, cheese, cucumber and spinach sandwiches on a bench since you had to pay $6 to enter the picnic area. Who knew?

Finished with lunch and ready to hit the great outdoors, we headed into the woods. We started with the Revelations Trail, which was nice and short and had informational plaques throughout, instructing us on how to use our various senses to enjoy the forest. Then we attempted to start our real hike. We had a little trouble finding the trailhead but we eventually headed out on the James Irvine Trail. We didn’t see any of the advertised waterfalls but it was still an awesome hike and definitely the best way to experience the Redwoods. The forest was quiet except for a few mosquitoes, which seemed to follow us on our hike (we tried to trick them by stopping for a second and then running ahead – mission unsuccessful). Highlights on the hike – apart from the trees, of course – included some large slugs, caterpillars, moss and wildflowers. Louisa suffered a minor injury, scraping herself on something. It was lucky that we were almost back at the car since there was a surprising amount of blood for such a small injury. She washed it off and put some Neosporin on it. Thus far she hasn’t shown any signs of gangrene or other such maladies.

We got back in the car, invigorated from our hike, and continued south. We stopped at an intriguing stand on the side of the road. It turned out to be a shop of chainsaw carvings. Their carvings had won several chainsaw-carving competitions in Oregon so we knew they were legit. We didn’t purchase anything but we took a couple of pictures.

Back on the road, we took the turn for Highway 1, which Louisa’s uncle had recommended us. Immediately we started driving through what felt like a slalom course. It was mountainous, up-and-down hairpin turns for about 30 miles. Louisa navigated them with poise while Emily clutched the seat secretly and hoped Louisa didn’t notice her unease. We made it out alive and were rewarded by spotting whales almost as soon as we pulled out of the trees onto the coast. Needless to say, we pulled over and watched the spray from their blowholes for a while. We didn’t have binoculars so we couldn’t see much else but still, WHALES!

We continued down the coast, taking in the views until it both began to grow dark and we started to feel starving. Louisa’s uncle had recommended Mendocino as a stopping point for the night so we made that our goal. We got to Mendocino a little before 8 and discovered that people there must not eat. The one restaurant we found was a bit pricy for our tastes and formal for our attire. After cruising the town looking for alternatives, we decided to head back a few miles to Fort Bragg, where we had seen quite a few restaurants that looked like they would actually allow us through its doors.

We decided to stop at a Mexican restaurant since the windows advertised “Burritos,” and that enticed us. The burritos we ate were as filling as we expected, and as we needed. We paid the check right at sunset and decided to rush out to try to catch a glimpse of it over the ocean. As we walked out, we passed some people sitting at the bar watching the NBA finals. Though there were only about 10 seconds left in the game, and it was a close one, we decided to skip it for the sunset – which turned out to be a great decision since LA won and the men sitting at the bar were probably Lakers fans. And you can guess how we feel about the Lakers.

Unfortunately, on the short drive back to the State Park where we planned to spend the night, our view of the sunset kept getting obscured. By the time we reached the entrance, the sun had disappeared under the horizon. However, this did mean that we could enter the campsite under the cover of nightfall, our preferred method.

Though the sign at the booth said that the campsite was full, there was no guard stationed there so we decided to sneak in anyway. There were, in fact, several open sites, though after parking in one we found a small sign that said that it was reserved. There was no sign of life, however, and the night before had been reserved as well, so we decided that the Roberts family probably wasn’t coming to claim their site.

It was very dark by this point, so we decided not to bother setting up the tent, especially since we would be getting an early start the next morning. Walking to the bathroom, however, we felt very lame, as all the other campers were sitting around fires beside their sturdy tents, sharing ghost stories and drinking beers. Back in our sleeping bags in the car, we read some of the bedtime story we have been reading aloud to each other instead. (We’re too embarrassed to tell you what it is, however.)

Once again, it was an early night.