It had been once too many times up and down The 5, so a change seemed like a great idea for the return to LA from Seattle. The first day’s drive ended in Center Pointe, OR, near the Rogue Valley, caves, and river recreation. From there, a windy, mountainous road (state road 199) lead through towering evergreens and rocky cliffs toward the coast. We had lunch in a town called Crescent City, where we viewed the Battery Point lighthouse, as well as the St. George Reef lighthouse in the other direction up the coast. From there, Highway 101 hugs the coast heading south. There were several more stops: once for baskets of cherries, once to explore a lonely beach known for “sneaker waves” and at several scenic viewpoints. By afternoon, we arrived at the Humboldt Redwoods State Park area, which encompasses 53,000 acres, including 17,000 acres of old growth redwood forest. The Avenue of Giants runs parallel to Highway 101 for 32 miles, and we made several stops along the way to walk, take pics and gaze in awe. The trees are primarily Coast Redwoods, which these days only grow naturally in a long, narrow strip between southern Oregon and Monterrey County, California. Some of the dead trees were just as impressive as the live ones, as they become like a nursery for thousands of plant species as they decay. The close-up they provided of just how thick and strong the trunks of these trees are was simply amazing. We were surprised that here in this temperate rainforest, like the tropical ones, there are populations of animals and insects that live high up in the tree canopy all their lives and never come down to the ground! Founder’s Grove was the last stop before getting underway again, and there was a great interpretive walk with tons of information about the area and its history. Our last night was spent in Ukiah, which had a very good Thai restaurant. The remainder of the coastal route was lovely, winding through mountain towns, farmland and wine country before ending back in LA once again.

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