We’ve had five days in the redwoods, and it’s been great to relax and catch our breath! After spending a rainy Monday night in our cozy motel room in Crescent City, we were able to get an early camp set up at our reserved site in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. I’ve wanted to stay in this park for quite some time, and it was as lovely as I’d imagined. Our site was deep in the forest, surrounded by redwoods. Despite the lack of water and electric hookups, we were well prepared with a five-gallon water jug connected to the sink pump, a battery to operate the trailer lights, and a good-sized propane tank outside with a twelve-foot hose connecting it to our space heater inside the tent.
Due to rain predictions in Olympic National Park, we revised our itinerary to spend several days in the redwoods and now plan to head straight to Seattle from Northern California. So, I was ready to settle into a spot for the first time since leaving home. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. We had given up our first night’s reservation in order to stay in a motel, due to the late hour and the rain, and we quickly learned that, even mid-week, this state park fills quickly. After our first gorgeous night, we tried our best to get a couple more nights in our site, or even a nearby site in the same campground, but no luck! They were completely full.
Breaking down the pop-up trailer after less than 24 hours in camp is very depressing; it’s a lot of work to set up and break down, so we’ve always tried to stick to a 2-night minimum. But, it had to be done and we needed a new place to stay. Fortunately, our good friends at KOA saved the day!
I was reluctant to leave a beautiful state park for what I assumed would be a commercial RV parking lot with maybe a few trees, but I could not have been more wrong! The Crescent City/Redwoods KOA is amazing! Our site is deep in a forested portion of the campground and we were able to reserve it for three nights. We’ve got the beauty and quiet of the forest combined with the convenience of electric and water hookups, hot showers, cell service, WiFi, and laundry facilities. I honestly could not ask for more! The campground is also only minutes from both Crescent City and the Redwood Parks. The girls have been able to get some school work done at the tables in the rec room, and, with solid cell service and WiFi, I’ve been able to get some work done as well. And, with three whole days to explore, we’ve gotten in redwood hikes, coastal walks, a truly amazing Native American museum visit, and three visits to the awesome Hiouchi Cafe for brunch.
School work for the kids this week has consisted of some math (ALEKS algebra for Mic and 2nd grade Drops in the Bucket for Daisy), hikes and bike rides for PE, poetry and song writing about our hikes for Language Arts, drawing nature scenes for art, researching local plant and animal life for science, and studying Native American culture for social studies. We visited an amazing museum in an unlikely spot- the Trees of Mystery tourist stop on Hwy 101. Their vast private collection of old and new Native American artifacts, from tribes all over the west, was beautifully displayed by region.
We also enjoyed a visit to the Yurok government center and their visitor information kiosk, which gave information about the present and the past of California’s largest native tribe. It’s very cool for the girls to get a glimpse of modern life for Native Americans in addition to the history lessons.
Today, we broke down camp while also packing for our cruise to Alaska. We’re eight hours from Seattle, and our cruise departs at 4:00 pm tomorrow. We’ll drive as far as we can and find a motel somewhere between Portland and Seattle. I’m looking forward to relaxing on a cruise and to seeing Alaska- one of only two states I’ve not yet visited in my life!
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