Farmer hubby is too busy this time of year to take advantage of the holiday weekend. As much fun as the farm can be with a couple of sprinklers and sunshine, I just wanted to GO somewhere. Always up for a trip, I called mom who would have the weekend off as well. Within a few minutes we had a game plan, head over the hill. (2 hours to their house) Then load up van with my parents and my kids, and drive with well placed breaks to the beach (about 3 hours) sounded great to me! We found a great deal at this place.
Our well placed breaks consisted of a walk along Smith River, absolutely beautiful.
I got a couple of pictures of my parents, what lovely scenery for this!
The best part about getting out here are the smells this time of year. Stuff in bloom, (we still don't have very much blooming at home.) And the amount of oxygen I could get into my lungs at the low elevation. Home is about 4,000 ft. so whenever I get to go to the beach I feel like a marathon runner, SO much air to breathe!
A walk through the Redwoods, OH. MY. GOODNESS. Beauty and fun and running and walking, all the things kids dream of.
And finally the beach. Sand and water and splashing. A nice dinner. A visit to the Sea Lions.
A decent sleep in our spacious rooms. I got to take a bath while the kids zonked out. Knitted and watched old reruns of Bob Newhart. Sweet sleep. What a lovely and beautiful day and we still had another one to go!!
In the morning, the kids watched some cartoons and bounced back and forth from our room to the grandparents room, they thought that was pretty fun (one door down, but HUGE to the little guys)
Breakfast at the hotel (my favorite kind, no restaurant ordering or waiting involved) Then another trip to the sea lions. Next a trip through Ocean World
The kids got to pet seastars and anemones, look at rays and sharks and bass. Then pet a shark (which very much thrilled Caiden) and even got to see a simple and cute seal show. Caiden was really impressed with this part that a seal would do things that the trainer told it to do.
Next a drive to Jedidiah State Park. Absolutely gorgeous (especially because we were told how to go through the "back" way so as not to have to pay! love that! We drove through the trees, could have touched them. I was thankful that dad was playing chauffeur, because I would not have liked navigating between the trees. It was absolutely gorgeous to see God's creation in this way, those giant trees stand so beautifully and even when they have fallen, so many have new life coming out of them and blend so well into the forest. I LOVE it!
We stopped for another walk and I took tons of pictures, too many for this post but so many to enjoy over the years, I may have to finally order some prints!
During this walk I got to watch from a distance the most beautiful thing. Grandpa teaching Caiden about a recently fallen tree. He was showing how far it has fallen and how long it was. Then holding a piece of the shattered tree. And finally walking along. (so precious!) Thanks dad for taking the time to talk with your grandson.
Finally, driving toward home. DQ for lunch, driving driving driving. And home. So good to be back, so nice to get away. Nice trip mom!
3 comments:
Great pictures. It was wonderful to relive the week-end.
I love a change if pace too! Looks like a fun trip.
It looks like you guys had such a great time! Aren't the Redwoods amazing? J&B loved Ocean World, too.
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