This morning we got up early, got ready and ate breakfast at the hotel. We left the Holiday Inn at 8:20 to head up the coast. Today was full of driving and we wanted to get an early start.
After a few photo stops along the road, our next adventure was driving through a redwood tree. This is a total tourist trap (which we normally try to avoid), but it was neat to say we drove through a tree. There were just inches on each side of the mirrors as we drove through. I guess the 5 dollars wasn’t too much to pay to say you drove through a tree!
Next we took a 32 mile scenic drive on a road that ran along side of Highway 101, this is called “Avenue of the Giants.” The road wasn’t as curvy as we expected and the views were incredible. Here are a few pictures of us around these huge trees.
As we continued up the coast, we pulled off the road several times to snap some pictures of the breathtaking views.
We had lunch at a place called Cafe Marina. Another great seafood place right on the water. Dustin had crab cakes and I had blackened Pacific Red Snapper.
After lunch we continued up the coast and stopped at Redwood National Park. After driving around awhile, we headed up to Fern Canyon. Fern Canyon is were a part of Jurassic Park was filmed, it was located about 8 miles off Highway 101 on a dirt / gravel road. We decided to hike part of the valley since we had been sitting in the car for the majority of the day. They had a nice loop we could circle around back to our car.
The valley had several different types of ferns and was a fun little hike. Dustin’s phone registered the hike at 1 mile and it felt great to get out and walk around.
After our short hike, we continued the last few miles to Brookings. We found a great Thai restaurant for dinner. I had a pumpkin curry dish and Dustin had Cashew Shrimp. Not authentic to the region, but extremely yummy!
Before checking into our condo we headed to the grocery store to pick up food for tomorrow; breakfast, lunch and dinner. We like to save money while traveling, so since our condo has a kitchen, we are going to use it!
Our place has some of the best views out of all of the places we have stayed across the world. Stunning blue water with white foam and large rocks. Plus there is a short path down to the beach. We got there just in time for the sun to set and watched the sun go down over the rocks.
We finished the night off by making a delicious chocolate dessert (grain free, egg white free, and low carb!) and watching a movie. Excited for a day to relax tomorrow!
