August 21st 2008
North Coast – Day 4
H
ow’s that for “Love from the North Coast” picture? It’s the bottom of the leaf of a plant that looks like a deep green, oversized clover on one side and a pink heart on the other. And the ferns?
That would be Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park, one of the highlights of today’s road trip. which included one national Park – Redwood – and several state parks.
More about that in a moment, but first two jokes; the first indigenous to this ferny, redwood-covered part of NorCal and told by Incredible Daughter #1:
Q: How does Luke Skywalker get through the redwoods?
A: Ewoks.
Read it out loud, if need be. The second joke is one I came up with today, titled “Obama, the World’s Greatest.”
After Obama was elected president, the Russians saw an opportunity in his weakness and began reasserting themselves globally, including posturing to take back the Pacific Northwest, which they had controlled in the early 1800s.
As they expected, Obama quickly capitulated.
“I can’t let you have Washington or Northern California,” he said, “but you can have Oregon.”
And that’s how Barack Obama became the world’s greatest Oregon donor.
That actually got laughs, not groans, from the incredible daughters, which is just another reason why I love them so.
Today was an utter tourist romp; no sidebars on local politics and certainly nothing about whatever it was that went on in the world today. So without further adieu, pictures.
An elk, California style. Hanging out, very mellow, about 50 yards from the beach.
Mandatory poke your camera straight up and shoot the redwoods picture.
A redwood seed. If the Jews had known redwoods, Matthew 17:20 would probably read like this:
He replied, “”Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a redwood seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Stuff growing everywhere! In this rain forest, there are millions of living things in every square meter, a fecundity beyond comprehension. These mushrooms covered a redwood stump.
And these kept themselves to one ring in another fallen tree, following it in an arc. Why did they reject the other rings? Who knows? Certainly not me.
I liked the way this young redwood caught the light. Look at me! Kind of Obama-esque, no? All bright and shiny, but surrounded by many with much greater strength and experience.
Back to the coast – here the Klamath River joins the sea. Here’s the view up-river:
Connoisseurs of great over-regulation may remember the Klamath – how Greenies, fishermen and Indian tribes used an endangered fish and a gullible judge to deprive farmers of water a few years back, ruining many farms that had been in the same families for generations.
And almost finally …
What would a trip to NorCal be without this photo? We turned around at State Line Road and returned to CA, without so much as a Birkenstock purchase.
I’ll leave you with these photos of the Carson Mansion in Old Town Eureka. The lumber biz was very, very good to Mr. Carson:
Tomorrow, we drive, heading back to San Jose and our plane back to OC. And if we have enough time, maybe a quick cup o’ tea with Bookworm, who I understand is due some congratulations.
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