Ferns, elk, more trees

From Craig: we started Sat July 14 by driving down to the Linda Bird Johnson Memorial Redwood Grove.  This may have been my favorite thing on our trip (Merikay's is Crater Lake).  The trees were less dense and had less undergrowth than other sites, allowing one to appreciate each tree for itself.  Plus the fog/mist was clearing overhead in the latter half of our walk, so that the sunlight through the trees produced many amazing scenes of the type that I think of as "shafts of gold from heaven".   #$%^*, I left the camera in the RV so you will just have to take our word for it!


Back to Merikay: Craig without a camera is like a pizza without cheese.  We drove back to the RV park to get it before going on with the day.  


Camera aboard, we retraced our steps and went to explore a park area called Fern Canyon which was at the end of an eight mile gravel park/beach road.  As we drove across three or four running streams without bridges, I once again wondered if our choice of an Accent was smart! But we made it without damage so I guess it was OK.

It was well worth the ride!  The fifty foot tall walls of the canyon along a winding stream are covered with many ferns and dripping with small waterfalls.  Some of the scenes from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs", and "Dinosaurs Alive" were filmed here.  It really did feel like a prehistoric world, except for all the other tourists and the strategically placed wood planks in the steam bed! This is as much a "must see" as the big trees.

Speaking of which, here is another one we stopped to see.

Herds of elk make their home in the parks, meadows and front yards along Highway 101 in Del Norte county, California. Wherever they decide to graze cars full of tourists pull off the road to gawk and take pictures.  


We were among them.


We ended our third week of this trip with another nice evening visiting with our Alfa Gold neighbors.  


I could really get to like this.