Friday, July 18, 2008 – Eureka, California

After getting up bright and early and snagging some breakfast at the hotel, we headed up to Eureka.  On the way, we took the Avenue of the Giants, a road through magnificent coastal redwoods.  We stopped to walk into the forest a little and take some pictures.  John looks very tiny!

Later, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center where there was a tree that had fallen down.  The rings were marked with various historical dates.  The tree had been born in 1187 so it had been alive through a lot of history. 

 Inside the visitor center, there was an exhibit about a man, Charles Kellogg, who had been instrumental in saving the redwoods.  He even built a truck out of a redwood and drove around promoting his cause.  The odd thing, though, is that this man could vocalize bird songs and is the only known man to extinguish a flame with his voice.  Until, that is, our Jon extinguished a flame on MythBusters last year!  Wow, what a coincidence.

We arrived in Eureka around 4 PM also stopping in Scotia, a Pacific Lumber Company owned town.  And Ferndale which is a totally Victorian town, really cute and well preserved.  We are staying in a condo here and it’s right on the harbor.  Here’s the view out our window.