Redwoods Trip June 2009

Tuesday 16 June 2009

I'm afraid to sit down because I might just fall asleep. All I've eaten today is peanut M&M's and Pepsi. Let's start from the beginning. We spent all day yesterday purchasing things, cleaning out the car, and getting stuff packed away. Katie had a nice list with everything and we sure used it. I got home from work and, after packing the car, went to bed as early as possibly, and only 9:15 was possible. I slept well enough and was woken up by Katie at midnight. The plan was for Katie to stay up so she would sleep in the car and take over driving for the second half. Right.

Well, we got it all together, Elsa was confused that she was in her car seat, dark, but she made the best of it as she always does. We topped off our gas at the farm and waited at my mom's house. We waited there for Conrad et al which included The Kirsten Family. They came as foretold, and we were soon off, westward, through Vale, Harper, and even Juntura. Winding, sometimes straight, we found Burns. Somehow I had to lead the way and find the only open gas station. The trip from there to Bend was almost as uneventful, but the sun came up and the mountains showed in the west. We moved northish through Bend to IHOP. The food was meh. Not much for IHOP myself. It wasn't really sausage, anyway. We gassed up and lead the way in a southly direction which took us through the beginnings of forest. We pointed out memories of our honeymoon. The La Quinta in Bend, the Dairy Queen south therefrom, and, of course, Crater Lake. Only this time we approached it from the north. After a brief stop....somewhere, we continued on to Crater Lake and it was as beautiful as I remember. What I didn't remember were the mosquitoes,. There was still snow on the ground, but the mosquitoes. We stopped at a familiar stop, but we ended up piling into our cars aqap and moving to the main stop area on the southwest side of the lake. We fiddled, yes, and Elsa went up and down four stairs. Up and down, and getting her to leave was a task. I thought there was a nice gift shop, too, but we were in a hurry. We had to leave Crater Lake, but it was a splendid visit. After 2 hours we found Grants Pass and a Subway. After some last minute purchases at Wal-Mart before we left the sales tax-free state. The last leg seemed fun at first, but then the roads led us downhill, quickly, we dove into the deep of the forest and Elsa wasn't happy about it. She dealt with it, but as we stopped, finally, after all of the winding roads, we realized that her stomach had winded as well. She lost her breakfast, lunch, and snacks all in two volleys and it was horrendous. Katie cleaned while Elsa relaxed and became chipper again.

Katie did never really get any sleep. I, therefore, ended up driving the whole 10.5 hours. Special thanks to the aforementioned candy and soda.

After all the fun was over we realized we were in our camp site, tents all ready, dinner in tummy, barfed-on everything cleaned (thanks to grandma), fire going, everyone munching on cookies....Katie and I looked at each other and thought, “ahh, we're here.”

Quotes of the day:

“Do you want me to murder you?” -Jon to Dallin

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Today was the day we came for. I woke up at 6:00 and went for a 4-mile run through the redwoods. It took a while to find a decent trail, but once I did it was so beautiful. We had breakfast which included Conrad dumping out cooked eggs onto the ground, but luckily we had a dozen more. It was tasty anyway. We had a mellow morning. Katie and Elsa found time and quiet for a nap. I sat in base camp and read, chatted, wandered around, and read some more. Before we knew it gma was making haystacks for lunch and people began to congregate. We ate and all piled into our vehicles and drove to a place where we could walk around amidst the redwoods. What a beautiful walk it was. There were huge trees everywhere. The sun had come out and the light in “Stout Grove” where we were was perfect. Elsa even had a great time walking around, leading the way. Many other passers by commented on her pretty pink shoes. We snapped picture after picture, but they didn't do justice to the true beauty of the scene. We spent a little over an hour there and went back to camp. We tried putting Elsa in her pack and play in the car, but she didn't much like that. Oh well. I read some more, wandered around, and even fell asleep myself for a time. I made three trips to the Jedediah Smith information center/ museum/ gift shop with different people. Katie, Elsa, and I all went to the river to see if we couldn't spend some time there having fun, but it wasn't quite what we had hoped for. Dinner was tasty soup compliments of Conrad. It's now 10pm local time and Jon woke up from his nap. No one sleeps until Jon sleeps and even when he is sleeping some can't sleep.

Thursday, 18 June 2009

The days are just packed. Myself, Sarah, and Carrie went for a 3-mile run. We basically went the same place I went yesterday, only slightly shorter. It was nice to have company. We came back, I showered, and we waited for breakfast. Someone finally piped up and asked whose turn it was and it turned out that there was a communication breakdown and no one was scheduled to do it that morning. So, I volunteered and the French toast was a hit for those who like French toast. We lounged for a bit then headed off to Crescent City, a sizable town about 20 minutes away. There was a smallish aquarium there. We saw fish, sharks, and a sea lion along with an otter. We even got to pet a small shark that was swimming around in a shallow pool. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves. We then ate lunch at a restaurant next door. My burger and blackberry cobbler were as good as I hoped they would be.

We then went to the beach. There was a nice sandy beach not far from the restaurant and everyone seemed to think that was the highlight of the day, save myself and Elsa. She didn't even want to be put down onto the beach towel. There were thousands upon thousands of dead crab parts everywhere and the smell, to me, was a little bit too strong. We weren't there for too long, but everyone wanted to stay. Why did we leave? Well....

As we were waiting for our food at the aforementioned restaurant, we obtained a copy of “101 Things to Do” (we assumed it meant things to do in the area) and found the tree that one could drive through. We headed south towards Klamath, hitting some nasty road construction, but in awe at the beauty of our surroundings. Grandma was with us and Elsa fell asleep. We were by ourselves, as we left early to find a potty for the pregnant Katie. We couldn't find much until we saw....Paul Bunion on our left. I turned in and the ladies took a potty break while I familiarized myself with Paul and Babe, his blue ox. He talked and waved. Grandma spied the other three cars in our convoy tooling south along the highway, so we soon departed to catch up. Not knowing where the heck to go, we found the 101 things book and found some vague directions to the tree to drive through. We turned off and followed a highway for a time until we decided we had gone far enough and turned around. Somehow, on the way out, we had missed the multiple 50-foot signs that pointed us towards the famous tree. We paid some moneys and drove us up a steep, windy hill. There was the rest of our party and there was.....the tree! Conrad was driving through it, yes, even at that moment. Other people came and went, but we sort of dominated the area and each car drove through it several times. The Sniggers went through 4 times, once for each dollar spent, and we went through it 3 times, including one time backwards. It was an exciting moment of our trip. We all went back to camp from there, some of us stopping off at Wal-Mart for supplies. Back at camp we chilled and waited for the Ulmers to make a delicious dinner.

Today's famous quote: “Why do you guys throw stuff into the trees?” Dan to, obviously, his boys.

Friday, 19 June 2009

For the third night in a row, we all seemed to sleep well. At least, Elsa and I slept well. Elsa has been a good girl, falling asleep between Katie and me and staying asleep quite well, with an occasional sleep talk, eg, “see ya” or “ba-bye.” Katie is doing better than I think she supposed before the offset of our journey, fortunately with a bathroom close by. We've spent relatively little time in our camp site as the main place to be has been where the Sniggers and Conrads Kenningtons. Oh yes, and grandma. That's where we've been doing the cooking, etc. Mostly we've spent our time chasing after children, keeping them out of the street and in view, and making sure they don't hurt each other, accidentally or otherwise. We've made trips to get wood, to the visitors center, and plenty to the bathrooms. Some of the group even brought a laptop to the mens bathroom late into the night and watched TV show episodes. We'd take trips to the river's edge, or just walk through the woods.

I went for a run this morning. I had planned on going to Stout Grove, but when I saw the sign that said it was 5.2 miles away, and the round trip wasn't too appealing as I hadn't run more than 6 miles in several weeks and my shins weren't in cooperation. I came back to a happy baby girl and seemingly content wife. We ate delicious breakfast burritos, compliments of the Ulmer Family. We then helped the Conrads Kenningtons and grandma get stuff packed away. They went home today so they could make it to a 10-year class reunion. For this, they left. Whatever. Now their camp area is barren and the Sniggers don't quite fill up the space where the Kingdom 6 tent used to be.

Between Athena singing “Twinkle, twinkle, little star....” time after time after time (while(awake){sing();} and Dallin trying to one-up her with his original “Dinosaur Rex” also on repeat, we enjoyed ourselves. Some of us are still here and had a great day despite part of the fun being gone.

Hours later, more towards 2:00, Katie and Elsa woke up and we had a late lunch. Mom left us with some pork, beans, and rice lunch, a fair hit with the campers. We left for another grove, something I dug up on a local map. So far on this trip Stout Grove was the favorite, so we wanted to maybe see more of that kind of thing. Not a few miles south towards Crescent City was another grove called Simpson-Reed. We pulled off the highway and walked through it. There was a fellow there to answer questions and he even took some pictures for us next to one of the bigger trees. We leap-frogged with a Korean family who also had a little girl. She asked Katie her age. It was a beautiful grove, but had a different feel from Stout Grove. The sun slowly came through the clouds and it ended well, with the Sniders catching up to us. Elsa has a great time walking ahead of us and leading us around. Several people by now have taken pictures of her walking down the grove paths. So, there are pictures of Elsa on the cameras of people from all over the country. Maybe world. And we'll never collect royalties for it.

Off to the beach again. We made a quick stop for some fruit at Safeway and then couldn't find the rest of our party at the beach. Remembering that the Ulmers were going to the light house, we went off that direction and ran into the Sniders again on the way. We got separated again, but happened across the Ulmers and not long thereafter the Sniders. We all caravaned north across Crescent City along the shore line. It was windy and cold, but beautiful as the sun penetrated. We stopped at a scenic vista and flashed some pictures while the Ulmers looked for a geo cache. Then, somehow, we all decided to separate again, but to meet at the park saw on the way. The Kennington family took to getting dinner, Japanese Curry, ready, while the Sniders saw the light house and the Ulmers went back to the beach to splash in the cold, windy weather. We struggled to keep the gas burner flame alive from the wind gusts, but somehow in the end we came out with enough curry, though watered down, and plenty of rice. Slowly the others came back and we all had our dinner, something warm. We were next to a huge play area where we struggled to pry away the boys, but in the end we ate quite a bit and seemed content. Dan especially liked the dinner, going back for thirds, and taking the leftovers in a big tupperware container. We then all separately drove back to the camp site where it was warm and no wind. We spent a few minutes getting things together as much as we could before we turned in for the night. It was darker than usual by the time we went to bed, but we had a number of things packed and ready to go.

Saturday, 20 June 2009

Last night was probably the worst night for everyone in our tent. Elsa had a bit of a chest cough, though she seemed to sleep enough. It was cooler than usual. Katie got her normal amount of sleep, but was more worried at Elsa's coughing. I had to get up around 1:30 to use the bathroom, and it wasn't just because I drank too much. So, we all sort of struggled through the night and when I woke up to our cell phone alarm at 6:00 am, I debated going on my final run or just getting rest. After all, we had a long drive ahead of us and I hadn't slept all that well.

I ran anyway. I try to err on the side of going running because going running for an hour is like getting 2 hours of sleep when it comes to metabolism. I had told the other two runners in our camp, Carrie and Kirsten, that I was planning a 6am 5 miler. I waited until 6:25 before leaving....alone. I wasn't the only one who had a rough night.

The run was amazing. Not only did it mean I ran every day while I was there, but it was a perfect 5 miles to run to the Simpson Reed Grove where we had gone the day before (I clocked it on the way home and it was 2 miles one way....perfect!), and ran around through it, by myself, and I had turned off my iPod as I entered. Not that it was a sacred thing, but I wanted to have this memorable run through the Redwoods with just me, my thoughts, nature, as I ran. I took the longer route through the Peterson trail. All in all I was in the grove for no more than 10 minutes, but it was perfect. It was the first morning there where the sun came up unhindered by clouds and the rays pierced selectively through the branches of the ancient woods. I ran past the tree that I declared my favorite on the trip and couldn't help but say a silent prayer of thanks to the Maker of all things to have at that moment a tender mercy. I forgot that I had a bad nights' sleep and had the energy to run back to camp much faster than the trip out.

I showered and somehow dried myself off despite forgetting my towel. We spent the next 2 hours getting everything packed up and cooking breakfast. We were packed fairly quickly and backed up to the other camp to collect the things that were left by the previous departers. Only the car coughed a little as I tried to start it. Had a light been on all night? Oh well, it started and I backed up where the Sienna had once been, over the lumpy root. I helped cook the pancakes so the Snigger fam could get their things together while keeping Dallin in line. I eventually got the hang of it and they turned out to be pretty good. But then it's hard to not be good when there is syrup, fruit, and cool whip involved.

After eating, we scurried to get things cleaned up, chatting as we did so, and reminding the Ulmer boys that they needed to stay seated a certain distance away from the fire. We had space and loaded some extra Ulmer items into our Rav. We were ready, but the Sniders and the Ulmers had yet to take down their tents. I had sort of wanted to caravan with the Ulmers, but they not only werent ready, they wanted to walk through Simpson Reed Grove before they committed to long-distance travel. We said our goodbyes and thank-yous and started the car again and the car again coughed. Oh well, it did start and we checked out seamlessly. I pushed the ECT Power button and we went up nearly 2,000 feet from about 150 in about 30 minutes. Things started to unwind as we crossed the border back into Oregon. The first 100 miles of the trip took over 2 hours, but we found ourselves in Grant's Pass fueling up. The lady who filled our tank knew that Bend was east, which I too already knew. This was where I wanted the Ulmers around to get us from Grant's Pass onto the highway towards Crater Lake. We were on our own. I tried starting the car again and it really protested this time. I went in to pay for the gas and the lady said that a Napa was close by. Not wanting to leave our car parked at the pump, I tried again and it hesitatingly started. I didn't want to risk anymore stops, so we went straight to the Napa. I had them check the battery and, yes, it was dead. I took out the old one, put the new one in, and it started right up. It took 20 minutes out of our trip, but the guy who sold me the battery gave me turn-by-turn directions to get to Crater Lake on the back of my receipt. On we went, flawlessly, the exact way we had come, and by then I knew where to go. Katie and Elsa slept while I drove on through the beautiful forested area. It wasn't Redwoods, but it was still a sight to behold One could tell when we hit the summit of the mountains on our way west where the trees were a little smaller and there was obviously less rain. I was tempted to pull into Crater Lake from the north entrance one last time, as our receipts would get us in, but passed it by.

We stopped briefly at the Pilot stop we went to on our way out and then piled back in until we made it to Bend and the Wendy's therein. Katie drove this time and continued driving past Bend. Our car thankfully starts without coughing and at this point Elsa is sleeping in the back seat, content with chicken nuggets in her tummy. Katie drives on the straight away towards Burns. I type.

Thoughts

I don't have a long bucket list, but seeing the Redwoods was on it. The only two things I wanted to do while there was to go on a run through the Redwoods and read. I finished one book and pressed on through another. I ran on the highway in the forest, but certainly don't regret taking that last run on the last morning to actually run through a grove. That was a highlight. We drove our car through a tree, played on a beach, took it easy, read, slept, walked, hiked, ate lots of good food, visited an aquarium, chatted with family and friends, learned some good ideas on parenting, and saw some of the most beautiful scenes I ever beheld. As our world changes it's nice to know that there are some things that have stood for hundreds, even thousands of years, through it all, and they continue to do so.

I'm glad my mom came. She seemed to not be sure at first, but the idea of having 5 of her grandchildren there was too much to pass up. She seemed to always be the one washing dishes, cooking, or otherwise making everyone feel comfortable. Katie wondered if she didn't enjoy the trip because she was busy doing all that stuff. I, on the other hand, think that any grandma would choose to do that kind of thing because that's what grandma's do. Elsa was sure glad she was there. I have to stand back in awe at the mothers. Everyone there had a child younger than 10 months except for us, but Katie is 7 months pregnant. The Ulmers have three kids, all boys, and the oldest two are a handful. The most commonly yelled name, however, was Dallin, a Snigger, who seemed to be just as busy getting into trouble as the Ulmer two. Elsa liked to wanted and Athena liked to either sing or whine, though she was quite good this trip. Elsa loved to say high to passers-by and make new friends. Finally, Conrad gets credit for this trip. He put together the logistics of the trip months in advance and had a flexible agenda for all the days he was there. He was sort of the glue that not only kept everyone fluid together, but also had the ability to move people along to get to everywhere we wanted to go. Kudos to the mothers, kudos to Conrad. This trip goes down in the books for me as a perfect way to take a break before I work harder than ever for the next two years of my life.