Day 1 - Saturday, September 26, 2026

This trip started a little different, we traveled in pairs to Eureka California.  Brenda and Peggy left at 5:45 AM and arrived in Eureka at 12 o’clock.  Lisa L and Julie left at 7 AM and arrived in Eureka at 1 o’clock.  Connie and Lisa R are to arrive the next day.

We are staying a a house in McKinleyville, but can get in until 4pm, so we stopped for lunch at Joe’s Green Barn. Nice little cozy hometown feel to it with big portions after lunch. After lunch we picked up a few groceries and by then it was 4 o’clock and time to go to our new home.

We were all pretty tired and had had a big late lunch so we decided to snack rather than make dinner.  We had our first unofficial toasting time  with chips, salsa and hummus while we caught up with each other and checked out the house. 



After lunch we headed for Clam Beach for our first view of the Pacific Ocean..  In amazing BVE fashion the sun finally came out of the clouds and we took a 2 1/2 mile walk on the beach. 

Our next stop was the world's largest totem pole according to the sign.  We we not very impressed.  If was ut not that ornate.  And it was in the parking lot of the Safeway store.  So we picked up a few groceries before heading home.

Our next stop is Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Redwood became a National Park in 1968 during the Johnson Administration.  In 1969, President Nixon dedicated the Lady Bird Johnson Grove for her part in preserving this area. 

Took lots of pictures along the way of giant redwoods.

By then is was 12:30, so we stopped for lunch at a Trillium Falls picnic area.  After lunch we hiked to the falls.  After seeing more large trees, the falls seemed small, but it was still beautiful and gave us a chance to climb on some rocks.  In this old growth forest we saw lots of downed trees and were amazed at the size of the trees and how they become nurse trees and continue the circle of life.

Back in the car, Brenda spotted a scenic vista to the ocean and pulled over. It was a great place for some group shots and watching and listening to the ocean waves.  We met a young man who was living in a van that he and his father had tricked out.  He is going to college and working on a documentary of his mountain climbing.

Followed by a beautiful sun set.

We arrived home at 7:30. Started taking showers and getting dinner ready. Everyone was pretty tired so after dinner, we only did a short picture watch before going to bed at 10 o’clock.

ThisTuesday, September 29, 2026

The early birds got up around 7:30 and started breakfast. Another delicious bowl of oatmeal and all the toppings.  Breakfast was at 8am followed by our morning stretches.  We were in the car by 9am heading south to Humboldt County State Park.

This is also where we saw a rare albino Redwood,  Notice the white needles in the picture to the right.  There were also many trees that had been burned with large holes in the tree, yet they were still alive and thriving above the burn scars.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park has the largest remaining contiguous ancient coastal redwood forest on earth.  It is 53,000 acres and contains some of the tallest and largest trees.  We noticed that I downed tree that we thought was huge earlier, we small compared to the ones we saw on this hike. 

We stopped for lunch at the picnic area at Rockefeller Forest.  We met a young couple there who's young son Noah like Peggy's cheetos.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Today we travel from McKinleyville to Redding.  We had breakfast at 8:30, packed up the van, then we we were in our Yoga stretching by Lisa R. before getting in the car and heading to Redding and our new house. 



And that is what we did.  We had lunch at the straw House Café along the river the Trinity river. Cute little place with delicious food. The view of the river was gorgeous.  We were back on the road at 1 o’clock.

Next up Weaverville. It was a quaint little town with Red and White store fronts.  They were ready for Halloween and had skeletons on all the street lights. We went through a few stores and arts shops, but didn't stay long.   

We found the sign right before we got to the park entrance.  Brenda did an excellent job of pulling over and parking the car so we could use the hood to set up the camera for the official group shot.



Next stop was the visitor center and museum near Manzanita Lake.  Just as we got there 2 bus loads of kids arrived.  This was not our first rodeo, so we headed to the bathroom first to get ahead of the masses.  Then we went into the Visitor Center to get hike recommendations from a ranger. 

We even caught this bird doing its morning stretches.  Notice the open chest and head moving side to side.

Towards the end of the trail we met a couple from Arcata–Eureka.  This was one of the few times we gave our card to someone on this trip.  They had traveled and hiked extensively and had lots of ideas and recommendations.  Unfortunately we only have one day left.

Drove to Devastated Area and had a picnic lunch.  All the tables were in the sun and near the bathrooms so we chose a nice shady spot with some rocks to sit on .

Hiked to boiling lake. This was a mile and a half hike with a steep climb at the very begging.  When we got there we would have missed it had it not been for a sign.  It was only a small puddle boiling.

The destination was disappointing but, it was a nice hike.  Some of it was through a fire damage area.  We have driven through these area, but this the the first up close hike through one. 

Next stop was the sulfur works, where we saw more boiling water in a stream with steam coming off of it. The smell was quite pungent.  We did not stick around long enough for a group picture here.

Stopped at the visitor center did a little shopping filled our water bottles and use the restrooms before heading back to Redding. Brenda found a shortcut that knocked over 40 minutes off the drive and we experienced a part of California that not many tourists get to see.  She is an excellent driver.

Back at the house at 5:41 for a quick toasting.  Everyone got cleaned up and then we had Shepard's Pie for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Sundial Bridge. The Sundial Bridge is a footbridge over the Sacramento River and is part of Redding's award winning trail system.  It cost $24 million, took 11 years to build and deck is lit with 219 lights.

Returned to the house around 9 o’clock. We played a couple games of Swoop and had a Bailey’s nightcap before heading to bed.

Then we drove to the Upper Falls parking lot.  We saw Upper Falls which really only had one view point and you couldn't get to close.  The hike from Upper Falls to Middle Falls was beautiful with all the fall colors.