Mom and Jonah Road Trip: Hoh Rainforest

I did a report on the rainforests of the world when I was in 8th grade and that was when I learned that we have one right here in the United States.

It's not what you think about when someone says "rainforest".  It's not a jungle.  But it is a rainforest and a valuable and beautiful thing.

It was almost a four hour drive from our campground.

I figured I would just go by myself.  No one else seemed interested, and it would be nice to have a day on my own.

However, a few days before we left, Jonah expressed some interest in going, and plans changed.

I was actually really excited.  Hanging out with Jonah is pretty awesome.

We brought all the music.

Michael instructed us to take lots of pictures.

We did that.

For most of the drive, Jonah did the talking, which was fine by me.  Often it's hard for Jonah to get a word in with the rest of his talkative family and his especially talkative sister.  He loves to talk too, but he hates conflict, so he sometimes just stays quiet.

We discussed Minecraft, Skyrim, getting married, and jobs.  Not necessarily in that order.

We stopped at Subway for lunch.

About an hour later, I saw this:

I had to stop.

Anytime to see the Pacific Ocean is a good time to see the Pacific Ocean.

Jonah was a little reluctant to get out of the car, but he was glad in the end.

It was cold and windy.

 

There was a short hiking trail through the woods to get to the shore.  We saw these crazy bulbous trees.  I'm sure it's a parasite of some kind.  Does anyone wish to enlighten us?  Do you recognize these sorts of growths on trees?

 

 There were a lot of them.

The beach was covered in driftwood.  We had to step across it to get close to the water.

A scientist was at the shore taking water samples.  It was neat to watch her.

It really was windy.

We had fun touching the sea foam and talking about Greek mythology.

Then we made faces.

And headed back up the trail to the car.

It was late in the afternoon, and we still hadn't seen the forest!

It was a long drive.

We were both ready to hike when we finally found the right location in the midst of the National Forest.  All of the Visitor's Centers were closed.  Many of the roads were closed.

There was a parking lot next to several trail heads that we finally settled on for our exploration.

 

We saw this tree on the way.

 

And decided on this trail.

 It was...

Just lovely.

It was also getting late.

We were both hungry.

So we left and drove toward food.

I had to pull over to catch this:

 

Jonah waited in the car.

After two hours of driving we finally found an open restaurant.

Jonah brought my computer inside to play some Terraria and show me what he was doing on the game right now.

I got a fantastic veggie burger.

Jonah got chicken fingers and fries.

Oh...and I got this cute dessert.

It's just adorable, isn't it?

After dinner it was very much dark, very much night, and we were very much tired.

I showed Michael all the pictures and we all crashed into bed.

Oh yeah, we're in Washington now... did I mention this?

Leaving Too Soon

Leaving Northern California was sad.

Not because we felt like we'd "found our spot" or because we'd made great friends, but because it was so beautiful, powerful, and awesome.  I could spend a lifetime exploring the forest, the shoreline, the cuisine - but we'd decided we needed to sort of up the ante on the trip a little bit and start moving faster.  All of us were longing for "home". 

On the way out we parked next to the ocean so Michael could finish out his work day (5AM - 1PM Pacific Time).  The kids got out to play.

I watched them for awhile like this ^.

Then I went outside to see what they were engaged in and get a few more shots before we had to pull out.

 

Two Lovies were getting married.

It was a beautiful ceremony.

 

 

After the Redwoods: The Mighty Pacific

I love this picture of me.

Contemplative.  Staring out at the ocean.  The washed out feeling.  The overcast sky.

It's melancholy, I guess, but that's the place where I always feel a little more alive.

After our hike through the Redwood Forest we wanted to see the Pacific Ocean as it slammed into the cliffs of the park.  We drove to an overlook first.  That's where I am, above.  The kids chose to stay in the car because it was misting and cold.  Michael got out long enough to take this picture while I stood there, just staring.  If you ever want to feel small...

When we left the overlook I asked if we could go back to the Visitor's Center, where we'd started off in the morning, as they had a boardwalk much closer to the shoreline.  Everyone was cool with it.

Between the overlook and Visitor's Center we noticed a sign for smoked salmon jerky.  Michael and I had never seen jerked fish before and we were curious.  Jonah and Maeryn both said they would be willing to try it.  The sign said "free samples"...

We bought some.  A bag of jerky + a filet of salmon for dinner.

It was life changing-ly delicious.

We parked at the Visitor's Center.

Michael and Maeryn opted to stay in the parking lot to avoid the wind, while Jonah and I walked down to the shore.

It was worth red noses and the wind in your face.

The bus was inviting, toasty, and inspiring when we returned.  I made something nice for dinner.

 

Michael liked it so much he took a picture.

I was pretty flattered.

(It was some epic salmon.)