Avenue Of The Giants + California Coast Line

Another day in California...Hey, I'm getting used to that!

We woke up surrounded by low clouds, something that made me think about changing our driving plans for the day.

Initially we thought about driving through the "Lost Coast Scenic By-Way", on the water for roughly 90 miles before hitting a mid spot in the "Avenue Of The Giants" Scenic Route, but then because of the poor visibility, and therefore, our security on California 1, I opted for a safer shift of directions towards the northern entrance of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, on Route 254, running parallel to Hwy 101.

It is definitely something anybody should plan visiting, absolutely the most scenic route I've ever taken so far during this trip.

The Sequoias in the park are absolutely amazing, I really have no other words to describe them.

Make sure to pick up a pamphlet before at the State Park entrance, as it will guide you through a total of 8 stations, with interpretative signs, to enjoy the journey through this beautiful park on your own.

For those of you who really have no idea of the size of this giants, here's a comparison with my car:

Our first stop has been"The Immortal Tree" which is supposed to be the biggest/tallest sequoia in the park. It's been estimated the tree is 1,000 years old (therefore, not the oldest of the park) and is currently around 250ft tall, though originally, as the sign at the bottom says, it was much taller. It has survived not only the test of time but also the 1964 flood of the area (marked with a fish at the height the water reached in the flood, pretty impressive), and a direct lightning strike which removed the top 45 feet of the tree (making its original height close to 300ft). The tree also survived numerous attempts from being cut, and it is therefore from its age and the perceived hardiness to the fates that the tree derives its name.

Here's a picture of the base of the "Immortal Tree":

Here's a picture of the section of another tree's trunk in the parking lot of the Immortal Tree:

One more shot:

A few miles later, we went through a nice detour, a road sign indicating a "driving through" Sequoia. I had to do it, this is one of those trashy touristy things that I have no shame in doing!

Here's the proof "The Bug" went through a Giant Sequoia:

And here is another one:

At the same location, you can drive the car literally ON a giant log. How could I miss such opportunity. So here they come, some more pictures!

The sign says that the log is 3,200 years old (according to the rings):

And here's the car ON the log (the sign says that it was hand cut in 1900:

Here is another random pics taken at a random spot on the "Avenue Of the Giants", just to show you how enjoyable it is to go through the whole route, from North to South or viceversa. Look at how small the car is compared to the log:

After we left Scenic Route 254, we got back on Hwy 101, which is, to be totally honest with you, a very nice and pleasant drive. What is even more interesting is that they're doing their best to improve the road infrastructure, which is certainly something very positive for people involved like me in the tourism industry.

Here's a picture of some of the major road work that is going on around visitors on Hwy 101:

And this is the strangest bike I've ever seen, who belonged to a guy that stopped to take some pictures of the same bridge you've just seen in the picture above:

We then drove another 70 miles to get to the starting point of our next Scenic drive, Mendocino (and its cape) to Jenner, 15 miles away from Russian River, where we're currently spending the night.

It's been a long long drive, I must admit that. We basically drove 140 miles on California 1, with not less than 135 miles of sharp curves overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

At some points I even got so much carried away with the driving that I earned a new nickname this afternoon: Mr Andretti II!

I couldn't help it, as the road was so inspiring with all its curves and the beauty of the ocean. And I didn't break any laws, as I always drove below the speed limit. What a beautiful ride.

Here's "The Bug" enjoying a technical stop on our way to Jenner on California 1:

And here is a picture of the same spot without the car:

The ride was really worth the 3.5 hours on the road just for that stretch from Mendocino to Jenner, as this other pictures down below might show you.

Slow down, steep grade!

"Pacific" Beauty:

"Pacific" Danger:

A few miles before getting into Jenner, we hit a sign telling us we were about to enter the Sonoma Coast State Beach (and in particular the Vista Trail), which led me to think we're actually already in "good California wine country"!

The last sign of the day gave us another important indication as to where exactly we are on the map, respectively, 10 miles away from Bodega Bay, and 72 from San Francisco where we're planning on being on Monday.

As I said, we're spending the night here in Guerneville, CA with our friend Danny who cooked a nice pot roast for us this evening and introduced me to the joy of Moose Tracks Ice Cream, and how to reach Karma through our tasting buds, in particular when we come across those miniature peanut butter cups mixed with delicious chocolate ice cream.

And with this culinary thoughts, I wish you good night for the 55th time, which means that we've been on the road, traveling through this beautiful country, for 55 adventurous days.

We keep on trucking, that's for sure!

Nico