Palm Restaurant on Hwy 101
- Tidal Pools off Hwy 101
July 15, 2010 (morning)
Last night I camped in the Redwood National and State Parks. Oringinally, there were a series of Redwood parks, some national and some state. I met a couple from Ontario who had been travelling up the west coast for 3 months. They are going at a much slower pace than I am. Stoich (I probably don’t have the right spelling) is originally from eastern europe. Vicki, his companion, didn’t say anything about work.
I broke camp as soon as I woke up. As I left the Redwoods, I entered a dense fog. I would spent all morning driving down Hwy 101, the scenic route, in the fog.
As soon as I hit a beach, I went for a walk. At the ranger’s lecture last night, I heard that it would be a negative tide (that is, a really low one) around 8:00 am. There would be tidal pools that might have some star fish and other sealife. I walked through the rocks, checking the pools, but no luck. Just sea water.
After about another hour on the road, I pulled into the Palm Cafe for breakfast. I had the Cowboy, sausage, eggs, toast, and pancakes. Jerry was my waiter (the only waiter, actually); he bought me my food and a paper. He also told me his life story. He grew up in the area, moved around a little, tried to break into acting in LA, but didn’t like the busy lifestyle.
If I had gone to a fast food place for breakfast, I could have asked the pimply kid at the counter about his life story, if he had one yet. If I had tried, I would have probably heard something like, “Step aside and wait for your order, please.”
For the rest of the day, I drove in and out of the Redwoods. When you enter a Redwood grove, there are signs that say “Turn on Your Lights.” It’s dark among the big trees. When a shaft of light breaks through, it is dramatic. I am afraid I am not a good enough photographer to capture it.
Tonight, I will camp outside Santa Rosa, a beautiful little town in wine country.
Democratic Vistas 
Saw the redwoods this summer myself. Amazing. The fog comes and goes, but it always seemed to be present more than it was absent. The scents in the forest are amazing, aren’t they. Have you seen any albino redwoods yet? They’re there.
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By: Allison on July 16, 2010
at 3:52 pm
Didn’t see any white Redwoods. Didn’t know there were Albino Redwoods.
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By: George on July 16, 2010
at 3:55 pm
The park ranger told us they live off the roots of regular redwoods (just like the new redwoods spring up. Regular redwoods go ahead and develop a root system of their own. The albinos simply “never leave home” because they can’t survive on their own like a regular redwood, which is pretty much indestructible. They aren’t actually white, like you’d expect an albino to be; they are just lighter, and when someone shows you what one is, you can begin to see the difference.
Did you hear that the redwoods only grow within a 40 mile range of the ocean and that’s one of the reasons they stretch up and down the coast like they do beginning in Northern California and going upward? That one really surprised me. Who knew.
I’ve only had the one trip this summer to visit the redwoods, so other bloggers probably know more than I do about them, but the light through the trees is one of those things you never forget, — a little bit of Heaven on earth.
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By: Allison on July 16, 2010
at 4:22 pm
When I was there, I went to a Ranger lecture. He said their are three species. One is the Coastal Redwoods. These are the ones the probably need to be near the coast. There is a species in Asia, which they thought was lost, but they found one grove and are trying to save it. The third is the Sequoia. There are more old growth Sequoia because they were not logged much. As soon a Sequoia hits the ground, it splinters, so it doesn’t have a high commercial value.
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By: George on July 17, 2010
at 2:13 am