We stayed the night in Gold Beach at the Turtle Rock Resort, named after the nearby large rock formation that resembles a turtle, of course. This is the nicest of all the RV parks we’ve stayed at with our own private hot tub at our site. We took a nice soak at night while polishing off our last bottle of Oregon Pinot. In the morning, the kids jumped into the “hot pool” not minding the rain at all.
More big lava rock formations dot the oceanside, but there are too many scenic vistas to stop at each one and the rain clouds don’t make for good photos, so we keep on driving. Forty-five minutes south of Gold Beach, we cross the California border. We’re back! Things immediately feel more familiar after crossing the state line.
We enter the majestic redwood territory of Northern California and head to Jedediah Smith State Park. A friend of mine recommended this park, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. When we turn onto the road toward Jed Smith, it’s like entering a magical forest. It’s a small park, mostly undeveloped with old-growth redwoods. There isn’t an easily accessible route into the center of the park to see the trees. We’ll have to hike it in to get to the real giants. We try to get to Stout Grove, a short .6 mile trail that the kids and grandparents could probably handle. To get to the trailhead, it’s a 1.5 mile drive on a dirt road. It’s still raining and our better judgment tells us to turnaround and not risk getting the RV stuck in the mud. We pullover to the side of the road and just let the kids run into the forest a few yards to get up close to the tall trees.
There’s not much else to do because of the rain. We could hit the KOA and sit in the RV or high tail it back to Berkeley in 7 hours. We decide to head home and get back a day earlier than scheduled. We buckle down and prepare for the long road ahead. The kids both fall asleep and take nice long naps which makes for a parent’s dream road trip. When my son wakes up, the first thing he says to me is, “I liked being in the forest.” He must have been dreaming about trees.
An hour south of Eureka, we drive along old Highway 101, the Avenue of the Giants, to see more giant redwoods out of our windows. I can never see enough of these magnificent trees. After a dinner stop in Willits, just north of Ukiah, we get home at 11 pm and carry our sleeping children into their bedroom. Our trip has come to an end and we made it back safely, snuggled up in our comfy beds. It’s good to be home.
Overall it was a very successful trip. There weren’t any breakdowns and we all survived being in an RV for a week without killing each other. We came home with great memories of our new experiences riding the Amtrak and discovering the beauty of the Oregon Coast. The kids went back to school excited to tell their friends and teachers that they rode on a train, met a llama and slept in an RV.
We’ll have to do it again.
-Catherine Lo
poche de maman 