to the redwoods!

we packed up early the next morning to get on the road for our drive to the redwood forest. brad and cade made an executive decision to take the scenic highway instead of the straight shot highway... this was a bitter-sweet decision.

the scenic route is great- beautiful views, cool coastline... you get the point.

but after driving for about 2 hours, we realized we had barely made ANY progress towards the redwoods. looking at our map, we saw that the curvy road snakes through all the beautiful areas and is not concerned in the least with hurrying travelers along. what we could have driven in a half an hour has now taken four times as long...

those curves also caused serious issues with the stomachs of some of our group. in an overlook as beautiful as this, we pulled over and let more than a few family members puke it out. the situation was bad enough to warrant a full wardrobe change for one sick rider. carsickness took over and needless to say, people were a little miffed about the scenic route decision.

grammy let cade know how she felt...



at first when i saw these photos i was worried that cade and grammy had been arguing. nope. as grammy was lecturing cade about making good decisions, he was busy striking poses for the camera. impressed in the least about his facial expressions, grammy just kept on getting after him and brad just kept on snapping photos.


we quickly found our way back to the main road and zoomed on to the redwoods.

this is an amazing place. i knew that they were big- i have seen pictures that prove that. i just don't think i understood how big they really are. HUGE. MASSIVE. BURLY.


i mean, imagine scooping one of these up and putting it in your front yard. you wouldn't have a yard- or a house- and you would be able to see it from all over. HUGE. MASSIVE. BURLY.

we tried to take pictures that would show just how big they are...

don't we look like ants?




we climbed on them

walked through them

and drove through them



violet is a huge nature lover- so she was in heaven. i guess it is kind of hard to tell if a 5 month old is a nature lover- but she really is sooooo happy whenever she is outside.


we did have an emergency outfit change in the middle of the forest which left her looking a little bare...



when we weren't exploring the woods, we swam, shopped and milled around the little town.






from the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters....
this land was made for you and me.