Day 20

I have no idea what the temperature was this morning but I can definitely say it was colder than when we'd arrived. I wasn't about to cook oatmeal again two days in a row so I opted for pancakes and added hot chocolate to my grocery list. They only way the girls would come out of the tent was if I let them keep their sleeping bags. They both upzipped the bottom flap and joined up for breakfast.

I told them the few hikes available in the area and the girls decided on the pygmy forest - I'm thinking they were envisioning tiny little trees - so we packed up and headed that way. They trees were small - many topping out at Ryan's height. The hike was quick and we learned quite a bit along the way.

We were all amazed to learn about the Mendocino Cypress that is only in this local area. When outside of the pygmy forest it can grow 100 feet tall. In this forest there are trees that are only 2-3 feet tall and a quarter inch in diameter but they have 80 or more growth rings.

Our next stop was Mendocino Beach were we laughed at all the dogs enjoying the water. They were jumping, and fetching, and rolling like it was their best day ever! The view was not to shabby as well!

Our next stop was Fort Bragg where Brayden noticed a homemade ice cream shop. I'm not sure if there is every a bad time for ice cream because we haven't found it yet! I always love the local flavors too so I tried Hokey Pokey made of ice cream and honeycomb candy made by the candy store down the street. Brayden and Ryan tried Candy Store Floor with tons of bits of candy mixed in and Laney tried cookie dough with oodles of homemade cookie dough and chocolate chips mixed in. It was delicious and a perfect time for a snack but still not as good our Michigan ice cream. I'm not sure we'll find one that is!

They did decided on a new motto though!

Just on the other side of downtown is Glass Beach. According to everything I'd read this place was a dump site until the 50s. They would just back a truck up and dump stuff right into the ocean. I can't imagine the destruction this caused but I guess at least it wasn't a ton of chemicals like we use today. So over the years the glass and garbage was churned and softened in the ocean to return to the beach. There were colorful bits of glass all over! So the kids grabbed a few pieces each and even found me a few heart-shaped ones.

We decided to climb around the boulders away from all the people to enjoy the view and Ryan spotted this guy eating lunch. He dipped in and out of the water always returning to crunch something up and look for more. We were so focused on watching him we didn't even noticed the seal on the rock above him!

We climbed around and checked out all the little tide pools the ocean had left. This was the kids' first experience with the Pacific tides so I made sure they noticed how high the water got and to imagine if the tide came in while we were on the rocks how they might get back to land. It's something I hope we don't have to experience on this trip but I'd rather be prepared!

Ryan was thrilled to see our friendly otter fishing right below her rock. He looked up at her and never was seen again so I'm assuming she scared him like crazy! She thought it was the sweetest, cutest little creature on earth and she was so excited he was only 2 feet away from her!

My kids have always been climbers but probably Brayden the most. He loves to explore and take the tough ways to where he wants to go just to see if he can do it. Today he just wanted to go high.

We left Glass Beach and all the people to drive some of the most curvy roads I have experienced yet. We would be driving S-curves all along the cliffs and then dip into the forest long more curves to get around a cove. Over and over again. We emerged from the forest one time to this view and I had to stop. I've always been drawn to the water and I just wanted to stop and watch it at this spot. It's difficult to drive and still try to see all these views!

Little did I know this would be our last ocean view until just before our spot. We dipped into the forest and prairie for about 2 hours before emerging again at the Redwoods National Forest. It was time for dinner again by the time we arrived so we set up and Ryan cooked some veggie burgers. Laney and I ate 1, Brayden had 4, and Ryan had 2. Where do they put it all?

We noticed there was a program tonight so we hiked to the amphitheater. We were all in awe of the massive trees we were walking next to. There was one that was the size of two of my car at the base at least.

When we got to the amphitheater noone was there. There wasn't a ranger at check in so I assumed this was the spot but the sign was now gone. The kids decided to make up their own program while I texted Grammie to make plans to meet up. We were in another campground without cell service but I noticed there was wifi at the amphitheater. I've actually been very fortunate being able to update the blog at every site up until now. We are used to no service or wifi at the majority of our sites on trips in the past.

We decided to walk back on the road to see the elk in the prairie. We had spotted them sitting down on our hike but they were all now up and eating away. One even decided to cross the road and eat where we were walking. Needless to say we took a detour back to the trail the way we came.

We decided to have another game night beginning with Uno Flip then Brayden finally agreed to let us teach him the new Cataan dice game. Ryan killed us all with her strategic rolls and I came in last trying out a new agressive strategy that failed miserably. It was getting chilly so we retired to the tents to go to sleep. Brayden and Ryan were pretty grumpy so I was hoping sleep would do them good.

Day 12

Today started surprisingly early with me flat on the hard ground at 2:45am. We've had these sleeping mats for 5+ years and they have served us so well. At first I thought maybe the plug had accidentally been left open. I usually have to add a breath of air each night to account for temperature changes or kid setup. This time it was 5-6 breaths so I knew something was wrong. I was hopeful to go right back so sleep on my cushy mat though! Within about 4.3 seconds I was flat on the ground again. I am thankful we are close to an REI! I tried hard to go back to sleep - flipping and flopping for about an hour - but by this point my brain's switch was on. I decided to get to work editing pictures and eventually watch the sunrise.

I slinked out of my tent with my computer and froze. Of course it was dark out but the sky had the city light glow that backlit a creature on our picnic table staring right back at me. It looked like a large yellow cat. I turned my headlamp on and aimed it toward the table and just as the beam reached the animal it swooped up a bit and flew off. I stood there watching as the owl silently flew within a few feet of me toward the grass and trees. I'm sure he was way less impressed at our encounter than me!

About 10 minutes into my picture editing in my camp chair I longed to be back in the warmth of the tent. It was 59 degrees and this Florida girl needed to add more layers! I slipped my still-warm sleeping bag out of the tent and climbed in. It didn't help my hands much but anyone who knows me knows they are always cold anyway!

And then there's the sunrise. Mountains or water always make it so much better!

Not too long after the sun was up over the mountain Laney got up saying she didn't feel well. She was up unusually early for her and looked pretty pale. I got her to drink some water but once she had a crumb from a cracker she got sick. I hoped she'd feel better so we could enjoy the day we had planned but only time and breakfast would tell.

Once Brayden got up he was looking pretty bored staring at the picnic table. He'd finished all the books he'd brought and I'd bought him so I grabbed another from the resupply box in the car. If he keeps going at this rate I'll need to buy some and Dave will need to pack some!

With those two awake I decided to start hash browns and eggs for breakfast. Ryan must also be growing because she ate two eggs, a big pile of hash browns, and an entire cantaloupe! They'd better go get jobs soon to buy groceries!

We cleaned up breakfast and got ready then we headed to our first stop near L.A. - the Santa Monica Pier. The drive was a quick 2 hours (blegh) but we listened to a couple podcast episodes of Smash Boom Best to pass the time. Brayden and Ryan are especially enjoying this podcast but it is teaching them debate tactics that I'm thinking I might regret! Today's episodes were pizza vs tacos, invisibility vs flying, and The Grand Canyon vs Mt Everest. I love they are learning a little history along the way.

We made it to Santa Monica and parked right near the pier - success! Our first priority was to head to the ferris wheel. We made mental note of all the ice cream options on the way though! When the kids saw the price for all of us to go on they said they would rather play the carnival games instead so that's what they did! Ryan wanted to try the game for the life-sized animals but I had to talk her out of it because there is barely room for us and all our stuff! They had a great time and ended up with a couple stuff animals.

We had a little ice cream, bought more post cards, and I made the kids visit Zoltar. They laughed at the it's puns and were confused by the wordy fortunes. Maybe they will make sense to them one day.

We took the steps down to the beach to visit the Pacific again. Brayden claimed he would go swimming here because it was way less windy and the sun was shining. That was until he put his foot in!

The kids chose next to go visit the Walk of Fame. I let them know it was an hour drive for just a few miles and they all said it was fine. One day they will appreciate this effort maybe! We found a close parking space and walked for blocks and blocks and blocks enjoying reading all the names. There were lots I know and lots I didn't but we did see The Beatles, Queen, Andy Griffith, Johnny Carson, Daniel Radcliffe, Robin Williams, John Belushi, Billy Joel, and Henry Winkler to name a few.

Our next stop was the Chinese Theater to try and find the Harry Potter cast. We found the Hunger Games cast first and many more! Brayden as excited as he seems about Hugh Jackman - he said the cement was burning hot!

Brayden spotted Randy's Donuts on the way back to the car so we stopped in to grab a couple for our walk back. This wasn't the actual location for Iron Man he says but the donuts were still delicious!

In the car I began navigation back to our campsite to find out it would now be a 3 hour drive back (sigh). Brayden laughed as the GPS kept informing us of delay after delay just when we would start moving at a good speed. It was very accurate though as we pulled in at the very minute it predicted! The mostly empty campground was completely full since it was Friday and the party had started for sure for many of them.

We grabbed our camp chairs and got BACK in the car to go to the drive-in movie. On these trips we try to always do things we can't do at home and this is definitely one of them. There were about a million more people at this movie but we enjoyed it for the most part.

We made it home past our bedtimes and were surprised to hear a mostly quiet campground. There was still a little music and a lot of campfire chatter and scream-laughing but we all fell asleep within a few minutes. I was just glad not to be driving anymore!

Day 34

Dave and I were up with the sun this morning and everyone was sound asleep so I talked him into walking over to the Pisgah Inn next door to our campground. I was hoping to hike along a trail to see the view of the inn but we never really found it. Instead we walked around to the restaurant porch and enjoyed the stark white foggy view.  Their view definitely wasn't better than ours right now!

Today was our last full day with the Dunlaps so we decided to fill it up with hiking! After breakfast we loaded up our backpacks and loaded all of us into the car.  Our first stop was Devil's Courthouse - a highly recommended hike by websites and locals so we knew we had to go there first.

The view was spectacular of course. We decided to stay awhile to enjoy it as well as a snack. There were signs everywhere about nesting peregrine falcons so we were really hoping to see one but they were busy somewhere else unfortunately. We could see the Smokey Mountains from here!

Our next stop was Graveyard Fields - a hike that was so popular the parking lot was already full by 9am! Dave dropped us off and parked down the road like a perfect gentleman! 

At this spot we were only hiking to the upper and lower Yellowstone Falls. I'm not kidding when I say these kids love water! They could have explored this cold water for days!

Ryan was the first to go in but it wasn't on purpose! She slipped and dog paddled back to the rocks as fast as she could. The other two went in a few centimeters every few minutes but couldn't stand to go in past their belly buttons. Ryan ended up swimming very briefly several times!

The waterfall was beautiful but there were so many people there we decided to move on to our next spot. But not before we stopped at this cool tree on the hike out!

The last hike was to Skinny Dip Falls - a place that is no longer on the official map. I'd read about it and we'd heard from several people to make sure to go so we did!  The hike in was longer than I expected but it was cool with all the coverage from the trees and mostly downhill.  The water was so very cold that my feet hurt once they were submerged for longer than 10 seconds. It took me about 15 minutes but I finally talked Brayden into putting his feet in!

While we were playing around, Laney was finding owl-shaped rocks to paint and the other two were trying to build a little dam out of rocks. They were never successful but surprisingly weren't frustrated!

On our long uphill hike out Evey found another salamander that was a little camera shy. He left her with a sticky parting gift too!

When we got back it was finally shower time for the Clarke kids. Dave took them and assisted with all that goes wrong while I cooked dinner.  After we were all clean and fed we all walked over to the inn to check out the view now. We sat down in the rocking chairs just in time to witness the beginning of a wedding! The kids oooh-ed and awwww-ed at the flower girls, decorations, and the bride. What a lovely backdrop for a wedding!

We needed ice and needed to spend $10 for a debit purchase so we got a couple ice creams as well. The kids were initiated on the usage of Push Ups!

Evey grabbed the girls when we got back to continue exploring and learning their new wild child ways. Brayden, Dave, and I decided to play cards for a little while before the ranger program started. Brayden lost miserably!

In my excitement for the program we arrived very early which meant we were able to talk with the park ranger for a little while so it ended up being very nice. The program was about the history of the area and the parkway but first he had a short educational program on hiking. We volunteered to help figure out what things are actually needed on a hike. The kids thought this was hilarious (notice the toaster he'd packed)!

After their participation they all received fun little tokens for their efforts!

Some of the discussion turned to the CCC which caused Brayden to perk up quite a bit. Might need to add some kind of independent study for him on the depression and plans to help the country. 

We did our campground walk in the dark this night but were able to enjoy bunches of fireflies leading us around. It was earplugs again for me since I'd slept so well the night before. I'm hoping this doesn't have to be a regular thing once we get home!