Redwoods National and State Parks

The Redwoods of Northern California….oh my goodness, they are a sight to behold! We had gone last year to see the Sequoias…which are equally as beautiful, but this was special. Not many people were out and about in the park this time of year, so that was nice. It rains 300 days a year in Redwoods, and we were prepared. We did three hikes in different areas of the park. The first one was in the rain. The second one was in the mud. The third hike was in the late afternoon in Stout Grove in the northern part of the park. It was so quiet and peaceful and DRY. I put quite a few steps in on this day and it was so wonderful. We found a blue bird that was singing to us at the “Big Tree”. It is called a Stellar Jay. He was glorious. I often think that Joe is traveling with me and kind of sending me messages through birds. This stellar jay was that for me. He just kept posing for me. I didn’t bring my telephoto lens for this trip, so he let me get close. It was like Joe was telling me he was with us on this trip to this beautiful National Park. I also have a photo of a banana slug. You will know it when you see it! They had banana slug stuffed animals in the visitor’s center. As chilly as it was, I didn’t expect to see on out and about, but found one on a sign! There were a lot of ferns, a waterfall I fooled around with and made it look like falling smoke….(it’s is one of my favorite shots as it was one of my more technical photos) and a lot of shamrocks. Joe told me once he was going to get a shamrock tattoo for the time he visited Ireland. We quickly concluded that he had NEVER BEEN TO IRELAND so therefore, perhaps he shouldn’t get that tattoo. It was an ongoing joke between Michelle, Joe, and me. I had to take the photos of the shamrocks….because, again, it felt like Joe was with us and laughing. We saw some Roosevelt elk while we were out and about and even saw some sealions basking in the sun as waves crashed behind them. It was a really fun day.