Day 10 - Pawleys Island, SC - Augusta, GA

We sadly embarked on our return trip today.  To kick things off, we set our alarms for 5:30 am so we could be at the beach to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic.  We've done this numerous times on other trips, but today was the first where we also did a morning swim.  It was so pretty and amazing to see the new day begin with a few other early risers here and there on the beach.  We were at low tide this morning so shells were plentiful.  The waves were smaller today, however.  If I lived on the coast, I could sure get used to this.

We headed back to the hotel around 8:00 to shower, pack, and load up for our drive.  On the way out of the park, we took one last look at the marsh and spotted our familiar alligators and birds one more time.

We hit the road about 11:00 and headed to our next stop (with a quick bite of lunch on the way):  Charleston Zip Line Adventures.  I've never done a zip line before so didn't quite know what to expect.  This particular one is set just east of Charleston in the Francis Marion National Forest.  Our two guides were amazing:  funny, engaging, but also not over-the-top.  Our Canopy Tour included 7 zip line cables, 3 towers, 3 swinging bridges, and a grande finale zip of 750 feet.  Even though it was very warm and humid, flying through the trees was definitely fun, breezy, and a great way to start our journey home!

After our zipping, we headed northwest of Charleston to Walterboro and the South Carolina Artisans Center.  We really enjoy looking (and often buying) local arts or crafts and this was a great stop.  I even picked up a cool pineapple clay tray for my back porch.  We also took a moment to try an Italian restaurant in the historic downtown area:  Carmine's Trattoria.  By all measure, Giuseppe and Carmine create truly Italian dishes in this small restaurant and our dinner was no exception.  The portions were huge and each meal was so tasty we kept wanting to eat it.  We finished it off with homemade cannoli and then pushed on to the northwest, and our final stop for the night:  Augusta, GA.

Day 7 - Pawleys Island, SC

Our first day not being on the road meant we were up and hitting the local beachwear shop for some towels, sand castle making equipment, and other "must-haves."  And we happened to time it perfectly as a heavy morning shower blew through just as we arrived.  We chose Pawleys Island as our beach spot because Huntington Beach State Park is just two miles from our hotel and you have to pay to enter, so we hoped the crowds would be lighter.  We were happy to discover this was true.  As you enter the park, you cross over a saltmarsh filled with alligators, storks, and other birds.  After a short drive, we parked and walked down to the beach, crossing over the dunes where sea turtles often visit to lay eggs.  The park includes three miles of undeveloped beach and coming up over the dunes, spying the Atlantic Ocean was like seeing an old friend.  A wonderful sight for sure!  

After a couple hours, we headed back to our room to shower off, grab a quick lunch, then head up to Myrtle Beach.  Jason and Franklin needed to go back to the Pelicans' baseball stadium to retrieve a baseball jersey they won last night during a silent auction.  We also wanted to get a feel for the town so we drove around during the afternoon just taking it in.  Myrtle Beach is known as being popular with mini-golfers as there are courses everywhere.  We scouted some out to visit later.

A good dinner back at the room and we then returned to the beach for a short evening swim.  We discovered a wedding was taking place so we steered clear of them and enjoyed about an hour of having the place very nearly to ourselves.  More fun tomorrow on the South Carolina coast.

Day 7 - Crescent City - Fort Bragg, CA

The word of the day for Day 7 was:  TREES!  Our hotel on the harbor at Crescent City was on the northern boundary of the Redwood National and State Parks so it was an easy morning to slip right into tree viewing.  After a great stop at the visitor center where a very knowledgeable volunteer gave us perfect tips for the visit, we set off!

At the Del Norte Coast grove, we saw our first coastal redwoods.  They are relatives of the giant sequoia which is seen in the Sierra Nevadas, but the redwoods are bigger.  They feed off the fog that rolls in nearly daily and can reach 1,500+ years old pretty easily.  These giants tend to clump together in groves and through the many interpretive signs we learned that what we have and see today is only about 5% of what used to be here.  Logging in the 19th and 20th centuries cut down many of these giants.

In between groves, we were treated to some amazing seashore AND the sun was out this morning!  We even detoured up a hill for the Klamath River viewpoint so we could see the river meet the ocean.  Also finally saw some surfers as the waves appeared to be bigger.

One of the things I've learned in traveling is to "eat local."  We found a little diner nestled right along the scenic highway.  It reminded me a lot of Shorty's back home, but we had a wonderfully quirky waitress, dined with loggers and locals, and had some great laughs!

After lunch, we dived back into the forest.  One stop was the "Big Tree" which is one of the few named trees.  The park service realized that if it named trees, people would want to stop and see the specific ones and thus would get up close and trample around the bases, which would do more harm to the tree than good.  Along the byway, there were several trailheads that ventured off into the forest.  We took a couple and were reward with amazing sights and sounds.  We ended our time at the Redwood park with a hike to the Lady Bird Johnson grove.  She was here in 1968 and 1969 and this area was dedicated to her.

Leaving the park we were snapped back into civilization as we arrived in Eureka about 5:00 on Friday evening.  Traffic and people were everywhere!  However, a bit south of there we jumped onto the Avenue of Giants scenic parkway.  This is a state park that isn't quite as polished as the national park, but still amazing.  The trees were so thick here that you would drive from a meadow where the sun was shining into the thick of the forest where your bright headlights were needed.  One of our favorite stops was a trailhead we took that lead by two creaking trees.  At first we thought we'd come upon a bear or other animal sleeping, but alas...just a giant tree swaying and creaking.

Our drive continued south as the sun set and we were able to catch some pink rays above the Eel River bank.  We soon arrived in Garberville where we found dinner at an amazing New Orleans bistro with a live band!  Garberville is apparently known for being the "marijuana heartland of the U.S." according to the BBC; marijuana cultivation has replaced timber as the economic driver in the area.

It took longer to get to the hotel then planned because the road was VERY curvy.  Made it safe and sound, just a little late.

We continue our trek south and will be in Silicon Valley for our next stop.

“One of my most unforgettable memories of the past years is walking through the Redwoods last November – seeing the lovely shafts of light filtering through the trees so far above, feeling the majesty and silence of that forest, and watching a salmon rise in one of those swift streams – all our problems seemed to fall into perspective and I think every one of us walked out more serene and happier.” - Lady Bird Johnson - July 30, 1969