Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park

The next morning Tara and I did 6 miles through Eureka.  At first I led us along the coast which actually turned out to be stinking fish factories and tent towns of sketchy people.  So we went back and ran through town and it was much better.  I led us a little astray so we ended up the 6 miles about one mile from our hotel so we had to jog back but LUCKILY we passed a donut shop and were able to keep our tradition of running to pastries. We brought home maple bars. The McBrides came and ate breakfast in our room, mostly granola and yogurt and now with half donuts. We watched the Olympics while we ate.  From Eureka we drove to the Fern Canyon which was amazing. Josh said it made his top 3 list for the entire trip. If Josh says a HIKE makes his top 3, you know it must be special.  I wish we had more pictures. We walked up this riverbed of a canyon covered in Ferns that look right out of Jurassic park. Because this is where parts of the movie were filmed. Truman and Blake were having a blast running through the water and were way ahead of us the whole hike.  No complaining from anyone because it was just so cool.  And it was only about half a mile so that always helps.  The road leading to the hike was also great, winding along the trees and ferns that were covered in dust.

We went to lunch at a seafood place.  They wanted to get fresh crab but it is out of season.  We saw lots of seals.  The food was good but very very fried.  The fries were fantastic, like swirl cut and then perfectly battered.  Yum, although we were all feeling pretty sick and full by this point.  We saw some more groves fun and then towards the evening we did the best part.

Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State park. The drive in was unbelievable.  It felt like being in a story tale world. Pictures just don’t do it justice.

There was a little circle hike we decided to in the grove.  It turned out to be the best adventure in the Redwoods.  We took just a bit of a wrong turn and ended up at the Smith River.

The kids found an awesome tree with a big hole at its base.  They climbed down inside and it was like their own little fortress among the giant Redwoods.

The water was crystal clear greenish.  A rickety bridge crossed the massive river.  It was so incredible, one of the prettiest places I have ever been.  My favorite part was dangling legs into he water from the bridge.

Halle found a little snake slithering across the sand.  The kids had a great time holding him. 

Unfortunately we had to go all to soon and we climbed over the redwoods to get back to the car.  I lost my sunglasses on the way.  And I was swatting mosquitos in the parking lot when I flipped my phone out of my hand and it spun around and hit the parking lot hard and the screen massively shattered.  Before it just had a single crack and now it has a massive multiple spider web  But it was so amazing that even that couldn’t get me down, it was just such a neat place.

We drove to Bandon.  It was too late for dinner so we stopped at the grocery store and got some food for dinner and the next morning.  And we drove to “The Swedish House” which is just north of Bandon and out in the country.  It was a house built in 1907 by Swedish immigrants and it was great. So incredibly charming. Tara and I slept in a mattress that was thrown in a “cubby hole” and it was so soft that we were Taco’d into each other the whole night.  It was also very still air (no fan) and very hot, so it wasn’t the best night of sleep ever, but it wasn’t a camping nights sleep either.  The kids played board games on the living room while we made dinner of bread, chicken, and fruit.  And lots of sun chips.  And EL fudge cookies.  I love el fudge cookies.