Going through Napa and the Redwoods!

     After a great day at Yosemite, we headed back toward the northwest coast of California so we could go through the redwoods. Our first stop for the night was in Garberville. Before we stopped there we actually past through Leggett, California, and of course we had to drive through the Chandilier Tree since we were there. There really isn't much to it, you pay a small fee, then you drive down to the tree and  go through it. It is something to do to say I drove through one of the redwoods. it is amazing how they can carve out such a big portion of the tree and it still survive. The Chandelier Tree is only one of the three remaining tree's you can drive through. We also drove through the Shrine Tree later in the trip, it is like $5.00 or $6.00 to drive through, it is worth it if you are in the area just to do it. Bragging rights, I guess, lol!

The Chandelier

The sign, lol!

The Chandelier

The Chandelier

The cutaway.

Valarie driving through.

Valarie driving through.

The growth on the tree.

Stretch!

Don't look so excited!

Lake by the tree.

Valarie getting to the root of things?

My roots?

Which way to go, humm!

      The Shrine Tree Below. The Shrine Tree is in Myers Flat, California, not as impressive as the Chandelier. It is being held up by cables and looks half dead. The Chandelier still looks great and was doing well when we were there.

Yes, I'm home! Do I looked stumped? Get it, STUMPED!

     Like I said, we spent the night in Garberville. It was a small town with some quaint little shops. A lot of tourist pass through here, and a lot of hikers. There are quite a few trails around that area.

Organic Cafe, sweet!

Organic health food store in Garberville.

Pizza anyone?

Or maybe a movie?

Anyone seen Robin?

Our motel for the night!

Breakfast anyone?

     After we left Garberville we went down the Avenue of the Giants. It goes through the parts of the Redwoods on the way up north and follows alongside The 101. It is the old Hwy. 101.

I think I'm on the Avenue of the Giants. Does anyone know for sure?

Map of the Avenue of the Giants in Garberville.

       

Gateway to the Redwoods. And the Skunk Train.

     

     What is the Skunk Train you say? It started in the late 1885 as a logging railroad, the Skunk Train began carrying passengers a few years later. It didn't get its nickname until 1925. That year small self-powered trains started traveling on the tracks. The combined fumes from their gas engines and the coal stoves that kept passengers warm were so pungent that locals often commented: "You can smell 'em before you can see 'em." It wasn't until recent years that the name was changed officially from the California Western Railroad to the Skunk Train.

       The Skunk Train runs from downtown Fort Bragg and Willits, carrying tourists while it also serves the people who live or vacation in the parts of the Redwood Forest it goes through. To find more info on it just google it if you are a train lover. We did not know what it was at the time or we would probably have ridden it just for the heck of it. I would have loved to have seen more of the Redwoods. There were a lots of things we missed seeing, but we only had a month to make our trip. So many places, so little time. If only........well, you get it! That's all for now. Hope to have you back!