The Redwoods were brilliant. It is hard to picture trees from home right now after spending a day with “the giants”. We made it up to the National Redwood Forrest in Northern CA and it was definitely worth the trip. Although most parks were still closed for the season, we were able to take a great hike through the forest and lose ourselves in the midst of the serenity. It was hard to believe predators lurked within the forests confines and that any minute we could be face to face with a mountain lion, a bear, or an elk (of which we saw dozens of), because it just seemed so peaceful…as if I could lie down in the moss and sleep for the night and listen to the babbling brook and old reds whisper ancient stories to one another. Moss covered trees looked like icing dripped cake and huge spider webs covered cubby holes in the little hotels established inside the trunks of many reds. Some reds ached as they struggled to keep rank and others lay at rest in a peaceful eminence as to have said….I did my part.
I felt at times as if the dinosaurs were lurking next to me yet out of sight because the elder trees in their ash cloak dated them to a time I have only seen illustrated in books and the human- size, tropic-like fern next to the abundant pines and redwoods that were towering stories above us, put us somewhere back in time I have only journeyed to in movies and imagination. There was a time in our hike that I wanted to get lost until there was a time in our hike where we almost were and then reality set in along with a bit of panic. How long had we been hiking, how many turns and jogs had we taken and now…where were we? When we finally found a path taking us back to the road, it was at a point that we did not remember seeing before our embarking and as we began our three quarter hike up the road and still didn’t spot our RV, we began to wonder if we didn’t get so twisted up on the trails that we should have been going the opposite direction. Sunset was fast approaching and everywhere I looked I felt eyes upon me. The warnings of rutting elk, famished bears and dangerous mountain lions began a constant replay in my head. Stay calm, look them in the eye and back away slowly…don’t run! There I was running. I ran…and I ran and I ran as fast as I could, jingling the keys the whole way. The girls were fatigued and we needed to find our home before “they” all found the uninvited guests in theirs. I kept saying in my mind….it’s just around the corner…just around the corner…and Lord protect me and my family and guide us to the RV safe and sound. I gazed to the next corner and no RV and I turned back to see my family watching my run in anticipation of a successful happy motion to them that I found the RV….I had nothing. I ran a bit further and finally, just as I was about to yell that we needed to head the other way, there was our RV. The old beat up “Betty” never looked so inviting. I fiddled with the keys and hopped in and drove to rescue my family. That’s right…I drove. And since that didn’t seem nearly as intimidating as that last half hour, I gave driving this old beast a try. I think I handled it quite well and Nick said it was a bit of a relief knowing that I could drive if he needed me too. I felt like I was 16 all over again. I looked at Nick in the rear view in his new surroundings (in back with the kids) and said, “Hey, I’m driving!” He said, “Do you feel like a trucker?” and my response was yes…even though I know that is another whole deal in itself…right James?
We headed back to San Fran and are parked near a Burger King near some neighboring RVs and truckers sharing the same free space. Somehow Burger King doesn’t even seem as if it should be in the same story as the forest that I earlier described….but here it is and here we are and I am going to go to bed. Tomorrow is another exciting day and I can’t wait to share with you our plans. Hopefully God brings it all to fruition. God Bless You All.
Maranatha