9-11 August 2020
Redwoods State and National Parks

Like many people during the pandemic of 2020, my parents have been locked away, venturing out only to get essentials.  It’s been rough on them, especially my mom who is very social.

What a happy accident, then, that I happened to buy a used RV for her right before things got really bad.  I did it thinking it would be cheaper than renting over the next few years when she and I take trips.  But at the time I had no idea the pandemic would get so big, and once everyone entered lockdown it became a new sanctuary for her and my dad.  My mom couldn’t go to church or her volunteer activities, but she could go to the RV and fix it up and plan for when the world returned to normal.

At first we weren’t sure if it made sense to venture out.  But as the lockdowns ended and we transitioned to wearing masks, it seemed like we could do a trip safely.  So we planned to head up the coast, first to the Redwoods and then to Olympic National Park.

I reduced my exposure to strangers for a few days before the trip, and then I rented a car to drive from San Diego up to Davis instead of flying.  They met me at the car rental drop off and then we drove in the RV to Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  We had a lovely campsite, and the next morning my mom (ZoZoZoom) and I took a walk on the Homestead and Big Tree Trail.

Later that morning we returned to the Tall Trees area with my dad and the light was perfect!

Our next stop was Patrick’s Point State Park.  We got a campsite that was just ten feet from this view:

It was a little chilly with the marine layer, but we took care of that.  On a long walk around the campgrounds, ZoZo and I scored some extra firewood from the closed group site.  It was totally worth carrying it a mile (okay, maybe not!).

We planned to do a hike together to Patricks Point but ZoZo and Jim headed out earlier and accidentally headed to Palmer Point (oops!).  I was a little worried about them, but we both got beautiful sunsets and made it back to camp before dark.

Moving on, we stopped at the Redwoods National Park Visitor Center on the beach west of Orick.  The information exhibits were all wrapped up so you couldn’t see them.  But the gift shop was open!  (‘Cause ‘Merica)

We fooled around on the beach, where Jim turned into a wizard.

Our last stop was Jedediah Smith State Park, where ZoZo and I took a swim.

Afterwards the three of us did a hike over to the Stout Grove.

Next stop: Olympic!