For my annual President’s Day Weekend getaway, I decided to become one with nature: Redwood National Park. This was also the last of my “bucket list” items to visit for the state of California, so I am officially excited to say that I have seen most of the state and really the last place I have wanted to see! 🙂
I got a flight on United Airlines for $298, the Airbnb for $132 and the Hertz rental car for $238. So the grand total was $668 for 4 days. Not too bad!
Alright! Let’s pack the bags and fly!
Day 1 – Friday, Feb. 14
Happy Valentine’s Day! While most were smooching and having a romantic dinner somewhere, I was on a plane at 10am. I flew out of LAX to Arcata Airport. I later learned that nonstop flights from LAX to Arcata began a year ago. More on that later but first, I took a shot from the plane of Santa Cruz Island (part of Channel Islands National Park), which is about a 2 hour boat ride from where I live. The other shot is of Lake Cachuma in Santa Ynez Valley, followed by a view of Aracta as we came in for landing.
This really was a small airport. I got my rental car (Chevy Spark, which btw I only spent a total of $55 dollars filling up 3 TIMES, it was an amazing car!) AND bag within 10 minutes.
I really only had a half day of daylight, so I hung around the cities of Eureka and Arcata. First stop was the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, which is home to freshwater marshes, salt marsh, tidal sloughs, grassy uplands, mudflats and brackish marsh, along with many birds. It was relaxing to take a walk after a long flight and take in the fresh air.
Next I went over to Redwood Curtain Brewery. That’s when I discovered I was in a drinking town (which was later confirmed by one of the bar patrons): they offer beer flights of 10 ($12). I have never seen a number that high! This brewery also offers an incredible large selection of beers. I couldn’t do that many, so I only had 6, which ranged from a Stout and Pilsner to Cherry Sours and an Imperial Stout, which was my favorite, it had a ton of vanilla flavors in it!
The bar patron had recommended I go to one of the most popular places to eat in town, an Italian restaurant called Mazzotti’s. I had the Homemade Ravioli topped with meat sauce served with a side salad ($18) and a glass of a Red Blend ($8). The meat sauce was spicy, it was to die for!
Afterwards I learned about a pie shop in town called Slice of Humboldt Pie. I am a sucker for pie, more so than cake, and I ordered myself the Apple and Sour Cream pie with apples baked in a vanilla-sour cream custard and topped with an oat crumble. OMG, so yummy and the slice was big! Check out all of the founders!
Afterwards I checked into my Airbnb, which was a farmhouse. I relaxed the rest of the evening, since I had gotten up earlier that day to drive to LAX. I also had a very, very long two days of driving ahead of me.
Day 2 – Saturday, Feb. 15
I got up at 6am to prepare for my long drive from Arcata down towards Fort Bragg, which was 356 miles round trip. There were many stops that I had to make along the way, so I made sure I was on the road no later than 730am!
My Airbnb lady had recommended getting a coffee near her house at Mosgo’s Coffee House, so I stopped in and ordered myself a Dirty Chai. Not too sweet and just the perfect amount of spice!
My first stop was at a vista point in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is spans more than 53,000 acres of pure Redwood beauty. You can see the morning fog setting in, it was very pretty!
Next I headed on the scenic route called Avenue of the Giants with all of the Redwoods. This is an absolute must, as you drive right through the trees. It takes awhile but there are so many amazing trees to stop and view!
My first tree stop was called the Immortal Tree in Redcrest. I THINK an axe is in it because it is known to be a very tough tree?
All of the trees BTW have a sign with some history of the tree, so I won’t be typing it out unless absolutely necessary. A lot of the have also been dubbed “World Famous” or were featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not show.
Just down the road was a tree I was looking forward to the most: the famous drive thru Shrine Tree in Myers Flat. It costs $10 to enter the area to the tree (I actually had to run next door to the market and get cash because there was no attendant on duty!) and all I can say is, thank god I had my economy car, because this was the tightest drive thru tree that I had to do. It was so worth it though! You can check me out driving through it on my Instagram page.
Next stop was the Chimney Tree in Phillipsville, where you can walk down a small flight of stairs and enter inside. There used to be a small Hobbiton village right outside of it, but I didn’t notice it anywhere along the grounds, unless I missed it? It was cool to walk inside the tree, it had a small crack for light to shine through.
Onward with the tree journey! Next up was the Grandfather Tree in Piercy, I really liked how bushy its leaves were! There used to be a gift shop around the corner from it, but it closed down not that long ago due to the owners retiring.
Also, next door to the Grandfather Tree was the One Log House. Unfortunately, it was closed that day, so I never had a chance to go inside of it. If you have the chance, stop and take a look!
Just two more tree stops to go! Next was the Tree House also in Piercy just down the road. The cost was $2, but the lady let me go in for free, yippee! It had a ton of artifacts inside and was very roomy if you ask me!
Last tree, this was probably my favorite one of the whole trip: the famous Chandelier Tree ($10) in Leggett. There was a long line to wait and drive through this tree, but it was so worth it. It was very roomy to drive through as well! You can also check out the video on my Instagram page to see me drive through it.
On my way out of the area, I snapped a photo of a wooden turtle and a directional sign pointing how far I was from Canada and Mexico.
So that was my day hugging the trees!
Now onto Fort Bragg. There are two ways you can get there: either drive further south on the 101 and cut over through the town of Willits, which would’ve taken even longer, or take Highway 1. I was already on Highway 1 near the Chandelier Tree, so that was the route I chose. I wanted to go because I wanted to see two things: Glass Beach and the Skunk Train, which is an old California Western train that takes you through the Redwoods.
OMG every day is a winding road and hello Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride! It took me 45 minutes to get through it – I haven’t taken a road that windy since Big Sur! But I powered through despite the dizziness and soon I was in scenic view heaven. I stopped at many vista points along the way and listened to the waves crashing up against the rocks. You can see the video on my Instagram page!
It was 12:37 p.m. by the time I got to the Skunk Train ($41.95) and the next ride was at 1 p.m. It was sold out and I had to BEG the ticket lady to let me on at one. At this point, I was 3 hours away from my Airbnb in Arcata and I was fighting daylight. Luckily, she understood and let me on.
BTW, it’s called the Skunk Train because of the powerful fumes it releases. It’s also one of the first original trains from the 1800s.
The route I took was the Pudding Creek Express, a 7-mile trip that followed along the Pudding Creek River. The ride took approximately 1 hour. There is also another train that is 2 hours from the Wilitis side, but unfortunately, I saw nothing available during the month of February. It was nice to just relax for one hour with a beer (it was a North Coast Brewery Scrimshaw Pilsner BTW, very refreshing!) and just enjoy the scenery as it passed me by.
After the ride I made my way over the Glass Beach, which is made up of tiny pieces of glass from a once garbage dump area. It was so pretty to see the glass glisten in the sun and see the rock formations. I took a few pieces home with me.
About 2 1/2 hours later (I had to do Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride again), I was back north again to stop in a town called Ferndale for dinner. The city is known for its Victorian style houses and was even featured in movies such as “The Majestic,” “Joe Dirt” and “Outbreak.” I wish I could’ve gotten more shots but I was so hungry and the sun was setting.
I went into the bar area of Hotel Ivanhoe, which is the oldest and original hotel in the U.S., and ordered myself a small House Salad ($6), Charbroiled Prawns with chili flakes and garlic ($14) and a glass of Sparkling Wine ($6). I had a pretty small portioned dinner because I had been munching on snacks and fruit all day in the car, so my appetite was shot but I knew I needed a protein and veggie. Although I did have to add a little salt on the prawns, it was very tasty and the house vinaigrette was sweet.
I got back to my Airbnb and fell asleep at 9pm. I still had another long day of hugging trees.
Day 3 – Sunday, Feb. 16
This was the big day when I went to the Redwood National Park, Klamath and Crescent City. On the road at 7am I go! It was a very foggy and rainy morning (which would bite me in the butt on Monday, I’ll explain later) but the show had to go on despite the crappy weather. You can see from the sign shot below the heavy morning marine layer.
The national park was about 45 minutes north of where I was and I decided to hike the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail, named after the former first lady, who was a nature enthusiast. At 1 1/2 miles long, it’s the most popular hike in the park and you take a short bridge walk to get to the main trail. I am not much of a hiker and it was very easy and brisk. Thank god I wore my thick hiking boots because it was very muddy from the rain!
I found a buddy named Matt to go on a hike with me, since I didn’t want to do it alone. He was a 23-year-old middle school teacher from Seattle who has a goal of seeing all of the U.S. national parks by the time he is 30-years-old. Plus, he used to be a hike guide. Perfect! This was also the first time I was able to have someone take my photo with the Redwoods, since I hardly ran into anyone along my journey the day before.
After leaving the trail, I made my way north on the 101 and stopped off at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park to see the Big Tree and its green color. It literally was a short walk from the parking lot, so it was very convenient to get to!
As I entered the city of Klamath, I stopped off at the Tour Thru Tree ($5), which is a 800-year-old Redwood. This tree was perfect to drive through and spacious!
As I kept driving on the 101, I drove over the Douglas Memorial Bridge and noticed two gold California Bears.
Next I stopped at a touristy spot called the Trees of Mystery ($18), which contains many different sizes and shapes of Redwoods and a SkyTrail that takes you to a peak to view the top. Unfortunately, it was still very cloudy and I could only see 10-feet in front of me. The story of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox was also present.
After hugging more Redwoods, I bought myself two magnets and a small Smokey the Bear plush toy to go on my bed. I then made my way to my last northern spot on the trip: Crescent City, where I stopped at a brewery called Port O’Pints Brewery. The staff was super friendly and I loved having my beer flight served on a ship wheel ($9)! My favorite was the Kombucha and I even had homemade Root Beer that had the perfect amount of sweetness to it.
I also ordered a sourdough Grilled Cheese Sandwich with a cup of Tomato Basil Soup ($12). It was the cheesiest sandwich ever with Cheddar, Swiss, Provolone and Jack cheese!
As I stepped outside, the sun was peaking through the clouds, thank god! Now I could finally get my coastal shots!
I made my way to Battery Point Lighthouse and took scenic photos of the Pacific Ocean and the 900-foot B Street Pier. You can tour the lighthouse during specific months and times during the year, but unfortunately, I was fighting daylight again and still wanted to make the trip back south to stop and take more coastal photos.
I took some scenic shots driving on the 101 south and stopped at some vista points as I was leaving Crescent City. You can view the video on my Instagram page!
My last scenic spot once I got towards my Airbnb was at Trinidad State Beach. It was a gorgeous view from the top and just a nice way to end the trip after many long days of scenic driving.
To celebrate my road trip success, I stopped at one last brewery in Mckinleyville called Six Rivers Brewery, where they were having pints for $2 on Happy Hour! I ordered myself the Pumpkin Ale. The place was hopping with bar patrons too!
Afterwards I returned to my Airbnb and took an hour nap. I then got ready to go to dinner. It’s time for the “last meal” portion of the blog. This time I went to an authentic and probably the best Thai food I have had called Bencharong Thai House, where I ordered a Thai Iced Tea and Chicken Pad Thai with Brown Rice ($28). It’s a very small establishment and was packed but I was able to convince the waiter to let me sit near a small spot at the bar.
Of course, I had to stop at a Slice of Humboldt Pie and try one last pie flavor as a final hoorah: Traditional Apple with cinnamon and nutmeg and a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream ($8.25).
Day 4 – Monday, Feb. 17
I had a 6:50am flight back to LA, so I went to bed at 8pm the night before.
At 8:45pm, I heard my phone ding. At first I thought it was my friend and co-worker. Turns out it was United informing me my flight had been cancelled and that I was rescheduled on another flight at 6:50am on Tuesday.
WHAT?!
I never sat up in bed so fast. I got on the phone with an agent and I proceeded to find a way to get back to LA on Monday. He informed me that “heavy fog” was coming in that morning (I also learned later the plane did not get in the night before).
What about John Wayne, Burbank or Santa Barbara? He informed me there was no other way home and that I would just have to stick with the Tuesday flight and that there was another flight leaving Arcata to LA on Monday as well, but that “it was full and also most likely will get cancelled.”
At this point, I hung up the phone. None of this made sense to me. I had to work Tuesday and start a new role with my company. And why the hell was I going to book a flight for Tuesday if I am taking a risk of another heavy marine layer coming in the morning?!
I called United again and spoke with another agent. Turns out I could get a flight at 6am Monday to San Francisco and then to LA. I took it and went back to bed.
At 4am I was at the Humboldt County Airport, only to learn my flight was delayed until 9am. I had gotten no email or text message that it had been delayed. At this point, I had only gotten 4 good hours of sleep and I was tired and annoyed.
I went back to my Airbnb and slept from 5am – 7 am before heading back to the airport. Finally at 9am, I was taking off for San Francisco, followed by another flight to LA. I got into LAX at 1:50pm, when originally it should’ve been 11am.
My advice is as soon as you learn you flight is delayed or canceled, hop on the phone with an airline agent ASAP and try and get out on the day you want to. Thank god I did! I was relieved to be home when I saw the Hollywood sign from my plane window.
If you have been to the Redwoods, what is your favorite part about it and what did you experience? Write me on my Instagram or Facebook pages and let me know! 🙂
