Day 3 - Sept 8th - The Hike and The Hells Angels

Yo,

So after a not so cold nights sleep in Prairie Creek Redwoods, we got ourselves together, had some toast and tea which we made on our little camp stove.

We then set out for a 3-4 mile hike through the redwoods in search of 'The Big Tree".

The forest was dead quiet. We only passed one or two people on the first mile or two. The trees were towering over us, it was good shade from the sun. There were huge redwood trees that had crashed to the ground and new trees were growing out of them, or trees that had fallen and were caught by another tree, just kinda sitting there waiting to fall. We had a chat about the "if a tree falls and no one hears it, did it actually fall" idea. Turns out, yeah, it still falls.

We came across a hollow tree so we all climbed in.

If a tree fell across the hiking path the parks rangers would just cut through it and leave the rest of the tree to decay as normal. Must have taken quite a while.

When we signed in to camp and to hike in the forest we had to sign a disclaimer that stated we knew there were bears in the forests and that there was a danger associated with this. So while hiking through the woods this was constantly in the back of our minds. The guy at the sign in office told us there hadn't been a sighting in 3 weeks. Yipeeee! The hike crossed the US101 road at one point which was void of any cars so we stopped for a quick snap.

We finally reached "The Big Tree". It was 22 foot in diameter, you could fit two cars into the base of it and have room. It was huge. Sophie wasn't too impressed by the tree because she was expecting a tall tree rather than a wide tree, so we spent our time convincing her of its status as the big tree.

Unfortunately this is the only photo of the 4 of us at the big tree but it really doesnt show its size, so here is one of Emma and Ian.

After our wee hike we drove to the local town of Orick. Replacing the 'Or' with 'H' in the town name would have been a bit more accurate. We wanted to pick up some food and Sophie needed to get on the internet to sort out her college registration. We arrived at the local market shop which was literally a big barn full of shelves. We picked up some food and a bottle of Baileys.

We then went in search of a wireless internet in a town with a population of about 30. We found it at the most unlikely place. A bar called "Hawg Wild". We pulled into the parking lot which only had spaces for motorbikes. Sophie got her college registration sorted, we think. A couple pulled into the bar in a big fancy car, abviously tourists, they went into the bar and were out in 2 seconds flat with concerned faces. Check out the bar.

Returning to the campsite we had dinner, some Baileys and got the fire going again. We sat around the fire until about 1am and then called it a day.

Day 2 - Sept 7th - Drive To The Redwoods

Hey,

Note: A few pictures have been added to the post for Day One

After a very cold night camping in the mist at Cape Lookout, we left at about 11am. We got onto to US 101, which goes right down the west coast. It is a two lane freeway, which is a bit hairy at some points, but it brings you through some great little towns. This was our drive.

The drive to the Prairie Creek Redwood Forest took us around 8 hours. Pretty tiring drive but the scenery made up for it. The drive took us right along the coast with some huge cliffs and miles of rugged coastline, plenty of surfing towns, campsites, RV parks. Everyone on the road seemed to be camping one way or another, hauling huge RV's, or keeping it real in retro VW vans.

As we left Oregon and passed into northern California it got alot warmer, which made everyone happier. After about 50 or so miles we hit the great redwood forests. WOW! Just immense trees for miles and miles. Crossing ELK signs on every corner and warnings of bears let us know we were at natures mercy. As we drove the winding road through the forest the sun started to set and it illuminated the trees in a red hue. Was bloody amazing! But with this came the darkness and Emma put the foot on the gas to make it to our campsite before we had to pitch a tent in the pitch black.

We arrived at the site nestled right in the woods, surrounded by towering trees. We pitched the tent, blew up air matresses, put the food in the bear box and lit a fire and had smores!!

After the fire embers were on they way out and the mosquitos became too many we called it a day!!

Day One - 6th Sept - The Scam and the Racist Border Officer

Hey Ho,

Yesterday was our first day on the road. We left Vancouver at 6:30am. Below is the starting mileage on the van!!

We filled up on "gas".

While at the gas station there was a man who approached us stating his van was broken into last night and had all his tools and bags stolen. We had a quick glance at his van and everything seemed to check out. He showed us ID proving he was from Prince George, which is a good 4 hour drive from Vancouver. So we gave him $20 for gas. As we pulled out we saw him approach another driver and give the same story, i think we were scammed big time but we'll never know.



Below is the route we took to Cape Lookout Provincial Park from Vancouver.



Anyway, after our encounter with the best actor/scam artist Vancouver had to offer we were on our way. We hit the US border with only a 40min wait, which is is pretty damn good. When we handed over the 4 passports we proceed to listen the most racist man i;ve ever met telling us that the white european race is in decline and that the US is being over run by Mexicans. I think we saw a mexican family in the line for the border, i really hope they didnt end up with that guy.

We flew down the I-5, not the most interesting road. Turns into a big 5 line interstate before Seattle and is just littered with Wal-Marts and huge commercial chains.

We crossed the Washington border into Oregon where we turned onto I405 in Portland and headed toward the coast. The drive was amazing, much like a rally course with twists and turns through immense green pine forests. Lucky we had a good bit of gas in the tank because we were in the back arse.



We finally hit the coast which was covered in the heaviest mist. It just hung over the huge trees. We signed into the campsite at Cape Lookout, there wasnt much "looking out going on - the mist kinda buggered that up". We set up camp with the tent and tarp, got a meal going, got some fire logs burning.

We hit the hay as we were all shattered, convincing ourselves we will become better road trippers over the next few days.

The Shit Has Hit the proverbial "FAN"

Folks,

Don't have a clue who'd be reading this except the parents but we are gonna give this blog malarky a bash for our road trip through the west coast of the US of A. We will try to update it regularly with a summary of the goings-on of the day and some photographs to accompany.

This is the night before the first day. We leave for Cape Lookout Provincial Park located in North Oregon tomorrow at the fine hour of 6AM. We will be camping there for one night and then moving on!!

Emma is manic at the moment, packing, cleaning and being the general orchestrator of this show. Graham is being a sarcastic git as usual and Sophie is playing it cool, writing postcards and letters. I'm doing whatever I'm told by the boss.

Keep tuned,

Emma, Ian, Graham and Sophie