Redwoods Camping Trip

This summer for Jon's birthday and the 4th of July, we went camping in the Redwoods. Our plan was to leave Thursday and drive to UC Davis to stay with Marshall and then all three of us would drive to Crescent City (which is right on the CA/OR border) the next day.

Thursday morning Jon was in the parking garage packing our car with all of the camping supplies when Brian (our building manager) came out of his "make-shift" workroom to speak to Jon. As they were talking they both started to smell smoke but they figured it was from somewhere outside of the apartment complex. They continued to talk and then Jon started noticing a lot of smoke in the air and all of a sudden the fire alarm in the apartment complex starts going off. It turns out that Brian's workroom had caught on fire because his American flag fell onto an exposed light bulb which caught it on fire and then the flag lit his work chair on fire. This in turn set off the water sprinklers which literally flooded the entire workroom and parking garage. From where I was on the 4th floor of the apartment complex, you could hear the alarm but it wasn't too loud, in fact, I thought it was from the apartment complex across the street (which is a little concerning to me). Once I stepped outside however, you could smell the smoke and see it in the air. Brian was pretty bummed because all of his equipment was damaged due to the water but at least everyone was okay. So with the smell of campfire already blanketing our car and belongings, we headed on our road trip. I am going to miss these types of wacky stories when we move.


We lucked out and got the best campsite in our campground. We were surrounded by Redwoods with no neighbors near us....just how I like it.

We went to "Trees of Mystery" which is pretty much a tourist trap, but it was still fun. They have paths that you can take in the redwoods with stops along the way that point out different facts . They also have a sky rail/ski lift that you can ride and really get the "feel of being amongst the redwoods" it was actually really fascinating and breathtaking being up that high.

We visited Jedediah Smith State Park. It was beautiful there. They have a beautiful lake and a lot of paths through the redwoods that you can wander around in.


For the fourth of July we headed down to the beach where tons of families and friends were setting off their own fireworks. I am assuming fireworks are legal in Crescent City because the amount and size of fireworks that were going off right above our heads by amateurs was both overwhelming and amazing. The city also had their own fireworks show. It didn't start until 9:00pm so by that time, the fog on the beach was really thick and we basically heard but didn't see the "official" show...but they sounded good :) Overall, it was an excellent trip.