A long ride in the car was cut short because of a certain little girl in the back seat loudly proclaiming her dissatisfaction with nearly hysterical tears. We had meant to get in at least another hour of driving and hopefully across the border from California to Oregon before stopping to let Clio stretch her short legs. But instead we stopped at the nearest park we could find which happened to be Jedediah Smith Campgrounds in Crescent City.
We had no idea that when we stopped there it would be one of the most amazing parts of our road trip up to Portland. It felt as if we stepped out of our car directly into prehistoria; surrounded by towering and ancient redwood trees. Over their thousand plus years growing they stretched to the heavens and being in their presence left me feeling minuscule and humbled. I had seen them before, when I was just a kid myself, but seeing them as an adult with my own child in hand gave me a new appreciation for them. Only about 5% of their numbers are left now. These massive and ancient things were nearly completely wiped out by the logging industry in the mid-nineteenth century.
What was supposed to be just a thirty minute stop for the sake of our sanities ended up more like two hours. It was the most pleasant two hour delay I've ever had. If only all the delays I've experienced over the years at the hands of various airlines were this pleasant...
Sometimes the best moments in life happen by accident.
That's the best part about the northern Cali drive...all the surprises. Anytime we took a little detour we were in awe of what we found.
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