The Avenue of the Giants

The famous redwood trees cover a 500 mile coastal strip from Oregon to Northern California, an area less than 30 miles wide. These trees can grow 350ft tall, 20ft around and live up to 2000 years. While researching the best place to see them, the consensus from my fellow fulltime RVers was The Avenue of the Giants in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Later we found out why some of the most impressive trees grow here, the stream that runs thru this area make it an especially biodiverse spot. We arrived at our campground to find out that we were too big for both the site AND campground. We booked on reserveamerica.com and the listing incorrectly stated both sizes. Argh! Fortunately the state park keeps one site open for rangers' use, so they graciously put us there. We stayed in the Burlington campground which was conveniently located right next to the visitor center and trails. The kids were immediately overjoyed at the sight of these enormous trees right at our campsite. They took off to play inside them and on top of the stumps.

There are a few letterboxes hidden in the area, so we did some "treasure hunting". One of the things I love about letterboxing, is the amazing places it takes you. My new favorite box, took us to a "ghost tree", a very rare albino redwood, one of only six in the whole forest!

Contrasting with the green branch of a typical redwood. 

We hiked Founders Grove to the aptly named Dyerville Giant, 362ft tall, 52ft around! When it crashed to the ground in 1991 it sounded like a train wreck, heard miles away.

The kids participated in a hike with a ranger and earned their own Junior Ranger badges. He taught them about the Redwood Sorrel, an edible plant that looks like clover and taste like apple.

Another letterbox led us to the Big Trees trail where we saw the Giant tree, Tall tree and Flat Iron tree.

We attempted to drive thru the Shine Tree, but the big blue monster just wouldn't quite fit. Once we realized it wasn't going to happen, it took us awhile to back out of there. We stayed awhile and watched others drive thru and stood inside for photos.

Next to the Shine tree are these adorable little treehouses with spiral stairs carved out to access the second floor.

On our last day while Daddy packed up, the kids and I hiked the Fleishmann Grove trail. "Ranger Journey" led us while Asher and I pretended to be visitors. I interviewed Ranger Journey on video and the answers she came up with were pretty entertaining. (She has a cat named "Joni" and lives in a cabin with other volunteers.)

This same week my friends were posting pictures of their kids going "back to school" so I am particularly fond of these photos of my kids wearing their backpacks and enjoying their "roadschool" life. I love the learning that happens thru travel, adventure and life experiences.