Though we technically got into California on Monday night, it didn’t feel like we got here until yesterday.
We left Crescent City yesterday morning and headed to Stout Grove in the northernmost part of the Redwood State & National Parks, where we did a short hiking loop around some massive redwoods. We made another stop further south to see the “Big Tree” — a gigantic redwood that is 22 feet in diameter.
Because we had crossed over to the coast to see the park, our fastest route was down the 101 — as opposed to I-5 — through the remaining state parks and national park, past several small towns and a few beaches. We finished winding through the vineyards in Sonoma County, stopping off here in Santa Rosa, about 50 miles outside of San Francisco.
We laughed when we saw the signs for the California Information/Welcome Center in Santa Rosa, about 300 miles south of the border. We drove through some beautiful country coming down through the forests; I’m glad we did that instead of just drive down I-5. But it’s definitely more “country” up there.
And we didn’t see In-N-Out (which we had for dinner last night) until nearing our hotel — therefore, we are only now in California.
After checking out, we’ll make our final hour trek into the city, in time to see a baseball game at 12:45. We went yesterday, from wearing jeans and jackets, to today, with t-shirts and shorts — a perfect, sunny California day, with a high of 72.
Five ballparks to see in California in the next two weeks. Today is the first.
(Pictures update: June 17th – Seattle & Redwood Nat’l Park)
The Phallic Road Trip 