Redwood National Park

I was a busy guy this week. I helped The Bigs pick about 50 lbs of cherries. We ate as many as we could and then gave the rest to all the neighbors (and some random passerby).

I continued work on the basil oil I started with basil I am growing.

And I helped pack for a little trip. We decided we would go see the redwoods. Our first night we stayed in Ashland.

And early the next morning we headed to Redwood National Park to do some backpacking.

We saw some old trees,

lots of slugs (I am not a fan of them),

and some BIG trees.

We also learned that when they say a trail is closed it probably is and had to resort to many creek crossings to get where we wanted to go.

After our hike we headed to Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve. On the way, we saw these guys

and I took a little nap.

We stayed in a campground in the monument that night,

and we took a cave tour the next day. It was so cool. The cave entrance is just on the other side of that plaque.

We saw stalactites.

And columns (where stalagmites and stalactites meet).

And lots of other cool things.

And I was sworn in as a junior ranger.

When we left the caves the car thermometer said 100, so instead of heading home we detoured to the coast. We stopped at Foster Barr on the Rogue River for the night…

and reached Bandon by midmorning.

That evening we headed home and after a long drive found Paradise Campground on the McKenzie River. Much to our relief they had a few empty sites.

We set up the tent and had veggies, noodles, and smoked salmon (from Bandon) for dinner.

We are home again, but probably not for long. Before I go, I thought you’d enjoy a comparison between my lunch

and The Bigs’s.