We are off to the Trees of Mystery today! It is kind of like a Paul Bunyan theme park and I bet that most people, even Californians, have never heard of it. When you approach there is a giant statue of Paul Bunyan with his blue ox, Babe. Bunyan is voiced by someone watching the people come in and greets them personally while waving his giant hand. There are plenty of photo opportunities before you even buy your tickets.
Next is our adventure in the woods where there are lots of named trees and information about the growing cycle of redwoods.
When you get up the hill through the trees there is a gondola ride which takes you high above the trees. You can see Karl the fog rolling in off the Pacific. From here on out Sam has instituted a thumbs up meme for all his pictures.
After we descend on the gondola there is a portion of the park that is about the Paul Bunyan story with lots of carved stumps. The kids enjoyed climbing on some of the carved animals.
Lastly we are treated to another time capsule redwood cross section.
We have spent several hours at the Trees of Mystery. What does the family think of our experience?
We grab a so-so lunch at a place across the street from the park and then head back to Trinidad. The kids play video games or read for the rest of the afternoon. Jon and I both snooze in our recliner chairs. We are tired out from all the day’s excitement.
Tonight we are having our “fancy” dinner at a seafood restaurant called SALT in Arcata. It turns out to be a great experience with Alex and Sam trying fried calamari for the first time (a hit!). They also both try steamed mussels. This was a split decision with Sam giving it a thumbs up and Alex thinking that this seafood is not for him.
