Our long awaited trip up the Northern California coast from our house all the way to Trinidad, CA starts today! Since we have a lot of stuff and people we opt to take Jon’s van. As usual the grownups have long discussions about how and where to pack everything. Alex is definitely patient during this phase of the trip.
And finally we are off! Our first stop is at the Bay Model in Sausalito. The commute traffic is still raging so we have a somewhat longer trip than we anticipated. But everyone is in good spirits and I, of course, try to fill the time with scintillating facts about our first stop.
The Bay Model was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to predict the effects of various projects that impact the bay. It is about the size of two football fields and it is scaled according to area but magnified 10X in depth. The water flows in and out to replicate the tides. We don headphones to listen to the detailed information at the 25 listening stops. Sam is amazingly gung-ho in learning about the model. He really enjoys listening to and then finding the next stop.
We have been here with Jon and Sarah probably 25 years ago so we are all seeing this with fresh eyes.
After an hour or so we get back in the van. The ride up to Eureka, our first overnight stop, is about 3.5 hours away. First order of business is finding some lunch. We decide on eating at The Habit in Santa Rosa. Everyone enjoys their hamburgers and fries (or onion rings in Zayde’s case) and Jonathan announces that The Habit will now be his go-to burger place!
We drive for a couple of hours and the kids are really excellent in the car. They listen to podcasts on their headphones and take little naps. Around Leggett, CA we stop at a gas station with expensive gas only payable in cash and definitely a kind of creepy attendant. Surviving this Deliverance moment we add a trip to the Drive-Thru tree for some ice cream. Jon’s van is really too large to drive-thru the tree comfortably but it is fun to take pictures and watch other people drive their cars through.
Our final stop before Eureka is at the Avenue of the Giants Visitor Center. Unfortunately the Center closes at 5 PM and we get there at 4:45 PM. But it is enough time to see the big cross section of redwood with its rings dated and look at the exhibit about Charles Kellogg who extinguished a flame with his voice. This feat was not duplicated again until Jonathan did it on Mythbusters a few years ago.
Now it is a sprint to Eureka where we check into the Holiday Inn Express and find some dinner at the Lost Coast Brewery Pub. We have a fine dinner of Po’Boy, Buffalo Chicken Wings, Rueben sandwich, kid-size pizza, and fish and chips. These entrees are, of course, served with piles of French fries. We are off to healthy start to our vacation!
