Unique Crescent City Forest and Beach Hikes

Redwood National Park is an interesting connection of both state and national parks. In fact the official name is Redwood National and State Parks. We traveled to the northern most section of the parks, Crescent City, and continued our exploration of the redwood area from there. After a hearty breakfast on Tuesday, we were ready to hit the forest. Our first park was Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We were headed to a popular trail called the Boy Scout Trail.…

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From California’s Sea to the Redwood Forest

It was a cold but sunny morning as we left Fort Bragg and continued along the northern California coast. Our first stop was at a small beach called Seaside Beach. It is at the mouth of the Ten Mile River. From the parking lot and beach one can walk to Ten Mile Beach. Seaside Beach is fairly small with a very nice view of sea stacks. One of its unique features is that dogs are allowed on the beach which…

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Scenic Vistas Along the Northern California Coast

The California coastline stretches 840 miles along the western United States. There are many beautiful locations along the coast, but most people think of locations in southern California such as San Diego, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, or Laguna Beach. However, heading north of San Francisco one can encounter some stunning views along the coastline that are less crowded and well worth the visit. Highway 1 runs along the California coast. It is a winding and twisting road. It will take…

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US National Parks: A Look at History

The National Park Service was established in 1916 to take care of the nation’s many parks. While most people only think of the 63 National Parks, the agency cares for other parks as well. The National Parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Glacier focus on nature. These parks preserve the land, plants and animals that provide unique landscapes. On the other hand US National Historical Parks seek to preserve important historical locations throughout the nation. Currently the National Park…

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Seaside or Cannon Beach, Which Place is Best for You?

I mentioned in my previous blog post that my wife’s parents once owned a home in Cannon Beach, Oregon, and we visited them frequently. We became pretty familiar with Cannon Beach over the years. Once they sold their home, we went down less frequently. Now, however, when we do go down, we stay in Seaside which is about ten minutes north of Cannon Beach. Despite the fact that the towns are fairly close to each other, they are different in…

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Astoria, Gateway to the Oregon Coast

At one time my wife’s parents owned a home in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Our children were in elementary school then, and we would go down to visit two or three times a year. Of course to get there we had to pass through the town of Astoria, and that’s what we did, we passed right on by. Occasionally we would drive up to wander through some antique stores, but for the most part we were unimpressed. It had been a…

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Impressions of More US National Parks

Last week I shared about five National Parks I had visited before I started my blog. I didn’t feel I remembered enough to give a lot of detail, but thought I would share some thoughts and experiences about these parks. Today I want to share about five more parks. While last week’s list included parks from Maine to Hawaii, this week the parks are all in the southwestern section of the United States. Yosemite National Park is a well known…

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My Impressions of Five US National Parks

There are 63 National Parks in the United States with the newest one in West Virginia added in just the last few years. How many can you name? Don’t feel bad, I can’t name that many either. However, I have been to 19 of them over the years. Some of them I have visited recently and have shared about my visits in this blog. You can peruse those articles in the index under National Parks. I have not shared about…

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Discovering the Gardens of Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara sits along the California coast north of Los Angeles. Many people think of it as a posh beach town. However, its Mediterranean climate makes it a unique place to garden. While it is fairly warm year round, it is also somewhat dry. This makes it suitable for a wide variety of plants. There are three gardens that I have enjoyed while visiting Santa Barbara. The first is the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in the foothills above the Santa…

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Exciting Sights at Channel Islands National Park

Over Thanksgiving week my daughter and I had the opportunity to visit Channel Islands National park off the coast of California. Our family traveled to Santa Barbara to be with my wife’s family for Thanksgiving. We went down there two years ago, but a fire forced us to evacuate. It was time to try again. My daughter, Andrea, lived in Santa Barbara for five years for school. She graduated from Cal. State Channel Islands. I have been down to Santa…

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