My Trip to the Coast

Well, as usual my photos are in reverse order. I drove Peg and I about six hours up the California coast on Monday the 20th to visit her friend, Carolyn and to visit the beach and see the Redwoods for the first time. We stayed in Fortuna and Carolyn provided dinner each of the three nights we were there. Here we are in the motel room. Peg took the photo.

Below are photos from the Avenue of the Giants. These are the mighty Redwoods, native only to the northern Ca. coast. They are majestic and beautiful. Here is Carolyn driving through one and waving at us.

Below is a Redwood cut and if you click to enlarge, you can see the dates when historical events happened. This tree is comparatively young at 800+ years old. Some have been around before Christ.

The forest is awesome, shady and green, green, green. It is very quiet and ferns grow naturally.

Peg standing next to the base of a tree.

A blue hydrangea growing wild in the forest. That tells me the soil is acidic because the flower is blue. Look at how green the leaves are. Wish my hydrangea looked this healthy.

Peg and me standing halfway down on a fallen log.

Do the leaves of three look familiar to anyone? It is poison oak and grows all over the forest floor and up the tree trunks.

Me standing at the base of a tree.

It was impossible for the camera to capture the sheer height of the trees. They go up to 200-300 feet high! You have to see it yourself.

Peg and I standing near the cliff overlooking the ocean. The wind was blowing as usual but I loved it.

The photo on the left is of a seal swimming in the surf at Fortuna Beach. Hopefully you can enlarge it and see the seal clearly. On the right we (Peg, her friend Carolyn who lives there and me) were standing on a cliff overlooking the beach. It was cool and beautiful compared to the 100 degree weather in Sacto. Hope this wasn't too boring for you. I had a good time and talked and laughed till the wee hours of the morning. It was good to go somewhere.
Congrats to Jessica and Dan on the birth of Audrianna Goin! She was born on the 21st of August. Wish I had a photo. Another sweet addition to the family.

We love our grandkids and kids!

Starting with the youngest grandbaby, our sweet Hannah being held by Grandma D.

Baja Fresh with the Stevens and Thornocks.

Sam,Allie (check out that smile!) Dominic, Grandma and Grandpa at David and Jill's house.

The Swimmers, Kamrie and Madison

The Snackers, Taylor and Kaden

Hailey posing. Ella enjoying the grass.

This is so rare, getting all twelve grandchildren together at one time. It is even rarer to have them all sitting still and smiling. I'd say almost impossible. Out of over 24 shots, these are the best and they have some funny faces in them:) Aren't they cute?

Even though it got crazy sometimes, (as usual) we loved having everyone here. With all the different activities going on, it sure went fast. Dave and I have the house back to normal awaiting the arrival of Jessica, Jeff and Madison tomorrow. They will be our last visitors until Christmas time (as far as we know). This Saturday is a big Ward Party so the house is already cleaned for them. Thanks for everyone taking the time and spending the money to stay with us. We loved it.