tall trees.

 

"nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness 

of the woods before sunrise." [g.w. carver]

I can't quite recall what I was doing over Memorial Day Weekend 2010, however, I am pretty sure that this tops whatever I was doing last year. Mike and I packed up the car (complete with s'mores brownies baked the night before) with our camping gear and headed to California on US101, the Pacific Highway. The drive truly feels like you are in a different country: following rivers, cutting through valleys of every shade of green, passing wineries and farmland, crossing through small shore towns, until the car feels like it is clinging onto the side of the road peering over the majestically rugged Pacific coastline. 

We camped out in a perfect relatively-hidden and unpopulated spot from which we could see the Pacific ocean (and hear the rhythmic crashing of its waves), and where we were only a short walk from the Old Growth forest. Its been a good amount of time since I have been camping, and it was so fun to  realize how much I love it. We hiked around the awe-inspiring old trees during the day, watched the sunset over the Pacific, cooked hamburgers and hung out by the fire, and went to bed to the sound of the waves and occasional rainfall throughout the night.  It was so refreshing to wake up to a forest, and the simplicity of the long weekend was much appreciated.

It was hard to wrap our minds around how amazing the trees around us truly were, and just how tiny we were in comparison. Most of the trees are over three hundred and fifty feet high, averaging eight to twenty feet in diameter, and some can reach over 2,000 years of age. Standing in the midst of that blows your mind. It also definitely makes you appreciate, value, and truly stand in awe of nature so much more. 

It is so amazing to have access to such a beautiful place, not to mention that the drive down was absolutely breathtaking, as well. The Pacific Northwest is amazing me more and more--and so thankful to be able to enjoy it with good people, good beer, and good times all around.  Hope you had a great holiday weekend!

"and so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." -f.scott fitzgerald

back to oregon!