The Redwood Highway

World Famous Paul Bunyan
World Famous Tour-Thru Tree
World Famous One Log house

We're on a big road trip now- just like when you were a kid. We actually saw all these world famous things in ONE DAY! We flew up to Medford Oregon (airport like a bus station) on Dec 22 (holiday crowds, lost luggage, squealing babies), picked up our rental car and immediately headed for California Highway 101, the Redwood Highway! We spent the first 2 nights in Trinidad, CA and I fell in love. It's a wonderful, picturesque, authentic fishing village. It's the first time I ever experienced massive redwood forests that come up to very edge of the sea. We stayed in a cabin among the trees, it drizzled the entire time and it was just perfect. We hiked for 2 days among the redwood forests, had dinner at the Seacoast Cafe right off the fishing pier, where the crabs were being hauled in right then. At night we were back in our little cabin by 7pm. Almost no other tourists around and trust me, they like it that way.

Next we drove up to Mendocino along Highway 1, hugging the coastline for hours. Mendocino is another charming little village in an unbelievably picturesque location but this one is all about the tourists. In summer it must be utter hell. But now, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it was quiet and friendly. Almost everything was closed, except for the B&B's. They were all full of people from San Francisco. And us. The Mendocino Headlands separate the town from the sea with dramatic cliffs and trails with incredible views. We stayed at the Sea Rock Inn, on the edge of town, overlooking the rocky coast. Lots of walking, chatting with other gay couples.

Now, Wednesday, we came down toward the wine country and I can see we're leaving paradise behind. Lots of traffic and strip malls and cranky people. We just checked into the Kenwood Inn and Spa and I'm guessing we won't be leaving here the rest of the day. It's pretty spectacular. We're killing a bottle of wine in front of the fireplace right now.