4 Hours to a Tree

One of Aaron's childhood friends lives in Redding, CA. Our plan was to take a little 2 day trip while he was working and then visit him for a few days over the weekend. With both of our work schedules, we decided to switch it to the following weekend and spend the entire 4 days there. The things I had planned for our little 2 day trip were things I was really looking forward to so after some talking we decided to take the trip anyway... Meaning we had to drive 4 hours to a tree.

My idea was we drive the 4 hours to the tree and work our way back stopping at the various things I found online. Now, this isn't just any tree. This is the Chandelier Tree in the Drive-Thru Tree Park! Yes, drive-thru!! Standing 315 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter, they cut a hole in it so cars could drive-thru it!

Aaron was a little annoyed that I made him drive this far, but once we got there he realized it was pretty cool! After this, we drove down to Fort Bragg. There was no service at the park, so we headed back the way we came and the GPS took us on a wild route. We ended up on this beautiful, green, and extremely narrow winding road.

We had a few views of the ocean and the sunset as well!

It took us to Route 1 which we followed to Fort Bragg. Once we got to Route 1, we pulled over to see the sunset.

Once we got there we were starving! We decided to hit up North Coast Brewing Company. We sat outside in their heated tent and ordered a flight, chowder and chili, a burger, and fish and chips!

Afterwards we headed to Cowlick's Ice Cream. I had their chai ice cream and it was delicious!

While sitting at the brewery we got to talking and Aaron said, "We should stay somewhere that we have an ocean view". At first I thought, well it is dark out, what is the big deal. Well, in the morning when we woke up to the ocean, I thanked him for his wonderful idea!

We stayed at the Ocean View Lodge where we had amazing views of the ocean and were able to head out on the Coastal Trail to check out the cliffs and ocean.

I wanted us to see Fort Bragg because I saw there is a Glass Beach here! So we headed to it along our walk.

Once we got there, it no sooner started to rain.

We ran trying to get away from the rain, and soon it became sunny again!

We headed back to the hotel to check out and get some breakfast. One of the only breakfast places open with dining was Laurel Deli & Desserts so we headed there. The omelets were great!

We really enjoyed Fort Bragg! It was an adorable little beach town with lots of little shops and I loved the paths by the water. We both said we would like to go again one day! Following this, we headed to the Petrified Forest. The drive took us down Route 1 and we stopped at a few places to take pictures.

We also drove through Anderson Valley which had tons of vineyards and wineries!

After driving by so many, we decided to swing into one. When we arrived we realized you had to have a reservation. We decided to check out the sheep in the vineyard and take a few pictures.

While I was driving, my wonderful co-pilot started looking up wineries. We were able to make a reservation at Yorkville Cellars.

Not only was there wine, but there was a furry friend named Slate to enjoy our wine with.

I don't think either of us have ever been wine tasting with a cat! It was really fun and I bet Slate brings people back since he is so cute and friendly, not to mention the wine is delightful. Next we arrived to the Petrified Forest.

After you pay, you receive a map of everything in the forest. The entire trail is roughly 1 mile long, making this an easy quick thing to see! When I saw the Petrified Forest online, I didn't realize all that it was. The map has so much information on how this was all created. To sum it up, over 3 million years ago, there was a volcanic explosion from what is now called Mt. St Helena. When this happened, Redwood trees were knocked down and the volcanic ash caused an anaerobic environment. From this environment, bacteria that decomposes the trees could not survive which later, after the redwoods were filled with silica and the saturated water evaporated, it allowed the formation of three-dimensional fossils. (All information from the map you get at the park, lots of science!)

The only trees found in the Petrified Forest are pine, oak, and redwoods. The Manzanita is a red bark tree and it peels during the summer. Below is Petrified Wood in its natural state.

Then we walked to through the Meadow Trail where we could see Mt. St. Helena and an ash fall deposit!

Here is the Giant, 6ft in diameter and 60ft in length and the Queen, 8ft in diameter and 65ft in length.

This White Oak below was very neat to me. These look and feel like giant rocks that you would see kids climbing on!

After the Petrified Forest, we took the drive to Cypress Tree Tunnel. Along the drive we drove through beautiful scenery with lots of farmland and little towns.

Once at the Cypress Tree Tunnel, we parked on the side of the road and walked in. It looked closed, but really they just do not want people driving down the street. So in we went!

Since we almost missed the sunset the night prior, Aaron said we should try to catch the sunset! On to Point Reyes Beach North we went!

This was the perfect way to end our spontaneous trip! Not to mention on our way out, we saw 2 elk!

This trip, for being practically last minute turned out to be one of my favorite trips we took while on this travel assignment. 4 hours to a tree turned into many memories and we were able to see so much in just 2 days!