Northern California and Oregon Roadtip

My work schedule is modified traditional, so I had a fall break for two weeks! The first week was spent doing normal things (netflix, sleeping in, being lazy, running). The second week, I planned a fun roadtrip with my mom to explore the redwoods and coast. We've always wanted to go to Ashland Shakespeare festival, so we decided to drive up to Oregon and spend the day in Ashland as well.

People always assume when you are from California that you live by the beach and see stars in Hollywood. Well, let me tell you, California is diverse and Northern California is even more diverse than I remembered.

 A fun game we played was describing the trees and their unique shapes. When we were hiking, we often would find trees like this and then say what we saw.

 The "tallest" tree in the grove. The ranger said that this tree is probably no longer the tallest tree but they have a hard time measuring the trees in the grove.

 We stayed in a cute little place in Scotia called the Scotia Inn. Our bed was very small but the inn had a very old time feeling. Ps. If you are looking for a place to eat in Scotia after 6 or 7pm, there is only one pizza parlor open! It was pretty good pizza though and the town of Scotia was very cute. It is very small and has a logging mill.

 We went to Grizzly Creek Redwoods State park and Cheatham grove (where a secne was filmed in Return of the Jedi). The benefits of traveling in off season period is that the parks are empty. We were the only car out in Cheatham grove and had the grove all to ourselves.

 I'm not a tree expert, but we found this tree and it was beautiful. It is called the wedding tree as many couples come here for their wedding ceremony. If you ever come to this grove of trees, make sure you stop at this tree, it will be worth your while.

 We stopped in Ferndale, which is one of the cutest towns. We had lunch and went window shopping in the boutique stores and little shops. Fun fact is that they have one of most "historical" cemetaries that went up the hill. I didn't take a picture but if you walked up the hill, you could see a beautiful view of the ocean and the city.

 I loved Eureka,Ca! It was a large enough city that there were things to do unlike the other cities that had just a couple of shops. We walked around the downton part of Eureka and they had the best vintage clothes store as long as book stores. I miss going to book stores and these stores had a big variety! The town also has the Victorian homes and mansions that were fun to visit. If I could choose my future home, I would pick this house below.

 We spent the morning and afternoon in Trinidad and it was another one of my favorite cities. It has lots of vacation homes and it is right along the coast. As we drove up, we saw some people grab their surfboards to catch some waves (although the water would be cold).

Patricks Point was absolutely gorgeous and the hike went along the coast line. If you ever have the chance, do go to Patricks Point.

A beach in Patricks Point is Agate Beach. Agates are a volcanic rock that is clear and this beach is full of rocks including agates. The rocks are polished creating a rock that looks like glass. As you walk along the beach, you see millions of small rocks. You can take the rocks home!

We then went to Prairie Creek State Park and went on the Fern Canyon hike. This is the location where Jurassic Park was filmed. The hike was beautiful and you feel like you are in a green heaven. We had to climb over some trees since some of the trees fell over but this was one of my favorite hikes.

 Our drive through Jedediah State Park was absolutely beautiful. It was raining that day that created overcast weather along with gorgeous views of the fall colors. I miss having fall but as we drove along Highway 101, we saw the fall colors.

 We made it up the Medford, Oregon temple which is very small compared to other temples. We were able to get some temple work done and walk around the temple.

 Finally, we made it to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival and saw 12th night. The play was very witty and I enjoyed watching the acting as they portrayed the characters very well.

Overall this roadtrip was so much fun since we were able to be in beautiful scenery the whole trip (well except Highway 5 past Redding). It reminded me of how beautiful the world truly is and how blessed we are to have this world to explore. So, take advantage of your surroundings and go explore!