Redwoods

Day 2 took us through the Redwoods!  We stopped at two different groves and did hikes.  The only things the hikes had in common were trees and bugs!

The first stop was at Stout Grove.  The hike was 1 mile and completely filled with mosquitoes.  The mosquitoes really liked Xavien and he was not pleased during the hike.  The grove is off a river so it is possible that the humidity and water gave us mosquitoes.  We haven't really encountered mosquitoes since we moved west so it didn't occur to me to pack any bug repellant.  So even though we made the kids brave the bugs we did get to see some awesome trees!

The next hike was at Lady Bird Johnson Grove.  This one was really high in elevation so no mosquitoes but the path was littered with caterpillars or centipedes.  You couldn't take a step without hitting one of these guys!  Ivie nicknamed the place "Caterpillar Town" which I thought was really cute.   This was a self guided hike with numbers at various points of interest.  My kids have always liked that type of hike because they race to see who can find the next number.

The last stop one this day was at the Chandelier Drive-thru Tree.  There are about three trees (I think) in the Redwood forest that you can drive your car through.  The tree is absolutely huge!  I did a really lousy job and didn't get the best picture but in my defense it is hard to snap shots with multiple cameras and especially on Matthew's phone.  I'm just not used to using it.

The Redwoods were my favorite thing we saw this trip.  I immediately felt more at home in the forest.  No one complained about windy roads because everyone was in awe of these amazing trees!