Posted June 12, 2018 – Narrated by Carmen
“Being Indian is mainly in your heart.
It’s a way of walking with the earth instead of upon it.“
– David Ipinia, Yurok
We just needed to slow down and breathe.
At Six Sigma Ranch, we decided to decelerate from our familiar SoCal pace and resume the 4-3-2 Rule.
Two weeks in the coastal redwoods of Humbolt County sounded perfect.
But it’s a challenge to find a space for a rig our size in California state and national parks, especially along the coast.
At the last-minute, Jim found an opening at Sounds Of The Sea RV Park – a private campground neighboring Patricks Point State Park on the north end of The Lost Coast Trail.
Near the top of a tiered bluff, we settled into a space that usually serves groups. The site came with full-hookups and a private deck with a peek-a-boo ocean view…
… and all for the price of the state park campground, which doesn’t even have a dump station.
Tic, tac toe. Three in a row …
The Redwoods …
The sea …
… and free walk-in entrance to Patricks Point State Park and Agate Beach for rock hounding …
Three’s a charm, but in Native American folklore, the gods prefer fours.
Trinidad – or Chuerey in the Yurok language – is the fourth aspect of our idyllic two-week stay. Only a ten-minute drive from our campground, the village is situated atop the bluffs with a breathtaking view of Trinidad Bay – the traditional home of the Yuroc, Wiyot and Tolowa people.
Bucolic as Mayberry, the 359 residents of Trinidad boast a vintage lighthouse, a historic church, a market, museum and traffic light – and I should have filed a complaint at the police department when gangs of blooming rhododendron and azalea kept hijacking my eyes.
Small town, big flavor!
There’s nothing mundane about the cuisine scene in Trinidad. Whether downtown, dockside, roadside or beachfront … every delicious meal set before us was creative, beautiful and prepared with the freshest local produce and seafood.
Located about ten miles from the California Redwood Coast Airport near UC Humboldt, Trinidad is a delightful side-trip for vacationers, a historic town for site-seers on the Lost Coast Trail and a popular weekend destination for car and motorcycle clubs.
My sister, Deborah and her husband came to Trinidad for their honeymoon. And we’re so happy that our dear friend and follower, Eva Chamberlain, recommended we visit her hometown.
The friendly community here so pushed our “home-sweet-home” buttons that we had to pause and study real estate ads!
Besides nurturing our fantasy of living here – way up above the tsunami zone – we had plenty of things to occupy our time.
We searched for hidden beaches along the Amalfi-like scenic drive …
Went hiking in the redwoods …
And cycled the redwoods …
Then, I did some rockhounding, and played with dead things on the beach…
A different beach for every day…
Pico de Gallo
And we celebrated Pico’s tenth birthday on dog-friendly Moonstone Beach …
As our campground, “Sounds of The Sea,” discloses with the cute sign at their entrance, this region is noisy.
Sea lions by the hundreds bark day and night if you can even hear them over the deafening wind and thundering surf churning up rocks from the bottom, dashing them against boulders. At first, I had my doubts about the authenticity of the Yurok saying, “Silence has so much meaning.”
No wonder the indigenous people designed thick redwood plank houses surrounding interior pits and underground sweat lodges that are nearly sound proof sanctuaries.
But maybe the Yurok proverb isn’t about shutting out environmental distractions, but rather about seeing silence, standing in awe, speechless, mesmerized, just breathing it in…
Sounds good.
OMG. I see some of your posts but this is beautiful. Can’t seem to get my other half to hike, says I’m trying to kill him. It’s too wonderful not to do it….and not being on the East Coast where Summer hiking is full of ticks….well, I so wish I was with you. Enjoy and keep it up. 🙂
Imelda, thank you. Trinidad and the Redwoods is so beautiful and it’s true many of the places were only accessible by hiking steep trails. We do plan someday to explore the East Coast and do some hiking. Sounds like we will need to prepare for some bugs.
Safe Travels!
LIB
Imelda, we are doing an east coast Airstream tour in July/August, are ticks worse there than they are here in Michigan? Carmen, are there no ticks in Oregon?
Ticks are really bad in tall grass and in the woods. All ticks carry disease but it’s the smallest, deer ticks, that carry Lyme. When deer ticks attach, they are so small, they look like a freckle. The Lyme carrier must be attached 24 hours for it to transfer the disease. It can be treated early w/ 30 days of a strong antibiotic w/no other problems. There is a ‘bullseye’ pattern, sort of like red circles that sometimes appear, but that might not be seen. The real problem of Lyme is that most people who get it never know they were bitten by the tick.
We don’t know why that in a lifetime of hiking, neither of us have ever picked up a tick. We hiked over twelve miles in the Redwoods one day and cycled the woods almost 16 miles on another day and never even thought about tics – though we have read that tics are worse than ever right now.
Pico picked up a tic in Daddy’s swamp last year. It was on his noggin and we removed it with a tic removal tool which we keep onboard in his doggie health kit. We had to watch a YouTube video to know how to use it. We never thought we’d need the tic wand but were glad to have it.
Maybe our hiking style is a deterrent to tick infection. We never sit down or stop to eat. We take water breaks on our feet – move at a brisk and steady a pace because we’re old! We fear that stopping will make our muscles cold and we won’t be able to get up and go home!
This tic discussion is interesting. Thank you, Anonymous for the tutorial about deer ticks! I never knew that you could have a tick bite and never know it. Yikes. Sure hope we don’t get one!
Safe Travels and Hiking!
LIB
Beautiful and the blog was awesome! Looks like a place we would love to put on our west coast tour!
Sherrill, thank you. Trinidad was beautiful!
Awesome post. You do such a great job. Looking forward to seeing you at International.
Thank you, Judy. We’re looking forward to seeing you, too!
Safe Travels,
LIB
What a glorious and soothing entry. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jack! Thank you for being with us!
LIB
Beautiful photography. Keep living the Dream
Thank you, Mike! Every morning I say out loud, “I love my life.”
May all your dreams come true!
LIB
My daughter and I discovered the beauty of Trinidad on our way to Newport, Oregon, and fell in love with small village. It’s breathtaking–and a well-kept wonderful secret haven of peace and beauty.
You say it well. Trinidad is true fishing village, not a tourist trap town. And the people there are so kind and welcoming. We’re in love with it too!
Thanks for being with us and safe travels randomactsoftrialanderror!
LIB
Oh, so beautiful, Carmen! And Happy Birthday to Pico! He is a lucky dog! So loved. Carmen, you mentioned how challenging it can be to find spots in California for a 30 footer. Are you and Jim, overall, happy that you have this size? Do you wish you had gone smaller, if you had to do it over again? My husband and I wrestle with the size issue. I realize that size is an issue for many and I’m asking you because your style of travel seems compatible to what we envision doing. Thanks for your input, Carmen. Sabrina
Sabrina, thank you for being with us! Yes, everyone’s different, but we’re sure we have the right size Airstream. Like you, we struggled mightily to choose between the 25′ and 30′. The 25′ is the most preferred size Airstream, so there are more available to choose from. The primary reason we went for the 30′ is comfort. We’re old with orthopedic problems so sitting down in an easy chair at day’s end has made LIB possible for us. That extra five feet allows for lounging style comfort that just isn’t a feature of the ’25.
Yes, the 30′ reduces our ability to camp inside many national and state parks. Some parks that advertise no rigs over ’25 can accomodate a 30′ – so sometimes we push the rules and drive up to the entry anyway and have never been turned away – Theodore Roosevelt National Park for example. I feel the 25′ rule is more about trying to discourage Type A rigs. The profile of the Airstream is an advantage. Even at 30′ we can slip into spaces the tall, boxy rigs can’t – spaces with overhanging trees and rocky embankments that the park system doesn’t want to hollow out for the enormous-type rigs. But, most often, we actually prefer to camp outside near the park entrance – even if we’re dry camping and settle for driving through the scenic parks – often while towing – enjoying the pullouts and taking day hikes. We love the parks but the NPS and many state systems ration services to discourage overnight camping … no cell signals and often no water or anyplace to dump within miles of the campground. Often, it’s more practical to camp in one of the lovely gateway small towns around the parks.
So, no – even though I’m crazy about Bambis, we don’t wish to have a smaller trailer. We like to tow and we prefer a 30′. It’s taken a while to learn but we can move fast. We can pack, unhook, hitch up and move in well under an hour, so the extra size doesn’t slow us down – it just gives us more comfort – but, as I said, everyone’s different.
Enjoy your search! The planning stage is such a happy time! I’m envious.
Safe Travels,
Carmen
So very informative, Carmen. Thank you! I’m glad to see that you guys decided to do a third year as I very much enjoy following your very poetic LIB. Safe travels to you too!
Sabrina
Have been enjoying to see where the Bicycles that we sold you have gone. Looks like ther are holding up OK.