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.