After the majestic Crater lake we drove another 4 hours into California to spend a few easy days in Crescent City. Because the pace has been so hectic. I’m sure you’ve all heard of this place? Or maybe not.
I think when we were booking this trip Gretel mentioned staying in this city but I may have misheard and thought she had said “Croissant City”. Someone was disappointed when there were no croissants here but there were giant redwood trees, squirrels and a Denny’s Restaurant. Sold!
Above: Feeding the local squirrels unsalted pecans.
Anyone who knows Hamish fairly well, would know he loves squirrels so Gretel researched some of the locations where squirrels could be found. There was a lady there with some unsalted pecans so she gave us some in exchange for listening to our amazing accents ?! The squirrels were great and ate right out of our hands. It was an amazing experience. They were quite well behaved for wild animals despite fighting each other at times for the food….which is a quality shared by both our kids and the squirrels.
Above: I shall call this one…Gretel……eating out of the palm of my hand!
I know we shouldn’t feed the wild animals…but…we are tourists so normal rules like that and road rules don’t apply to us. I had a proud dad moment after the squirrels on the drive home as I looked into the rear vision mirror and watched as Jasmine slipped her unwashed thumb into her mouth. mmmmmm.
Above: Hamish the squirrel whisperer with all his friends. It was freezing and windy.
Afterwards we went to a local park to have lunch and play.
This wasn’t exactly our lunch but we have been enjoying these mini carrots that come from the supermarket, pre washed and cut. They are great and cheap and easy. Who said everything in the USA was big? Whoever said that clearly hasn’t met these carrots or our bank balance.
The carrots are a slightly better option than the rows and rows of junk food in the shops. Check out all the cereals available. Redonkulous!
Although we certainly aren’t complaining about the variety of M&M’s!! Caramel ones are pretty amazing! We will take orders to bring you home a flavour. There will be a fairly steep shipping charge, however.
On both of our full days here it was fun to potter around on the beach and climb the rocks and look in the rockpools. Jasmine wants to be a professional rock climber when she grows up. I’m sure that’s a thing.
The kids had fun looking for crabs and fish and trying to find pretty rocks and semi-precious agate rocks. They have amassed quite an impressive and heavy collection so we are currently in negotiations on whether to bring the rocks home on the plane and leave one of the children behind. Great philosophical discussion point for the parents when the kids are mucking up!
Rock areas and pools are great, the kids are constantly engaged, never bored and there’s always something fun to explore or discover. And they can actually use their imagination!
The first night here we finally got to go to a Denny’s which Elise had been hanging out for. So great. Gretel had a two types of cheese sandwich, among other things. ! She may have regretted that later on. The kids loved it and decided to have pancakes for dinner and even were allowed to have dessert.
Luckily Dad the human vacuum cleaner was present to ensure no food was wasted
After Denny’s we went to a shop called Dollar Tree where everything is only one dollar. plus sales tax! how annoying. California get your act together!
It was like our cheap shops back home but way better. The shops here are open until 9pm or later so its great. I had to drag Gretel out of that place. I think we ended up buying 39 items!! Elise loved it as well. The kids got some souvenirs there also.
The next day we waited for low tide and went for a walk across the low lying rock pools to the local lighthouse. You can only access when the water is low and then only on certain days of the week. It was beautiful and sunny but still windy and cold.
That evening we raced to the end of the coast to try to see the sun setting into the water. We didn’t quite get there in time but saw some beautiful lighting. It was so cold and windy by then but it was so worth it!!
On our final day we went so see some of the amazing giant coastal redwood trees. Nearby here is the town of Springfield and also the Jedediah national forest. Any Simpsons TV show fans may be familiar with this.
Its hard to describe how impressive and huge and regal these trees are. The photos don’t really do them justice. They are treemendous.
Ha ha Hamish had just gotten in trouble in the photo above
If you feel sick from overeating at Denny’s just come to this place and you can feel insignificant again. Deal?
We’ve had a great few days relaxing here. The next day we hit the road south to San Francisco, a drive that was about 8+ hours. We will blog again from there. Seeya!
Southwells 
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