Cali.forn.i.a

We had a bit of dilemma about the next section of the route (I know, life is tough!) and we ended up heading back west as we feel that we missed out a bit on the incredible Oregon coast due to illness. After a decent drive (we tend to max out at around 3-4 hours, and that's pretty rare), we stopped in yet another nice forestry site in the Oregon hills with only 2 spots, and had the most random conversation with some locals.

The next morning we drove into California, getting checked for illegal fruit and veg on the way! We drove down the coast but CA haven't got it as right as Oregon (where the road hugs the shoreline which is dotted with SPs) so it wasn't a spectacular drive. At one point the road was so bad we turned around and headed back onto the inland highway, and arrived at the Humboldt Redwood SP late so checked in to a commercial camp site (possibly only our 3rd in over 4 months). Despite it being a bit sterile we did make the most of the laundry and wifi, which resulted in a lazy morning catching up online. We then explored the gigantic trees, some of which they reckon are at least a thousand years old (and some people suggesting possibly double that). Despite quite a lot of Elk around unfortunately we weren't lucky enough to see any rutting.

After lunch we headed east into the California hills. The road was pretty windy, and everything is incredibly dry. We had another forestry camp site to ourselves - the season definitely finishes very abruptly on Labour Day holiday - and headed further inland the following day.Read more