We woke up to a lovely breakfast & beautiful weather for our anniversary. We headed just down the road to the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree. Can't resist all the tourist traps, right? For $6 we squeaked our rental car through this enormous tree.
This is looking up from inside the tree.
They had quite the array of both informational sites & fun carvings.
This treehouse was pretty incredible; mainly because there were only tiny additions of lumber & instead it was just carved out of the tree.
There were even carved spices & books inside.
I crawled my way up a skinny flight of carved stairs to peer out the top.
This sign kind of summed up how amazingly old these trees are. Click on it to zoom in & read. To think it was over 1000 years old when Jesus was born!
We drove further down the Avenue of the Giants to the Visitors' Center.
We didn't see ALL this wildlife (alive) but I was excited to spot a blue heron, a bald eagle, more deer, & a variety of birds. I'm not too sad that we didn't see a brown bear or a puma while hiking!
There were even carved spices & books inside.
I crawled my way up a skinny flight of carved stairs to peer out the top.
This sign kind of summed up how amazingly old these trees are. Click on it to zoom in & read. To think it was over 1000 years old when Jesus was born!
We drove further down the Avenue of the Giants to the Visitors' Center.
We didn't see ALL this wildlife (alive) but I was excited to spot a blue heron, a bald eagle, more deer, & a variety of birds. I'm not too sad that we didn't see a brown bear or a puma while hiking!
At Founder's Grove there is a good group of old stand redwoods. 
At the Founder's Tree
Can you really call that dead?
The Dyersville Giant
and the hole it left in the forrest top when it fell. They said that someone a mile away heard it fall & thought it was a train wreck. Big Tree.
Back to the Avenue Cafe for a pizza lunch & more window shopping. There were wood carvings everywhere.
We ventured in to the metropolis of Garberville (900 people) that evening. Our Lady of the Redwoods is a mission parish only open on Wednesdays & Saturdays. Lucky us! We were able to make a Holy Hour & attend Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul. I was hoping for Confession as well, but the poor priest was asleep at the back of Church! We could hear him snoring from our pew. We found out later his other parish is on the opposite end of the county. Driving through those roads day after day would make anyone tired. He was so kind & reverent (when awake), though. ;) We met him after Mass & he sent us away with a book, Divine Mercy picture, & a special anniversary blessing.
We enjoyed dinner at Sicilito's. Sound fancy? Not so much. Check out Larry, Moe, & Curly in the background.
At the Founder's Tree
Can you really call that dead?
The Dyersville Giant
and the hole it left in the forrest top when it fell. They said that someone a mile away heard it fall & thought it was a train wreck. Big Tree.
Back to the Avenue Cafe for a pizza lunch & more window shopping. There were wood carvings everywhere.
We ventured in to the metropolis of Garberville (900 people) that evening. Our Lady of the Redwoods is a mission parish only open on Wednesdays & Saturdays. Lucky us! We were able to make a Holy Hour & attend Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul. I was hoping for Confession as well, but the poor priest was asleep at the back of Church! We could hear him snoring from our pew. We found out later his other parish is on the opposite end of the county. Driving through those roads day after day would make anyone tired. He was so kind & reverent (when awake), though. ;) We met him after Mass & he sent us away with a book, Divine Mercy picture, & a special anniversary blessing. 
We enjoyed dinner at Sicilito's. Sound fancy? Not so much. Check out Larry, Moe, & Curly in the background.
It was such a peaceful & fun anniversary day.
Robyn,
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy that you got this "second honeymoon." You've inspired me to start saving for our tenth anniversary trip.
Happy Anniversary!