Ya know, the Redwood forests in California have some really BIG trees

I have some friends who have been bugging me to post this trip we took together since LAST YEAR!

I mean, I don't know why they even bother with me. . . I'm soooo BAD at 'getting right on it'.  Good thing I don't work for the government. . . I mean, can you even imagine how long things would take?  Oh, wait?  Maybe they already DO have folks like me working for them. . . but I digress. . .

So this amazing trip to the 'land of the really big trees' happened the day after Thanksgiving last year.  (really NOT so long ago)  And I am going to be posting pictures of some. . . wait for it. . . really big trees!  And lush forests!  And beautiful coastlines!

It really was FABULOUS. . . cold, a bit rainy at times. . . but very beautiful.

We visited Brookings, and Bandon Oregon--Crescent City, and some of the Redwood National Forests in California--and on the way back, Oregon Caves National Monument.

And Hey!  It wasn't just the TREES that were impressive and oh, so large--but everything seemed to be bigger.  First off. . . did I mention there were really BIG trees?

 And really big, lush forests?

 Not only were the trees big. . . but so were the mushrooms:

 And the slugs:

 And the eagle made of out recycled trash washed up on the beach:

 And the cute white sea lion cub we spotted:

 Yep!  Everything was bigger and better!

 Except, perhaps, the place we stayed.  Not everything was 'all there' if you catch my drift:

Because instead of getting a sauna and jacuzzi (as was promised)  We ended up with only Auna and Cuzzi--who were quite plain and overly cranky.

We also had a very heated debate about whether the wooden carving in the lobby was a mountain lion or a bear:

We finally gave up the debate and just decided that it was a bearcat--because it seemed to have the face of a bear and the tail of a mountain lion.  We figured that since the owners scrimped on the actual 'auna' and 'cuzzi'--perhaps they saved money by having two wood carvings made into one confusing animal. . . Our friend whom we will dub 'Duane' promptly decided to decorate it for the upcoming holiday:

And then he and his wife decided to celebrate by attempting to fit into the 'cuzzi':

After getting a local wrecking crew to extract them from the hot tub, we managed to wend our way back to home and hearth just in time to stop at an amazing evening garden light show.  (hubby will have to remind me exactly where we were as my mind has gone fuzzy remembering the horrifying 'cuzzi' experience)  

The evening was magical with the gardens all decked out in all kinds of holiday lights--and even the visitor center (which was the old caretaker's home) was all done up for the holidays:

After seeing the beautiful redwoods, I discovered bigger is better and even though I could have killed one of the members of our lively party for playing bagpipe music for several hours on the car ride back home. . . I'm fully recovered and none too worse for the wear.  (Though I wonder if the nightmares and the ringing in my ears will ever go away?)

GOOD TIMES!