On Tuesday, we got up and went to Egghead's for breakfast. They have two things Mr. Dwayne loves - Oz and breakfast! He enjoyed their eggy, Ozzy theme so much that he bought a hoody.
The early bird gets the window seat!
And so does his lovely wife!
Dwayne had his usual favorite - a scramble with sausage, potatoes and toast. I went for their signature "Party on a Plate" cinnamon raisin French toast. Thank goodness they had real maple syrup!
Fort Bragg has a little town center with a museum and several educational displays. Unfortunately, we missed the museum's hours of operation, but we did see this enormous cross section of an old growth redwood. This tree was the largest felled in the area and took 60 man-hours to take down.
This plaque identified important historical dates in the life of the tree. I felt sad to see such a huge and gentle life collected in such a way. But, we reflected on how our precious home was built of dry-aged redwood in the 1920's. Many have benefited from the amazing qualities of these tremendous trees.
This plaque states that the tree section is a monument to the founder of the town, but I like to think of it as in honor of the tree itself.
We could not pass through Fort Bragg without visiting Ms. Pauline. She is smart and funny and a green gardener of grand proportions. Mr. Dwayne waited patiently while Pauline and I had a little garden geek out.
Pauline was not happy with her garden. She has been taking care of her mom and has had her hands full. However, with good soil, rain and light, the growth goes on, beautiful, if a bit wild. All across her garden were flowers and flyers.
Because we have gone through the heartache of a slow loss of a beloved mother to dementia, we shared as much encouragement has we could with Pauline. She is such a loving woman. As we left, she asked me to hug a tree for her, so I did:
Not just any tree, the Founder's Tree in the Founder's Grove of the Avenue of the Giants.
The Founder's Grove is an easy walk and a great way to take in the quiet beauty of an old growth redwood forest. There were other families walking around, even one with little kids, but everyone enjoyed in hushed tones. It really is like being in a church.
We learned that these trees, while massive, have shallow root systems that make them vulnerable to being blown over. They are all dependent upon the forrest of enter-twined roots to make them strong.
Many of the fallen trees are old and in various stages of decay. This one is new. I don't know when it fell, but it wasn't there when I visited about 5 years ago. Notice the adult human standing near this exploded tree. That should give you some idea of the scale of this lumber explosion.
I can't imagine the noise this made when it fell and shattered.
Mr. Dwayne is a book magnet. A soggy encyclopedia near the docks.
Our next stop was Crescent City. I hate to say it, but we only stopped for gas. I need to stretch my legs and saw a promising path that looked like it might lead to a beach. What it lead to was a ship yard.
A fat mouser.
Butter Cups.
While we managed to get a lot of pictures, I think we missed even more. My camera is old and wonky and was burning a set of batteries everyday. Between being on the road and the camera, we missed many of the best views of our trip. Truly, if you duplicate this ride, exercise your sense of wonder now, so you'll be able to take it all in without beauty fatigue.
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