Day 14 we started a few miles off the coast. Soon we were back on the water when we reached Bodega Bay. The sun was rising over the mountainous Eastern horizon and it was going to be a beautiful day!
The Roadtrip Chariot hugged the curves as we cruised up the coast. This route has some amazing bridges and river crossings.
Our first stop for the day was at Fort Bragg. I'm sure some of you have heard that name before. This obviously isn't the Fort Bragg Military Base in North Carolina, but it is pretty interesting.
Glass Beach
Located in the small town of Fort Bragg California is this beach called Glass Beach. It gets it's name from it's odd history.
From 1906 to the late 1960's they dumped the town trash into the ocean. Over time the organic material broke down after years of pounding against the rocky shore.
All of the glass on the other hand, didn't disappear, but was broken and tumbled by the ocean. Now this beach is covered 7ft deep in "Sea Glass" of every color. It's illegal to remove any of the glass but didn't stop people while we were there.
You can't really tell from this picture but this is one of the old dump sites and is covered with sea glass.
Just North of this location we found our 2nd stop of the day.
Chandelier Tree
In the small town of Leggett California you'll find a few things. This is where CA-1 meets with Highway 101 and continues north to Washington State. Another thing we found here was a tree.
Not very impressive. It looks like any other tree. That is until you get around to the front of it.
In the 1930's this monster was carved out so cars could drive through it. The base of the tree is 21ft and has a height of 315ft tall!
Much like our experience in Las Vegas, our truck wouldn't fit through it. They did have a small giftshop and visitors center with bathrooms. The entrance fee to get in was $10 per carload.
Next stop was supposed to be Confusion Hill. When we pulled in the parking lot we found it was closed. Booo!
The sun was out and shining bright but soon we found ourselves in the dark. What happened to the sun?!? Our next stop will help explain why this is.
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
When 101 heads north it takes you off the coast and up into the hills. The further we headed up the road, the larger the tree canopy got. Soon we found ourselves amongst the Giants!
Inside the State Park is a 31 mile drive called The Avenue of the Giants.
When you get off the trees make it dark even in the daylight. They are so huge it's hard to wrap your head around the size. In pictures they look like ordinary trees.
Then you see something like this for a size comparison. WOW!!!
This park covers 53,000 acres with 17,000 acres ancient of old growth coastal Redwoods. Some of these trees are thousands of years old.
They thrive in this special environment with the warm coastal temperatures and very high humidity. While inside the tree canopy the air is heavy and damp. It also had a very clean earthy smell.
We really loved hanging out amongst these giants but we were losing light fast. Back on the road we found a place to stay for the night. Fortuna California is where we laid our heads in preparation for Day 15. Here is our route for the day.
Thanks for following along on our trip and we hope to hear from you in the comments! Be sure to check us out on Facebook for more updates.
