3/23 Healdsburg to Garberville

3/23/10 Tuesday Healdsburg to Garberville
Photos:http://silverserenity.shutterfly.com/1707?size=All&startIndex=0

On the road again at 8:45am, well, until we found a Starbucks.

This is very interesting and beautiful country. The hills are soft and rolling. Everything is so green. Once again, vineyards cover the hillsides. The hills become mountains and moss hangs on the trees. We pass the Russian River. The vineyards continue to sprout up.

We pass the city of Hopland which is known as “Home of California’s first Brew Pub.” Ukiah was also a neat city. Deer were spotted close by on the hillside.

The next town was Willits. Willits is the “Gateway to the Redwoods.” From Willits Hwy 101 is also known as the Redwood Highway. Willits looked like a really neat town, quaint and eclectic. We should have stopped here to look around but this will wait until another trip. On into the mountains again it is 11:45am and 55*, nice weather.

A rest area near Laytonville called to us to explore and stretch our legs for a while. Finding a short trail we headed into the woods. More moss hung from the trees. Fallen trees had been taken over by ground cover moss. Everything seemed so damp and alive right down to the smallest particle. Mushrooms sprung up from their hiding places. This setting seems out of place when considering that the ocean is only 15 miles to the west as the crow flies. In addition to the nice rest areas, this area has really great pull offs beside the road to take a break.

The road continues on with beautiful scenery. Beside us now flows the Eel River. The Eel River is a very beautiful river as it meanders teasingly from one side of the road to the other and back again.

Next on this road of sights we come to The Tree House. Thomas has been here before and took a photo with his two daughters beside the carved bear (Photo 4477.) The Tree House has a house inside the base of the tree. Being early in the season, it was closed but I took a few photos of the outside. In Photo 4478 you can tell how large the tree really was compared to our trailer. We both posed beside the tree and Thomas had another photo with the Bear. Also interesting was a wood carving of a seahorse. She was probably about 6 ½ feet tall.

Leaving this area and just for a marker I snapped a shot of the sign for Confusion Hill.

This looked to be a tourist trap and similar to Mystery Hill back in North Carolina.

Farther north we passed through the town of Piercy and then into Humboldt County. With the Eel River still teasing us, we had to stop. Just before crossing the bridge in photo 4487 we spotted a side road that we probably could access. Sure enough, a great place to stop for a bit.

The Eel River is amazingly clear. The different colors of the water were actually the changes to the bottom from rock to sand to plant life. There were so many shades of greens and blues here that it put Crayola to shame. They only wish their crayons could capture the variances of hues. For a couple of hours we soaked up the sunshine while listening to the slow flowing water, the birds and ducks and just being one with this spectacular bubble we just happened to drop into.

Do we stay for the night or move on? As wonderful as this spot was, the Redwoods called us to venture farther north. It wasn’t too much farther before we started seeing the huge trees lining the road. Then we reached Garberville.