Lake Tahoe and Redwood Nat. Forest

We checked off a bucket list item at the beginning of this summer. (Or, at least, if we had a bucket list, this would certainly have been on it.) John has wanted to see the Redwoods since he saw Return of the Jedi. We talked to Clara and Travis back in the winter about going, and then slowly solidified our plans.

Our family took a route there that let us stay at Lake Tahoe for one night. It was beautiful! The water was so clear. Since we went in May, it wasn't warm enough to swim, but it was perfect weather for walking along the beach. The resort was nice, but a little intimidating. (We aren't fancy-place people.)

 The Redwoods were amazing! We went on some fun hikes and saw...lots of really big trees! It was especially exciting right at the first, when the size of the trees just blew us away.

Isn't this cool?

There were always lots of elk in this area.

It was so green there.

This evening on the beach was my "magical" time.
It seems like every trip has one.

The kids' favorite part of the trip was the morning at the tide pool. I hadn't anticipated finding so many cool things! It was like a treasure hunt. Everyone kept calling out when they found something. It was hard to walk on the rocks, though.

Sweet Jonah helped Maggie get around on the rocks.

We took a tour of a working lighthouse:

This was on a tram up the mountain.
Tori didn't like being up that high.

 The kids said this trip ranked just a tiny bit below Disneyland, but now they're saying it was the best. I've always said that anticipation and memories are often the best parts of a trip.