When we were kids, we would make the 12 hour drive from Yorba Linda, CA (Orange County) all the way to Eureka (almost to the Oregon border) almost yearly so it was very sad to say goodbye to our childhood retreat. Even though Eureka is one quirky little town with a mixture of crazy potheads, tree-huggers, blue collar fisherman and loggers, and the rare normal person, I will always have fond memories of our trips to Grandma's house.
In order to celebrate our last trip to the Redwood Coast, we drove up to the town of Klamath to see The Trees of Mystery. Basically a walking tour of cool looking trees, this neat little stop boasts the world's largest Paul Bunyan, complete with Babe the Blue Ox! Paul not only stands guard of the park, he also talks, waves his hand, moves his head, and can wink! But he doesn't just say recorded things, there is a man presumably inside him or nearby that can hear what the visitors say and he interacts with them as the booming, brawny (haha! get it?) voice of Paul.
Without my husband, I just couldn't help myself and started flirting with Paul by initially yelling out "Paul's Hot!" like a teenager and waited for the response...I was not disappointed. Paul and I continued to have quite the interchange that even broached the topic of his ridiculously hairy chest, which he ashamedly mentioned was not quite as cool as Austin Powers'. Paul got my name and I think he would have asked for my number had he not been a 50 foot animatronic statue...it just wouldn't have worked out!
Stacie and I standing on his large boot (please don't judge me for looking HUGE in these photos...I am wearing about 3 extra layers because it was in the 50's the entire time and I was freezing!)
Acting very mature standing next to Babe's unmentionables...
As we walked in the park entrance we saw this sign...I am not sure what action of a fellow park patron made it necessary, but I guess I am glad it was there as a good reminder?
My brother Mark, Kevin, my nephew Cody, and my sister's boyfriend Mitch standing in front of the "Brotherhood Tree"
The Cathedral Tree
Several times a year they hold hippie weddings here
Looking up
Cody, Mark, and Kevin
Nana (my mom Jeanette) and Cody
This is the "Family Tree"
If you look closely, you can see that there are 12 separate trees growing from the branches of this tree - crazy!
We even got to take a gondola ride up the mountain to see...NOTHING!! It was so foggy, we couldn't see anything from the top, but the ride through the trees was awesome!
Mark and me
That's for you, BABE! (and no, I don't mean the big blue ox!)
We had a fun time!
Okay, this is probably the coolest thing EVER! It is a giant cross section of the trunk of a massive tree. Counting back on the tree's rings they put markers next to some of our major historical events, starting with the Magna Carta and spreading out through modern history.
We added a flower and that was it - voila!
Here she is before getting eaten :)
A big thank you to my amazing husband who helped me throughout this entire process! He baked the cake (he is the better baker by far!) and made my frosting and I only did the decorating...it is so much fun collaborating on desserts with him! He is such a great partner in the kitchen. Can't wait until we can make cakes for our little guy! Baseball cakes, car cakes, and monster cakes here we come!
