Redwood National Park

this small building was completely full for services

The message this morning in a small Native American rancheria town :
Facing Life with God's Help -Psalm 46- by Pastor Fred at Trinidad Christian Assembly.
Growth and maturity come through stress, struggle, and strain. 
Trouble in Hebrew means pressed in.
1. I will not fear (verses 1-3)
2. I will not be moved (verses 4-7)
3. I will not be filled with stress anymore. (verses 8-11)
     a) God is always near and available to us.
     b) God's power is greater than anything in this world.
     c) God's help works even when we can't help ourselves.

This church ministers for Teen Challenge. Three vanloads of men and women arrived in Teen Challenge vans. A couple sitting behind us told us that Eureka is so full of homeless people because they get sent up here out of San Francisco with a one way ticket and the government benefits are better in Eureka.

Trinidad Beach, after services

scenic drive back to our rv

We moved on to the Redwood National Park visitor center. Just a short path out the back to the beach. How could we resist!

stones skip even in the ocean

Annie immersed in the ranger booklet

Just a few miles north in the park, we drove to Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail. This historic 1&1/4 mile loop walk winds through old-growth redwood and Douglas fir trees where President Johnson's wife dedicated Redwood National Park in 1968. Shannon & Riley walked to the dedication sight, then went back to the van with sleeping Cora & Meg. He took the camera! Annie, Caroline, & I quickly finished the loop...filtered sunlight on tangled underbrush, then a lush clearing of sword ferns as tall as Annie on either side of the damp path. No sounds except wind in the tall, tallest branches. Ancient fallen logs cut to open up the trail; some fresh, some old, moss covered nurseries for young seedlings. We are in awe of our Creator of these massive giants!

Annie reading the trail brochure while Cora sacks out

another ranger badge given by volunteer Mark

We moved yet on a little farther to Revelation Trail at Prairie Creek visitor center. After our walk in the woods by the stream we spotted deer and elk across the road in the resident housing area. Evidently the elk like shade when it's sunny and come out in the open when it's raining. We were blessed to have sunshine along the coast today!

Roosevelt elk resting in the shade of an orchard

In and out of tsunami danger zones, this drive is indescribable. We are in a huge shady forest, then the road makes a bend, and the ocean appears straight ahead; foaming whitecaps rolling in to shore, water spraying high against  big boulders blocking its path...

We stopped at Crescent City Park to let the children play while supper was prepared. It's a very neat park with well-groomed lawns, frisbee golf, softball diamond, large playground, horseshoe pits, and picnic tables, all next to the ocean! Then down the way is a lighthouse. We were too late to tour it and the tide had come in to cover the drive up to it, but we enjoyed the sunset beside it!

(far left) the drive ends in water

Battery Point Lighthouse