ROADTRIP TO THE REDWOODS (56k beware- lots of pics)

[goody90q45]

The wife and I went on a 4 day road trip to Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Shelter Cove in Northern California. The drive was 800 miles roundtrip and the Q ran flawlessly. I had new O2 sensors put in a few weeks ago and got great gas mileage- 22.5, 19.7 and 23.2 on the 3 tanks of gas. That's a good thing since gas was $3.70/gal in what is one of the more remote areas of NorCal. Enjoy the pics.

Our base for the first couple of days was a rental cabin in Redcrest adjacent to the state park, about 270 miles northwest of home (Sacramento). Mrs. Goodwin is on the porch enjoying the fresh air.

The Avenue of the Giants is a 31 mile long drive through the redwood forest. Most of the world's tallest trees, which are also the largest living things, are in the Humboldt forest and in Redwood National Park about 75 miles to the north.





Here's a giant in a clearing along the Eel River.

In the 1930's Mr. Rockefeller donated a lot of money to the government to preserve the trees and in the process got 10,000 acres named after him (Rockefeller Forest). Some of the biggest trees are here.

The National Women's Clubs of America got into the act and got a forest named after them also (Women's Grove). Nice place. Great pic.

Some big fat bald guy standing in the stump of a fallen giant. What a maroon.

Here's the wife approaching the Drive Through Tree yelling out the window "What does Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear mean?". Moments later she scraped the passenger side view mirror. Notice the lack of clearance. It got narrower from there.

On the last day we drove to Shelter Cove which is at the end of a windy 22 mile long road to the coast. Very isolated. Much of the road is posted as 10% grade for 2-3 miles at a time. Good test of brakes. They did great (with the transmission in second gear also). Nice shot of what used to be the lighthouse with Mrs. Goodwin trying to get out of range. She ran away from the camera a lot on this trip.

View from the balcony of our suite which was on the ocean. View is looking south down the coast. Saw the Milky Way.

It was a fun road trip and I'm very happy with the way the Q performed on the drive. She handled the windy roads and mountain passes with ease. For you out-of-towners- plan a vacation. Fly into San Francisco, rent a G35 from Hertz for a few days, and drive 3 hours north to the redwoods. You'll never forget the drive through the Avenue of the Giants.
Modified by goody94q45 at 5:17 AM 2/14/2009

[elwesso]

Very nice goody.. looks like you had a good time, a little R/R is always a great thing. Glad the Q performed to spec and all was well. Hopefully after this trip maybe the wife will be a little more, uhh, enthused (if you will) about further expendatures on the Q.

I still find it funny how you got into the car in the first place. Bought car for son, son didnt take it, so you took it, then wouldnt give it to son. Brilliant!

BTW im enjoying a freshly restored 91 active right now. What a monster, if that thing had some of my suspension components on there itd be a crazy machine.

[Jesda]

For those who have seen the original TV ads for the Q45, these scenic photos are wonderfully appropriate.

[Q451990]

Talk about some big trees! Seeing them beside something that we all know and love really drives that point home. I just added something else to my "need to do before I die" list.

Heath

[maxnix]

I just added something else to my "need to do before I die" list.

Heath

Everyone should do a N to S West coast drive down US101 and California1 at least once in their lives.

Also, one should drive across the interior of the American West - W Texas, NM, CO, UT, ID WY, MT, NV.

[supermoose]

word. thats a ROXOR drive. you can rip through the woods as well, the 101-stinson and mt tam drives are smashing. Q would actually do really well with its quick steering rack