A Weekend Getaway to the Redwoods

There's a town at the very top of California called Eureka. It lies in the heart of Humboldt County, home to the redwoods and beautiful coastlines - among other things. I had only visited once before and wasn't super familiar with this little place. Little did I know that a few years later, it would become the place of many firsts for us when my husband got his first assignment there as a police officer.

We had gotten married the day after he graduated the academy and a few days later, we packed up what little we had at 22 years old, said goodbye to our families and friends and drove up north on our new adventure. It became our first home together. Where we spent our first holidays and birthdays as a married couple. And while there were challenges of living there, life felt simple and I loved that. We desperately missed our family though and wanted to be closer to home so a year and a half later we put a transfer request in and got it.

it's been 6 years since we moved and we hadn't been back. There were parts of living there that I really struggled with. With the closest major city being 4 hour away, Eureka was pretty isolated. On top of that, it's not the safest place to live. So when we left, we didn't really look back. But as time went on, we felt ourselves longing for a visit. For everything that it lacked, it's beauty made up for. Not only that, but we missed our friends and family that still lived there. So when Oscar had a few days off at the end of April, we decided to take the opportunity and plan a little weekend getaway back to our first home. So much life had happened since we lived there and we were looking forward to going back to see how much or little had changed and getting to show it all to our kids.

Because of Oscar's schedule, we only had one full day up there, so we had to make the best of it. We booked a cute little 3 bed, 1 bath Air BnB in Arcata, which is about 11 miles outside of Eureka.

It was our first time doing a big trip with our son and he normally has a hard time lasting an hour in the car so I was a little nervous how he would do being in a car for 5. To my surprise though, he hung in there pretty well...as long as we kept the snacks and Bluey going.

We got into Eureka a little after five and we both laughed because the second you got into town, you could smell the weed. Oscar joked, "we're home!"

Since I have cousins who live there, we planned on getting together and having dinner that evening. They have 2 kids that are around the same age as ours and we thought it would be good to let the kids stretch their legs and get some energy out after being cooped up in the car all day. We all caught up over a homemade meal in the comfort of their home while the kids played in the living room. We get to see them maybe once a year, so it was so nice getting some time together. By the time we got back to the house and got the kids into bed, we were exhausted from a full day of travel.

Our youngest had a hard time settling into sleep, so when morning came, coffee was a necessity. We headed out to a favorite local coffee shop of ours - Jitter Bean. They use ice cream in their frappucinos and oh my goodness it's sooo good. It makes them really creamy and smooth. We had planned to indulge in one before we left, but we settled with a couple of americanos and chocolate milk for the kids and saved our sugar for breakfast at another local favorite, The Country Store.

Located in Arcata. It's this cute little store full of history and some delish food. I'm not normally a donut person but they had this brown butter donut that was life changing!

After we got some coffee and food in us, we headed up the coast to Orick - a town known for it's elk. We were hoping to spot some to show the kids, but with luck not on our side, we continued on to our first destination, a hike to Trilium Falls.

If you know me, you know that I couldn't come to the redwoods and not hike them. The hike itself is a little less than 3 miles, and while it was a little long for littles to walk the whole way, It was relatively easy to do it with them. My 3 year old daughter walked for about half of it before going in the pack. It's a loop trail that begins at a meadow and then you walk up into the redwoods. You're met with the falls about halfway through and after all of the rain we have had this year, they were on full display.

With kids, packing your day full is not realistic. There were so many things that we wanted to do, and if it was just my husband and I, we totally would have. But we wanted this trip to be an enjoyment more than a hassle of trying to do everything and then dealing with cranky toddlers, if you know, you know. So we decided to choose only a couple of things, not to overwhelm them. One of those was a hike and the other, Trinidad.

If you've never been, it's a quintessential beach town about 20 minutes outside of Eureka. It was one of our absolute favorite places to go when we lived up there. It felt so separate from Eureka with its cute little cottages and small community. I would go up sometimes and get coffee at the local coffee shop there and then walk down to the beach and spend some time reading or getting lost in thought with the white noise of the waves. So with how much we loved this little town and how much our kids love the water, we decided it would be a good choice.

We spent our afternoon chasing the waves and running away before they got our feet and playing in the sand. Even a sweet lady next to us let my daughter fly her kite for a little. It was so relaxing and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the afternoon.

Once we got tired out from playing, we headed into town to grab some pizza to enjoy with some friends of ours. There's a place in Ferndale called Ferndale pizza. It is hands down some of the best pizza I've ever had! They cover the top of their pizzas in cheesy goodness and it's delish! We had been dreaming about it for so long only to be disappointed to find out that they are closed on Tuesday's. After we cried a little, we opted for our next favorite, Babe's Pizza and headed back to the house.

Once our friends Juan and Chelsea arrived we spent the evening with the fire pit on in the back while we caught up and let the kids play outside. Juan graduated with Oscar in the academy and they worked together when we lived up there. Chelsea was my first friend when we moved. We spent so much time together, crafting, having dinner and drinks, watching Gilmore Girls. I've missed being in her presence and it was nice getting to have that again for a little bit. We spent the evening talking and laughing and it felt like no time had passed.

The next morning we packed up our things and got ready to drive the 5 hours home. Traveling with kids is always an adventure. It takes planning and adjusting. But travel is such a huge part of who I am, and I think it's really special that I not only got to share something I love with them, but we also got to show them somewhere that had a history for us. For me, that makes all the planning and adjusting pretty worth it. I love where we live now but I'm grateful for our first home and the ways it shaped me. So once again, we headed home. But this time, with a new perspective of it and because we weren't leaving without one, an ice cream Frappuccino.