After escaping our Motel 6 room under the watchful eyes of the still-drunk men next door, we traveled through some yummy early morning light along the coast back through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Dogs are allowed on Walker Road, so Norman had a great time in among the giant old souls there.

Next we headed south to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, where we hiked up Cal Barrel Road, another dog-friendly spot, and drove the length of the Avenue of the Giants.

I really love the redwoods. They feel like protectors to me. Wise old sentinels that know more than I could ever imagine.

At the end of the day we headed down to Ukiah, California and flinchingly checked into our second Motel 6. We spent less than 2 minutes and 27 seconds in that room before demanding a refund and accepting the fact that our fond Motel 6 days are over. We aren’t sure if we’re older and less “adventurous” these days, wanting our creature comforts, or if Motel 6 has truly gone down hill since our last big trip 12 years ago. Either way, decided we’d shell out the dough for the remainder of this trip to ensure that we at least had rooms that weren’t previously occupied by heroin addicts (no offense to the heroin addicts of the world).