Redwoods Roadtrip

We learned a lot about ourselves after taking our first major road trip as a family. Trevor had a couple of extra days off work & for some reason we got the idea of road tripping to the Redwoods. It wasn't exactly the most romantic anniversary trip, don't get me wrong, I love the Redwoods & dreamed of visiting those trees for years now. But this trip turned out a little differently than I expected.

We left at 4:30 AM and made it to Lake Tahoe by lunch time. We had done some research and found out SAND HARBOR was a beach on the North East side that had an accessible trail along the waterfront. It was the 4th of July though and the parking lot had been full for hours. My "PARAPERKS" got us into the "full" parking lot and we were able to find a handicap parking stall.

The lake was so dreamy and perfect I could have ended our vacation right there and spent the rest of our time there. But Lake Tahoe was only a little bonus pit stop on the trip.

There was a boardwalk trail that snaked around the water front and it was HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE! I had read about this before hand, but it definitely didn't disappoint. The rocks and water were so dreamy and inviting and just made me want to climb and jump all over the rocks. I have this sixth sense when I see rocks I just want to climb all over them.

 

As I said before, my sixth sense of climbing kicked in when I saw all of these fun rocks in the water. I really wanted to swim out to the other rocks people were jumping off of, but these rock helped me fill my fix just a little bit.

Then we made our way to SF and stayed with one of my best friends. We didn't go into the city because we are coming back in a couple of months. So after going out to breakfast we started to make our way north to the Redwoods & took a little costal detour. The drive was beautiful & we got out in Mendocino where Will got out of the car and got his first glimpse of the ocean. 

We continued north to the Avenue of the Giants. Will was asleep for a lot of it so we didn't get out as much as I would have liked, but the trees did not disappoint!

After the Avenue of the Giants we made it up to our hotel in Eureka & hustled out to the beach to catch the sunset.

Everything didn't quite work out as smoothly as I'd hope, but in the morning we traveled up to Prarie State Park, while we waited for our friends to meet up. We made it back to the beach for sunset #2 with Shelby, Alex & Preston. These angel friends flew and drove all the way up to meet up with us, which is over 4 hours of driving which is basically like driving across the whole state of Utah. California is definitely overwhelming.

After an evening of catching up we left for Jedidiah State Park on our way to Oregon. The drive through the trees was STUNNING. Will was asleep at first so we didn't get out as much. Every time we would get out to walk in the groves of giants my heart hurt. I missed my old body and legs. I desperately wanted to run through these giants, taking in all the beauty they had to offer. Instead, we'd start walking. After 10 minutes my body was exhausted. I'd take a much needed rest and then we'd turn back, knowing that the further we traveled into the the trees the further I'd have to walk back. 

My body was limited, but my soul wanted to explore for hours on end. This is my new life, I have to remind myself. Even after 6 years I'm still getting used to it. Grief  crashed down on me over and over again, reminding me what I had lost and what I couldn't do. That has been one of the most interesting lessons of my accident, that there is a physical aching and pain with loss and grief. I tried so hard to appreciate it all with the body I have now, but when my foot in throbbing in pain it's hard to focus.

Overall, Will did pretty good with the road trip, between sleeping and playing there were only a couple times when he almost lost it. In those cases we tried to Facetime family and friends and when we didn't have service he took selfies. 

Trevor was so positive and reassuring the whole trip. In the moments I'd cry and get frustrated, he'd just hug me and tell me to let it all out. His life is altered by my abilities too. He has taken on so much and never complained. Trev had an idea of how life would be different before we got married. But it's different being married and together all the time and to deal with it year after year. You can try and prepare yourself and think it through, but until you're in it you just can't fully comprehend. I'm just so grateful for Trevor. He knows he can't change my situation, but he is always there to help support me.