Big Tree Country

Over the weekend Jamie and I headed to Humboldt County for the Humboldt Redwood 1/2 marathon. And for a little getaway, just the two of us.

We took off Friday night and stopped for a delightful dinner in Healdsburg.

We then headed for the trees.......
We stayed at the Benbow Inn. It was your typical rustic mountain inn.
The grounds were beautiful, which included a charming stone bridge and a creek.
And trees. This was the view from our window.

On Saturday we went exploring through the Avenue of the Giants. And saw, can you guess, a lot of trees. We went hiking through the Rockefeller Forest. We had stopped off at a visitor's center beforehand and learned that they had just taken out a lot of the bridges for the Winter (due to flash flooding) so we would not be able to cross some of the rivers. We were ok with that and went on our merry way.
I just love the red needles that carpet the floor.
We saw some big big trees.

And a deer.

Hmmm. Wouldn't you know it, a tree had fallen down and acted as a bridge. We were wild and crossed over the river on this fallen tree. And that is about as wild of a hiker as I get. Jamie referred to our adventure as a nature walk.

We came across more big trees. These two had fallen. They were pretty incredible looking. I'm getting crazy with all this tree climbing.
We soon learned though that they didn't want people climbing on these trees. The sign says, area closed for plant rehabilitation. Oops. But because we got tricky and crossed the river using the tree we had come through the back.

The forest was beautiful. The trees are so amazing.

Sunday was Jamie's half marathon. I asked him if he wanted to blog about the race and he said "Umm, I ran through lots of trees". I'm sure there was more to the race, but he was really concentrating on his time. It was a fairly mellow race as far as marathon races go.
Here he is approaching the finish line.
And here are some more vanity shots. I do have to admit that he looks pretty darn good. And you'll have to excuse the bloody nipples. Gross. I know. But I guess it happens. And I don't feel all that bad for him. He had the nerve to ask me if my nipples have ever bled? Hello, I breastfed for 14 months. Have you already forgotten? You don't come away from that experience without some scars. I know, I've gone to far. But it happens.

He looks good other wise?

Back to the race. Jamie came in 10th in his age group and 68th overall. With a time of 1:28:44...a 3 minute PR. Yeah Jamie!

We stopped for a recovery brunch in the town of Gaberville and then headed home.

It was nice little getaway. We both had crazy weeks before the trip and we were getting a little snappy with each other and it was good to get centered again.

And a big thanks to Nana for watching Annmarie!