Gigantic trees enveloped in fog

A couple days ago we entered California, our last state for this trip. In an official CA state parks brochure, The Governator urges us to “Trim your waistline” etc., so more than ever we’re trying to hike every day ;-)
We’re now in Redwood National Park, which is actually a bunch of CA state parks grouped together, in the north-western tip of this elongated state. As the name implies, the gigantic Redwood trees (aka Sequoia) are the main attraction. One can gaze at the tallest living things on earth, marvel at their unfathomable height (up to hundreds of feet) and appreciate their amazing vulnerability (the roots are typically less than 10 feet deep), which called for preserving them and containing many of them in protected parks. You can even drive through some of these giants.
Another prominent quality of this coastal area is its fogginess. Even on days that are defined as “clear” in the weather forecast, it’s very uncommon to see a blue spot in the sky. Indeed, you may have no clouds from above, but the fog coming from the Pacific Ocean wraps everything, and makes for constantly grey and somewhat gloomy surroundings. It does have a mighty and mysterious feel about it, and I can certainly appreciate it as a visitor, but for sure I wouldn't want to live in such a climate. It’s even much worse than Pittsburgh :-)

We planned a 5-night stay in the park, but decided to dedicate only a small portion to walking amongst the mighty trees. More importantly, this is our only rendezvous with the Pacific Ocean in our current travels, and we chose to enjoy that. The water is way too cold and rough for swimming, but you still have plenty to do – playing in the sand, hiking between beautiful tide pools and breathing the salty smell which we miss so much.
It’s a pleasant reminder of the wonderful Mediterranean beaches awaiting us in Haifa…

On another note - we expect to have very sporadic Internet access until we get to the bay area towards the end of August, so we’ll probably be relatively silent...

Giora