Raindrops on roses and REALLY BIG TREES.

Big trees, you guys. Biggggggggg trees.

I've lived in California for more than three years now, and with the exception of a redwood or two at the Golden Gate State Park, I've gone the entire time without seeing any big trees.

I had an open weekend and I knew I had to change that.

Sooooo, off to the big trees I went!

I knew this was going to be a good trip because LOOK WHAT I DID TO MY HAIR!

See, a group of friends and I did have tentative Big Sur camping plans for the same dates, but they fell through a few weeks prior. I knew I didn't want to waste the weekend -- even though I've been spending a lot of $$$ lately; #YOLO -- so I was just like, one last short trip! (For awhile. It's so hard controlling myself in Northern California. I just want to visit ALL THE PLACES).

My favorite travel partner and I got out of work around 3p Friday, made a quick Target stop and were on the road by 5p. The town of Murphys is only about 90 miles from Sac, so it took us about two hours in the car. The real slow-down was, you really can't take major freeways to Calaveras County. The backroads were really pretty, though. Lots of rolling hills and horses and a gorge sunset.

Rolled into Murphys around 7p. Checked in, unpacked -- we actually had a huuuuuuge room, it was a suite, so we brought a few snacks/drinks/breakfast items -- and decided to hit the pool. It was like, 107 (degrees) in Sacramento, and still pretty warm in the Sierra Nevada foothills. (I think Murphys is around 2,000 feet). Decided to skip dinner and eat our snacks instead, and lounge the rest of the night. Went to bed early since we knew we wanted to hit the road early Saturday morn.

Anddddd we did! Went straight to Big Tree State Park, near Arnold (a 15-minute drive from our hotel), and decided to hit the north grove of sequoias first. They were massive. Words and photos don't even describe. To think about how long they've been here is just unreal. The north grove was pretty, but very tourist-y. The trails were paved, everything was very groomed and polished, the visitors center was bustling and we even bought ice cream cones at the end of our day. 

This is a tree stump. And the other half. Cray!

We went off the beaten path for an hour or two on a hike, and even found a lookout point that was pretty, but like, the morning was just OK, sightseeing-wise. Maybe my expectations were too high? I was still having a great time, but I expected to just be like, BAFFLED by the trees. Maybe they were overhyped in my head? Ugh. I am such a buzzkill sometimes. (Spoiler alert: The south grove blew my f'ing mind).

Sooooo, at maybe like, 2p, I suggested we bail on the trees and get some wine. Murphys, apparently, is known for being a winery town and I was all about restocking the apartment and getting my DRANK on. (Mom: Responsibly, of course. There would be no driving).

I'm just sticking in tree pics randomly at this point.

I'd seen in our hotel brochure that most of the places close by like, 5 or 6p, so I was ready to shower as fast as I could and get going. Which we proceeded to do. It's funny how I can take up to two hours  to get ready on a bad day, but when something fun is looming? No need to even dry my hair, 20 minutes will be fine. Sooooo, we hit up two places on Highway 4, then decided we'd park the car for the night and head downtown Murph. OMGGGG, you guys. Tasting rooms 'eerywhuuuure. And these did NOT close by 5 or 6 -- a lot of these places were open till 8 or so! I was elated. Sooooo, we tasted our faces off, got dinnz and retired back to the hotel.

("Tasted our faces off" almost got a bit too real. I went to go drop one of the bottles in the car -- which was parked nearby -- before hitting the next tasting room and well, misjudged on the whole door-slam thing. My spatial skills might have been ... off. I definitely slammed my nose in the car. And when you drive a big SUV, you might cry about something like that. Sorry I'm not sorry). I'm just glad it's not broken. It's a liiiiiiiiiiittle bruised, but nothing serious. I might have wailed, "my small facial features are all I havvvvvvvvve!"

Crisis averted.

Oh and we ate at this place called Grounds that was srsly delish. We split heirloom tomatoes and basil to start, along with thai red curry mussels, then drank some cab and split the salmon/kale/mushroom risotto entree. It was perfect. Not that I think a ton of people read this blog, but if ANYONE out there is visiting Murphys -- go to Grounds. We heard from everyone to try their breakfast, too, but we were Honey Bunches of Oat-ing it up at the hotel.

Soooo, after a productive day and a few purchases, we strolled back to our hotel -- definitely nice to be walking distance! -- and went to bed. Early again! But like, good for us, walking everywhere and wanting to get another fresh start. Right?!  #oldpeople

Sunday we were up by like, 9a, out the door within a half-hour or so, heading to Lake Alpine. Someone at the front desk recommended it, and I was into the idea of a lake in the mountains. So we drove about 45 minutes up the hill -- to 7,000 feet -- and found the lake. It was just a tad too chilly to swim, but we walked around, ran from some baby lizards (or was that just me?) and laid out on the rocks, just people-watching. And dog watching. There was a very naughty dog named Sophie nearby, and let me just say: Sophie didn't give a shitttttttttt. We laughed so hard, watching Sophie's owners trying to get that dog in line. Team Sophie, yo.

It was so calm and relaxing. Even though we didn't do much at the lake, we killed a couple hours out there. We were right by Bear Valley, which looked like a fun place to ski in the winter. I'd like to come back.

Drove back and hit up the south grove of the state park this time around. OMG NOW I KNOW WHY EVERYONE'S OBSESSED WITH BIG TREES!

The south grove was like, empty. (I'm referring to the crowds, not the trees). You had to walk a mile to the grove itself from the parking lot -- no paved trails -- and then 5 or so more miles to see the biggest tree in the grove.

We aren't obese so we figured we had to, even if my shoes were KILLING me. (For real, you should see my feet today. They are so tattered and bandaged up and gross. But I was beast mode that afternoon, and decided not to complain and make a scene. I'd save that for the blog).

I can't even. To see the trees like that, in their natural states, just like, sitting all bold and majestic among the other trees? They are just so big and breathtaking. To walk around one takes like, 30-45 seconds. Some are burned out around the sides or in a certain area, so you can actually walk inside them. Their coloring is really different and cool. And the biggest, the Agassiz tree, was so worth it. It's 250 feet tall!

We kept having to remind ourselves like, no one set up these trees in any certain way. We aren't at a tree exhibit or at Disney World. We can walk inside some and touch how the bark is different and notice some of their proximity and that's all real. That's just nature. It almost looked like the Hunger Games forest. And we really didn't encounter many people. Five, 10 total in our couple hours? We had the grove to ourselves, and it was just crazy.

Don't even ask when I turned into a middle-aged lady, wanting to go on tree field trips.

Me inside a tree!

Anywayyyy, we got through the south grove pretty quickly, relatively speaking. Got dinner at an Italian place that messed up my order and then took foreverrrrrrrrrr to fix it, but what can you do. We hung out one final night at the hot tub, then slept like rocks (trees? No?).

We were up early-ish Monday (today) and had to work. Grumbled the whole way back to Sac. Although, we really took the time to appreciate our schedules matching up and realize how nice it is to be able to do long weekends like that, and travel this part of the country! Neither of us is from California, so we're kind of on the same level when it comes to traveling and taking it all in.

Put your chin down, loser.

All in all ... a really special weekend. I'm happy to finally say I've seen the big trees! I figure there will be reasons I might have to return to LA and SF and places like that -- but when else will I be able to take off for Calaveras County for a few days? These smaller towns are just so cool and historical.

And sorry to let you down: But I was trying to unplug a bit this weekend, so unfortch, I have ZERO pix from wine tasting, the south grove of the park or Lake Alpine! North grove pics are all I have to share. I'm disappointing, I know. At least I didn't break my nose?

It's easy to find me in hot pink shorts.

 

I've never been so tiny!