We Are as Grasshoppers in Their Eyes OR What's the Fixation on Vicky

Today we went down to Humboldt Redwood State Park and drove the "Avenue of the Giants."  It is a 31 mile section of old, two lane US Highway 101 that winds its way through numerous old growth Redwood Groves.  Of the 31 miles fully 25 of them are through actual Redwood Groves.  I'm going to just put a bunch of pictures of the road through the forest to give you a touch of the sense of how overwhelming it is to be in the midst of miles and miles of monster Redwood.  Here you go (I'll be back with more at the end of your "drive.")

Hi!, Your drive is over and you're now ready to "Walk among the Giants."  

Prepare to feel dwarfed, awed and overwhelmed.  In many of the pictures below Irene or I are standing in the picture to give you a sense of perspective:

ABOVE: You see many trees that have fallen.  They are being "reclaimed" by the forest: slugs, moss, ferns and sometimes other trees are using the fallen tree as nutrients for their own growth

ABOVE:  Look REALLY closely, Irene is standing a just to the right 

of the tree in the middle of the photograph

ABOVE:  From the roots, this tree had to have been about 16-18 feet MINIMUM in diameter when it came crashing down.  Jim is somewhat in front of it making him look taller in reference to the tree and he is 6'2" tall.

ABOVE: Irene is standing in front of the "Founders Tree."  Below are its "vital statistics."  Please notice the height - 346.1 FEET TALL.  To give you some perspective - a football field is 100 yard long - That is 300 FEET.  Each end zone is another 10 yards deep - another 30 FEET.  So, this tree is as tall as 1 FOOTBALL FIELD is long PLUS 1 1/2 of the end zones too!!

ABOVE: Also, notice that you have to shinny up 190.4 feet (from your goal line to the to your opponents 37 yard line) to reach the first branch on this tree.  OH, this is a tall one, but 35 feet short of the TALLEST redwood.

2 Pictures ABOVE:  Irene standing INSIDE a burned out tree.  This tree is still quite alive!  Every year it put forth it little "Redwood leaves." This is the result of a natural fire.

ABOVE: Sometime relatively recently this tree "fell down and went BOOM!"  Notice that the wood where it's been cut is still very "reddish."  Over the years as it oxides these cuts will turn dark brown. This tree is about 7 feet and diameter at this point.

ABOVE 2 Pictures:  A 9 foot in diameter tree that has fallen.

OK, so now you are ready to see the "Dyerville Giant" that fell in 1991.  It was a very big tree.  Over 370 feet tall (a football field, both end zones and a little bit more in height).  The Dyerville Giant registered on local seismographs as it fell to the ground people a mile away thought that a train had crashed.

ABOVE:  This shows the "root ball" of the Dyerville Giant.  About 4 feet of it can't be seen because it is below the ground level where Jim is standing.  You can see it looks to be about another 2 "Jim's" high.  That would be Jim + 2 Jims + 4 feet more or about 22 feet in diameter at the base.

You'll notice that the trees that have fallen over don't go very deep into the ground.  Redwoods do NOT have a "Tap Root" like most trees.  They rely on growing their limbs to "balance" themselves as they grow.  First off, they don't grow where there is a lot of top soil and trying to penetrate solid granite is a non-starter.  Secondly, they grow where it is VERY moist (the coastline of Northern California) where there is typically a LOT of rainfall so the roots don't need to go "deep" to find water).

ABOVE: Strictly an attempt to show much of the length of the Dyerville Giant on the ground.

Below are a couple of interesting pictures.  What happens when one 200 foot plus Redwood falls at an acceleration rate of 32 feet/second/second (the pull of gravity toward the earth) on another 200 foot Redwood and a 275 foot plus Dyerville Giant that has already fallen?

REDWOOD TOOTHPICKS 

FOR PAUL BUNYAN!

ABOVE:  As this tree fell in 2007, it fell across the tree that had already fallen just below the midline of the top picture. It cracked and then fell over the Dyerville Giant which is laying about 10 feet behind Jim in the bottom picture.  This broke the tree PAST the Dyerville Giant off BUT reflected the energy between the two trees BACK toward the first trees.  This reflected energy caused the explosion of the part of the falling tree that was between the two trees already on the ground.  Man, what an awesome study in wave mechanics.

So, on our way back to the rig we went through historic Ferndale.  Ferndale started to be settled right smack dab in the middle of Queen Victoria's reign (June 1837-January 1901).  So, almost the whole town is built in the Victorian Style.  Below are a bunch of pictures of these very well preserved Victorian Homes for your appreciation without comments:

And in THIS corner ... OR Eureka! I think we found it!

We arrived at Eureka, California yesterday about 5:00 in the afternoon.  It's a very nice town.  For the most part it looks stuck in the Victorian age.  I'm guessing that it was settled for the most part in the 1800s and the houses show it, BUT they've been upkept well so they still look pretty nice.  After church services this morning we took a drive to the Redwood National and State Park about an hour north of town.  That's 40 miles away!  The roads up here twist and turn going both up and down the mountains, so speed limits are slow (and need to be) sometimes.

The giant redwood trees (sequoia sempervirens) are related to the Sequoia trees (sequoiadendron giganteum) from our last post.  The sequoia trees only grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains (nowhere else in the world) between 5000 and 7000 feet of elevation.  The giant redwoods grow only along the coast of the Northern California and nowhere else.

Remember how the Sequoia trees are the largest trees in the world, by VOLUME.  Well, the Giant Redwoods are the TALLEST trees in the world.  They grow up to about 375 feet tall.  The other thing that is quite different about their environs is that since the giant redwoods grow along the coast there is a TON and 2/3 of undergrowth - mostly ferns.

Mentioning the ferns brings up an interesting point.  If I were to ask "What is the largest rainforest in the world?" I'm pretty certain that 80% of the people in the world would answer "The Amazon River Basin" BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! WE HAVE A LOSER!  The Amazon River Basin is the largest TROPICAL rainforest.  The world's largest rain forest stretches along the Pacific ocean from Northern California northward through the coast of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Canada) and the lower peninsula of Alaska.

Now it's time to share some pictures of our drive to the Redwood National and State Park:

ABOVE: If you look very closely along the water line you see some people walking along the water. Knowing that gives you a good sense of perspective for how big this beach is.

ABOVE: A picture of the coast showing the fog that seems perpetual 

along parts of the coast line.

ABOVE:  On the way to the park you drive along the Pacific Ocean.  Here are two

 shots showing some of the megaliths (large stones) sitting off the points on the coast.

ABOVE: On the way to the park we saw a herd of wild elk.  Since they are a protected species (out of season) they can wander anywhere they desire.

ABOVE: Irene is standing inside the base of this burned out (but NOT dead) Redwood.

ABOVE:  Here I stand, Lord of NOTHING I survey!

ABOVE 2 Pictures:  This tree NEEDED a hug!

ABOVE:  Jim standing at the base of another large tree

ABOVE: "You can NOT see the tree behind me, can you?"

ABOVE:  Have you ever heard the one about the tree with a monstrous growth at its roots?

ABOVE: A tree growing on another tree.  It actually uses the tree 

it's growing out of for nutrients.

ABOVE A moss covered tree.  This one is not a redwood.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

The last full day we had at the Yosemite Bible Camp, we went down to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park to see the Sequoia Groves.  Sequoia Trees are the largest trees in the world.  There are trees that have larger circumferences (African Baobabs), and they also aren't the tallest (Some Redwoods are 1 1/2 times taller than the General Sherman Sequoia tree) BUT when one takes the cylindrical VOLUME of the Sequoia trees the blow the competition away and wrest the title of "World's Largest Trees" easily from any other species.

Below are some pictures we took while in the parks:

Above:  The Sequoia Museum -  Take a CLOSE look to the right of the base of the tree.  That is Irene about 15 feet from the tree waving her arm so you can see her.  This should give some perspective on the size of the "Sentinel Sequoia", as this one is named.

Above:  Irene is standing on an exact replica of the cross-section of the base of the General Sherman Tree, the largest (by volume) tree in the world.  At its widest, its diameter is 35 feet across.

Above:  Many of the Sequoia's have burn marks on them.  For over a century they fought the natural lightning caused fires in the park.  It has now been proven that these fires are actually necessary for the Sequoia seeds to germinate.  So, they no longer put out lightning caused fires in the park.

Above:  I just pointed the camera up at the top of the tree on this picture.  On the General Grant Sequoia it is 129 feet from the ground to the first branch.

Above: Jim is spreading out his arms 20 feet in front of the General Grant Sequoia, the second largest tree in the world (by volume).  He has about an 8 foot wingspan from tip to tip.

Above:  Look Ma, we're twins!  These 2 trees grew together at their base.  If you look right in the center of the trees at the base, there is Irene, all 5'9" of her standing in front of it.  Again, this should give you a tiny sense of the immensity of these trees.

An update on our Sojourns so far and Revisiting our Honeymoon

Irene and I were married in September of 1980 and one of the places that we went on our honeymoon was to Yosemite National Park.  (The first time I had gone there was in 1978 to help Bill Johnson record the sessions as part of his WCJ Enterprises.  The church used to hold what was called "Yosemite Family Encampment" there.  Bill had the contract to record it for a number of years.  I helped gather the original masters and then Don Ossman would use those to create a duplication master and duplicate them.  I then placed the labels on the copies for sale to anyone that requested them).  So, Irene and I went there on our honeymoon so she could see its beauty.

This year one of the sojourns we signed up to lead was the Yosemite Bible Camp Sojourn.  Yosemite Bible Camp (YBC) is just outside of Oakhurst on CA-41, which is called the South Yosemite Highway.  It was started in 1957 as a camp that individual churches of Christ could rent at which they could hold VBSes, church retreats, summer camps, etc. We got to YBC on Friday morning and set up our rig.  Unfortunately we got a little to close to a Douglas Fir tree and broke the Drivers Side Mirror off.  OUCH!! They say you don't learn a lesson RVing unless it costs you at LEAST $500.  Well, this is apparently TWO lessons worth then.  The new mirror is being shipped to us from Tiffin Motorhomes in Red Bay, AL even as we speak.

Just to fill you in on our 2 earlier sojourns - the first at the Port Lavaca Church of Christ in Port Lavaca, Texas and the second at the Imperial Highway church of Christ in Downey, California.  They were quite successful.

In Port Lavaca we preached a Meeting on Some of the "Hot Button Issues" of the day: Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Homosexuality, Abortion and the Christian and Civil Government.  David Johnson and I split the preaching duties of the gospel meeting. We didn't choose these topics.  They were selected by some in the congregation.

We also had a congregational Lectureship there where I taught three lessons on reaching out to those around us with the Gospel message.  As a result of all of these efforts one man was baptized into Christ.  

At the Imperial Highway Church of Christ the Gospel meeting's theme was "I must be about my Father's business."  The lesson titles were:

Sunday Morning Bible Class "Be Not Anxious"

Sunday Morning Sermon "But as He Who Called You Is Holy"

Sunday Evening Sermon "Love One Another for Love Is of God"

Monday Evening Sermon "Love Your Enemy"

Tuesday Evening Sermon "Go into All the World"

Wednesday Evening Sermon "Preaching JUST the Gospel in Love"

Irene also taught the Monday Ladies Day Class.  And she went through her double bible study with some of the ladies on Tuesday. As a result of that teaching a 72 year old Deaf lady was baptized into Christ.  Amen!

That sojourn was also a physical sojourn.  Lewis Frisby and I had to replace 2 bathrooms - one had a tub and then the sinks and stools in both of them.  This included laying new vinyl flooring and a lot of wall patching and painting.

So, here we are now at sojourn # 3 - Yosemite Bible Camp.  Today we broke out at lot of deteriorating concrete while the ladies cleaned the kitchen.  Tomorrow their cleaning will continue and we will begin to re-pour new concrete in the areas we wrecked out today.  Irene and I are both sore and tired.

I thought I'd close this blog posting with some pictures we took Friday afternoon on our trip into Yosemite National Park itself.  God has truly placed many amazing things HERE and no where else.

The picture above shows, very dramatically the  Yosemite valley's "rounded bottom" left behind after the glacier that formed it melted away.

That is "Half Dome" Yosemite's signature mountain"in the 

center of the picture above at the top.

This is "Bridal Veil" Falls one of the Parks stellar waterfalls.

This is Yosemite Falls (I Believe).  If not, it's another one!

This is "El Capitan."  If you'll sign the proper liability waiver, you too can be so foolish as to climb the face of this megalith outcropping and join those that have scaled its 3000 foot face (the largest granite outcropping in the world).  Click here to watch a video about doing it.

The Yosemite valley is first seen emerging through this 3/10 mile tunnel through a solid granite mountain.  If you look at the wall of the tunnel you can see the stone its been dug through.

 The Merced River and Lovely Bridal Veil Falls emerging from those 

Beautiful Megalithic Granite Mountains ....

Can only be made MORE beautiful by strategically placing my lovely bride in the picture.

(I've GOTTA have scored me some major points for that one!)

We were hibernating OR o/` o/` North to Alaska, Goin' North the Rush is on o/` o/`

Well, it's greatly past time for another post.  We are done "wintering" in our home in the Rio Grande Valley.  We had a terrific Christmas with most of our children and their families coming to our daughter, Hazuki's house in Houston.  She and her fiancé, Dmitri, were terrific hosts.  Hats off to them!

We got home about the 9th of December.  We took the next 9 weeks "off."  Hazuki came down to visit for 4 or 5 days in January.  Then, Irene's sister, Kathryn and my sister, Charlynn (they both live in Indiana) came to visit a for another 4 or 5 days.  We also did take a 5 day excursion to Odessa, Texas to visit our granddaughter Phoebe and her parents.  They couldn't make it to Houston.

Still it was nice to be in one place for a while and just "veg out" a little.  Irene concentrated on getting her VBS materials and the house organized.  Irene and I got some bikes and we started riding those around Retama Village.

We had some time to get involved in the church we attend in Pharr while we are home.  I preached 3 times and taught the teens twice.  Irene taught children's worship 3 times.

Our 2016 Sojourn season has begun.  We just got done the sojourn at the Port Lavaca Church of Christ in Port Lavaca, Texas.  We preached a gospel meeting on some of the "hot button" issues of the day.  There was 1 person that was baptized into Christ.  A second came to ask for the prayers of the church.  

We are currently on our way to our second sojourn in Downey, California.  It begins March 20th.  On the way there we are visiting with Phoebe and her parents in Odessa, Texas again for 6 days and then pressing on to visit with Bela and her parents, Josh and Cristina for 6 days.

I've posted our 2016 Sojourn Schedule on JITrekking.com.  Please click on the link below to check it out.  It's a doozie!

2016 Sojourn Schedule for Jim and Irene Gordon