REAL CALIFORNIA | WORLDS TALLEST TREES

California has amazed us yet again. Yet again! We got out of the car and we were like, man it just smells like nature. What am I looking at? The redwoods are crazy! What's up Pea Nation? Today we are going to get into nature. This morning we left San Francisco like way too early. The sun wasn't even up by the time we were leaving. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was absolutely beautiful as the sun was rising. But we are heading to the redwood forest. So we are going up the coast of California to the redwood forest. And we are so excited. My car is as full as it possibly can be once again. We put our whole life into this tiny little car. It's a beautiful morning and so it just feels so right to be out on the highway, all packed up, heading onto something new. Zach is very excited for the redwood forest. So this is very exciting for me to see how excited he is today. We've got breakfast and our coffee and we are ready to go. Alright, now we are halfway in between San Francisco and our first stop on the redwood forest. When I originally looked at the map, I saw Eureka. And then above that it says Redwood National Park and Forest. And that's where I remember going with my family last time I did this. But I just got off the phone with my mom and she informed me that we actually went to the redwood forest that was south of that. Because there's just a bunch of different redwood groves. There's actually groves in the city of San Francisco we were just in. So they're like all over the state of California. But we're going to find the oldest trees in the state that are apparently over 2,000 years old. So we've made it to the Avenue of Giants. And we are slowly making our way and I'm looking up at all the trees and just admiring all of them. There's ones that are downed and they're just so thick. And I'm like, Zach, we made it! We made it! We have to get out! We have to start vlogging! We have to show the people! And he's like, I know you don't know, but these aren't even them. You guys, and we made it to the Founders Grove. Apparently this is one of the groves with the tallest trees. There's like 137 million groves. I don't even know. Apparently redwoods grow in clusters. Wait, are you saying there's about 137 million? No. I thought that was like a statistic. That's a statistic, yeah. They're all over. There's just a lot of them. I was like, that's insane! I mean, that's how many there are. And here's the Founders Tree. Wow! 346 feet. 12 feet long. It's two of you wide. It's two of me wide? Two of you wide, probably at the base. Circumference of 40 feet. Height to lower limb. 190. That's crazy how it doesn't have lower limbs. Yeah. And they put this wooden boardwalk down because apparently if you reveal the tallest tree, then people will go to it. And once they go to it, they walk around the base. I love the spiral. I guess I've never really appreciated redwood trees before. This one's cool, this one's wonky looking. Oh my gosh. Was there a fire in here? So this is the big thing about the redwoods, is that they can withstand fires. This whole thing hollowed out, and it's still growing. It's kind of creepy. Oh my gosh. Wow! This is really incredible. There's something magical about trees. When you think of them as actual giants, this is some of the oldest forested areas in the United States, or in the world. Most of the U.S. was logged off a long time ago, so these are the oldest trees we have now, and it's just, it really is like magic. Like Ferngully. She's very excited. It's just so scary. I love it. Look how big this is. Look how I fit in. It's just so huge. Solid tree. We got a new one growing off of it. Yeah, that's cool. Honestly, obviously the ones that are alive are really great, but the ones that are downed, and they have new growth off of them, I think are really cool too. Even a little bit cooler. You can see everything that's underneath them. It's like a spider's web. And that is a redwood. It's like a dinosaur. Honestly. Everything is just bigger here. Look at these clovers. They're absolutely massive. Look who it is. How'd you get up there? Wow, wow, wow. Come look at this thing right here. This is just really cool. It's like a playground for adults. You know? This is lumber. She is such a good slipper, guys. I just don't even know. They're already in rectangles. Just ready to be cut. They're ready to go. Look at this from the outside, and there are so many layers to this tree. I don't think this is one of the 2,000-year-old ones, but if it's even 500, that's crazy. I can feel the history. No. Yes. Yes! Look at this one. This is crazy. Honestly, it's kind of like Star Wars. What? Doesn't it feel like Star Wars? Which one? This is a scene right out of Star Wars. I'm going to play the clip now. This is what I'm talking about. The starship just wrecked. But it's not on the ground. Look how far this tree is off the ground. A tree is growing in the air from a tree. It's like Star Wars. Honestly, this is art. This isn't even nature at this point. The way it's split into a million different 2x4s ready to go to Home Depot. You put on different houses. This is crazy. What am I looking at? It's suspended. Those aren't even held by anything. They're just shooting into the sky like a firework. This is my favorite tree. It's a dead one, but what's going on? I don't even know. Look how small I am. When you're looking up, you can't really see how tall these are. Yeah, they're trees. They're tall. The base is big. But when it's down like this, that's when you realize how massive these things are. This one knocked down a different tree that's even bigger than this tree. Whoa! That's me. This is my tree that fell. This is the other tree that fell. Look how massive this is. This is like three times bigger than the other one. This lush, tropical rainforest in California. I know. Ferns growing on ferns. Ferns are my favorite. Really? Because they're so specific to one place in the U.S. and that's where we met. It's like we're getting up there into the rainforest. It is really wet here. This might be a new favorite. Look, it's just suspended. There is a huge hole in the middle. You could fit a whole car through here. And if we go up, it's not dead. It's still growing. It's still a tree and there's no bottom. It's a thousand years old. This is the Redwoods. Oh my gosh, guys. I just heard a crack. No joke. This is when the trees fall. This is the time of year they fall. It's really wet on the ground. They actually loop together with their roots. We're going to hold on to each other and that's why they can be so tall. They don't go down in the ground. They just loop together. When the wind picks up like it is now and things start popping, I just don't feel good about it. We did it again, you guys. We have an orange meal. We're having a little snack. We're trying to run down the road and get some pizza, but I don't think we can make it. Having my favorite salsa and sweet potato chips. And carrots and hummus. It's also orange and cheese. It's kind of orange. Something I didn't say about the Redwoods is they catch 40% of the water from fog. They're so high up in the air, the fog rolls in from the ocean and that's how they drink. That's crazy. That's it for our lunch. Now we're going to try and hit the road. We're going down the road to a dirt road in Leah's little car. I don't know how muddy this road is going to be. Like I said before, it's really wet. We're going to see if we can make it down this dirt road to the best grove in my opinion in the entire Redwood State National Park system. Let's go. It's not dirt. It's pretty narrow. It is pretty narrow. My car is the perfect size for this actually. Boom! Just like that, we made it down the hill. We are now in the Rockefeller Grove. These trees, I don't know how, are bigger than the other ones. They really are. There's more of them and they're more condensed and they're all very, very, very big. That's why it's my favorite. It's right next to the river which apparently flooded in 1964. It was like 20 feet high. That's why the Redwoods love living next to the river is because when it floods they get all the nutrients they need to grow for the next 1,000 years. Yeah. I don't know. This is super cool. I just can't believe these are actually noticeably bigger over here. I think it's so cool. It is a little cold here because the wind keeps rolling in and oh my gosh, right in front of us is a tree that fell. I don't think it's windy enough for the trees to fall right now. It's a little drier on this side. Is it? Oh yeah, it is. But it's cold. I don't think I've ever been this far north in California. To stop, you know what I mean? I know we've driven through northern California but only on the highway. I don't know. I guess I never realized also that it really becomes the Northwest. This tree is so wet. It's literally dripping water. It's a tree of life. Also, I found a perfectly bright red mushroom that looks really fake but it is really, really real. That's right there. Do you see it? It just looks so fake. I was like, oh, it's a piece of trash. But no, that is a mushroom. That's so crazy. Guys, welcome to Jurassic Park. Oh, this is two. I was going to say, this is one. This is the biggest tree I have ever seen in my life. This has to be two. It fell together. That's crazy. All one circuit. It's just like the tree of life though. There's ferns, trees. We're standing in ferns. It's all one big cycle, you guys. It's like a bridge. I love that. If I was younger, I probably would try to go over it right now. I bet people have tried. I bet people have done it. It looks like there's a walking path. Making me want to do it. Yeah, it's just too scary. We're too old and that water looks pretty cold. It's also kind of shallow. There's a lot of no's in the situation. But yeah, that looks like a lot of fun. Okay, I'm feeling it. It's totally doable. It's flat. I said, no, that I'm not going to get out here. And Zach was like, come on, you can do it. No, it's totally cool. It's not slippery. It's a little slippery. Also, I feel like we're swaying. How? Yeah. This is pretty cool though. Yeah, okay, it was worth it. You haven't made it all the way out yet. Yeah, I know. Okay, this is as far as I'm going. Yeah, this has to be the best grove of all time. It's just so enchanted. Okay, I'm going back now because I'm scared. You can do it. Don't freeze on the mountain. I know, I'm freezing. Don't freeze up. Honestly, this grove is the best grove we have seen today. We've only seen two. But the best part about the Redwoods is that there isn't one attraction. So like other national parks in America, there's just a busload of tourists. That's not a thing here. There's not even parking for that. No, there's definitely not parking here. Like maybe three spots. I think, yeah, the beauty is it's kind of hard to find a place on the map. And once you get here, there are so many things and places and parks and groves to see that it's not overcrowded or overrun. It's really nice. We feel like we've done so much in this grove. I feel like we've been here for hours. We ran out of time. I think Pete's place is closed. We're going to get another California institution, Dutch Brothers Cafe, which apparently is a California thing. I don't really know. Someone told me about it in the comments. And apparently we have to go get coffee there. So there's one in Eureka. Let's go. And she's a coffee lady, so that's really her thing. I'm so excited for coffee. It's way afternoon. Zach is usually like, don't drink caffeine, you're going to stay up all night. Let's do it! She's got to drive two more hours, so whatever it takes, I guess. What do I get? I don't know, what do you get? Good, how are you? We made it to Eureka, right? We are in Eureka. I'm tired. Are you tired? I'm so tired. We left San Francisco so early this morning. Like, so early. We woke up at 5am, which is something we never do. This was very hard, but we have coffee on the mind. Well, she does. I'm just going to continue to suffer because I don't really drink coffee. I got a white chocolate lavender cold brew. And we've never had Dutch Brothers before. Is it a California thing? I think it is. They just came to Texas and my sister's small town of College Station where Texas A&M is, and she was like, Dutch Brothers! And I was like, I've totally been there. And so it's been on Leah's radar for a year and a half now. Yeah, I'm excited to try it. And this is perfect to be getting coffee, because we're so tired. We have an hour and a half left to drive. Eureka's like a nice little mountain town. Yeah, it's also by the water, though. Well, yeah, I'm saying like coming down from the mountains is how exhausting it is. Yeah, I'm like, what? But we have an hour and a half left to Carson City, I think that's what it's called. And that's a mountain town. We can make it. What's with this mafia? Dutch Mafia? Hi! You're ordering the white chocolate lavender cold brew? Yes. What are you guys doing from Maryland? We are actually just like with the pandemic happening, just driving around. Just driving around? So there's no destination in mind? Everything we own is in this car. That's exciting. So you guys made it all the way across. Yeah, we did. How long did it take you? Five days. Oh, you went straight for it? Straight for it. Thank you so much. That is so funny. That's the same experience I had when I came here. All these women came out of nowhere, and they were like, what are you guys doing? It was me and my best friend. We've never been to Dutch Brothers, I don't know. And they were like, okay, whatever you want is free. And we were like, what? And they were like, yes. Actually, let's get three drinks. You've just got to try everything. And they just made us whatever they wanted. And that's what I experienced at Dutch Brothers. And that's why I'm really fond of this brand. Because it was just like that. Just like what you just had. It was like, hi, this is the best day of my life. How are you doing? This is the best day of my life. I don't know if all customer service is like that. We've come to the same location when I came here. And then I brought her here now. How's that lavender? Not as lavender as I was hoping. You know, it's not very strong. But the cold foam on top is delicious. Let's get a close up of this. It's like the perfect thing I needed. I think I can do this coffee thing now. Actually, I can. Zach doesn't do coffee. This is so weird. Which way am I going? You have to go that way. But yes, on to Crescent City. Three hours. Just kidding, it's only an hour and a half. Alright, so we have reached our destination for tonight. We're here in Crescent City, which is right on the coast. It's a really cute little small town. That's like at this point on the ocean. It's really, really pretty. And so we're settling here for the night. But at sunset. Or near sunset. We're here at the lighthouse that you can access. You can walk across at low tide. So this is pretty cool. At certain points of the day, you can't access this lighthouse. This is actually really nice. And it smells really good. We got out of the car and we were like, Man, it just smells like nature. Wow! The Pacific Northwest. We're almost there. We're getting really close. And the sunset is beautiful. There's a foghorn going off over here. And it's just so soothing to hear the foghorn go off. And listen to the waves. And watch the whales. And watch the sun go down. So, oh my god! We literally just walked up here. And I saw a swoosh happen on the water. And I was like, no, no, no. And there's a sign that says there's a really good chance of seeing grey whales here from November to April. This is so cool! It's pouting. Whales! We found whales! The entire time we've been here in California, we've been talking about, wow, wouldn't it be really cool to see whales. And I just can't believe the place we least expected to find them didn't know they existed here. I mean, I'm sure they, I don't know, just didn't expect it. And we got up here at the perfect time to see a whale spouting. So it's just like, you can't plan these things out. It's just so special. This is really fun. This is a great way to end this day. You know, like, California beauty. We went from the mountains and the forests and the redwood trees and just like the giants that live there. Trees. To the ocean. It's just so rocky and beautiful. And then to see the giants that live here in the water. It's just like, ah, full circle. Oh, so many! Coming out. Tail flip! What happened? The tail came out. We can't write this stuff. We saw a tail. So much fun. I love California. Alright, and that is it for today. California has amazed us yet again. Today was just so amazing. I don't even know. The redwoods were what I was excited about. The whales are obviously what Leah is excited about. Well, it's just the unexpected things that happen to you. You know, like, you just can't plan this stuff out. And this lighthouse is gorgeous. And this has just been another spectacular day. The sun is setting. Our snacks were amazing. Our coffee was amazing. The guy at the coffee shop was so happy. Everyone is just so happy to be in California. Just like we are. This is actually our last vlog in California. So we are sad to say goodbye to the state. But it has been the state with the most vlogs by far. Because there is just so much to see here. The whales are still just like popping up. That's crazy. This place is beautiful. Thanks for watching. You don't know how far it goes up. Birds live in there. Bats live in there. Ew, it's even worse. It's like everything is just... What's going on? We have tons of ferns. Oops, oh god. Look at them. Wow, I'm really terrible at this. This gimbal is heavy. Am I shaking? Is that better? Yeah, it feels so good to be out on the road again. You know? On the road again.