“…ambassadors  
from another time.”
John Steinbeck

Kathy and I have visited Eureka, California only a few times in the past 42 years. Our last visit was 30 years ago, in July 1996. I remember it vividly, as that visit coincided with the 1996 Summer Olympics, which was marred by the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Our three boys were ages 10, 8, and 4 at that time. On those previous visits, the purpose of the drive from San José to Eureka was the destination — just getting here. This trip has been different. Certainly, arriving safely, which we did yesterday afternoon, was a priority, but rather than focusing on the destination, on this trip we prioritized the journey itself.

For this reason, after departing Willits yesterday in the late morning, we took a slight detour from Highway 101 when we approached Phillipsville. At that point, we had the option to get off 101 and take State Route 254, which parallels the highway for 31 miles. It then reconnects with the highway near the town of Pepperwood. This scenic stretch of road is known as The Avenue of the Giants.

Just off Highway 101, in Phillipsville, we stopped for lunch at the Chimney Tree Grill, appropriately named for its proximity to the Living Chimney Tree, a 78-foot-tall coastal redwood located at the south end of The Avenue of the Giants. The center of the tree was hollowed out by a fire in 1914, but the tree survived and continues to grow. Visitors can walk through a doorway at the base of the tree and look straight up through the gutted trunk to see the sky. After a delightful lunch, we began the 31-mile trek through the redwoods. 

The Avenue of the Giants is considered to be the most scenic drive among the redwoods. The roadway, which winds its way through majestic redwood trees, is mostly flat with gentle curves. It passes secluded forest hamlets, campgrounds, picnic areas, and access points to the Eel River. With the car windows down, we were able to enjoy the pleasant scent of the redwoods as we passed through them.

Driving State Route 254 reminded me of a line I’d read many years ago in John Steinbeck’s 1962 travelogue Travels with Charley: In Search of America. In speaking about the redwoods, he wrote, “From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”

When he speaks of “another time,” Steinbeck is most likely referring to the fact that the oldest coast redwoods in Humboldt County are estimated to be about 2,000 to 2,200 years old. Coring these massive trees to count their rings can cause permanent damage, so the exact ages are difficult to determine. Scientists, however, estimate that the oldest living specimens first sprouted around the time of the Roman Empire. For those of us living here in California in 2026, this is definitely “another time.”

Our drive through The Avenue of the Giants is an experience for which I will always be grateful. As Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”