After Marla was admitted to the hospital in Santa Rosa I waited in the parking lot for a few hours hoping I could see her but that was impossible due to COVID! I sadly drove back to Bodega Bay and help Stacy get everything into the car at our rental house. She had it almost totally done before I arrived. A bit later that morning I received a phone call from Marla saying “It is important to make sure the original family trip itinerary is adhered to! I’m counting on you to take the family to the redwoods and the cemetery before going to San Francisco! Do you understand me?” Initially my heart just wasn’t in it, but Marla’s call put me on the right track as we headed toward Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Lagunitas an hour south.

There is nothing like being in the Redwoods for calming the spirit. Samuel P. Taylor Park has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. The Marin County park contains approximately 2,700 acres of redwood forest and grassland. The big bonus is 600 acres of old-growth forest. My Mom and Dad loved the park and we visited often. The Girls climb a Redwood stump.

They “summited!”

Owen joins the Girls at the top.

FLASHBACK: Our daughter Lisa and grandson Paxton climbed the same stump on a family trip in 2012.

The picnic bench! Our family have had picnics on this same bench for years!

FLASHBACK: I love this photo of a family picnic on the “same bench” when our girls were very young. Stacy is giving me “the look!” My Dad is working on sandwiches and my Mom is probably opening a can of olives, her favorite!

FLASHBACK: The SAME bench with my Mom on the 2012 trip trip! She was 92 years-old.

Barnabe Creek slowly meanders under the towering Redwoods.

We head across the bridge to connect with a favorite trail.

Stacy took this shot on the bridge.

FLASHBACK: The same spot with Lisa, Mom and Stacy in 2012.

The only thing missing is,…Marla!

Stacy gets creative!

Love this family!

Flashback: A 2012 photo of Logan and Paxton at the…THE SAME TREE!

The adventurers!

Stacy was so instrumental in helping to make this incredibly stressful day go as well as possible! Thank you, Stacy!

This Redwood park is very healing for me!

Stacy and Vaughan.

After the Redwoods we drove over the bay to the hills between El Cerrito and Berkeley to a cemetery where most of the relatives on my Mom’s side of the family are buried. I had granite markers created with the names of everyone buried in each plot. This was the first time I’ve been able to see it since I had them installed in 2019.

Stacy and the family think fondly of memories of their “Gigi.”

A moment of reflection.

Owen is named after my great-grandfather. He had a framing shop and art gallery a little south of Market Street in San Francisco. After surviving the 1906 earthquake he moved it to Oakland.

Owen looks out toward San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

Everyone was famished after the long and stressful day. We stopped at Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers in Berkeley. Everyone LOVED Barney’s!

FLASHBACK: I took this shot of Vaughan on a 2014 trip to Barney’s in Oakland. I always thought this could be the perfect photo for “National Hamburger Week!”

Happy family! After lunch we headed across the bridge to San Francisco.

What an exhausting day! I am truly happy Marla was so insistent on our continuing the original itinerary! Next week the Twins discover…The City!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.