My First Mother's Day and Hiking Purisima Creek Redwoods

As my first Mother’s Day loomed, Jonathan was pestering me about what I wanted. Whenever the question would arise, I would wax poetically about my fantasy of spending 24 hours lazing in bed with a good book and How I Met Your Mother reruns while Jonathan brought me food in bed and took care of all my household and child-rearing duties. 

I also wished that by May 11, those last 5 stubborn pregnancy pounds would magically dissolve. 

Well, my wish was granted….in the form of a 24 hour stomach virus. Not exactly what I had in mind…

But after nearly 48 hours in bed (and/or on the bathroom floor with an inflatable pillow), 2 novels, and a season and a half of How I Met Your Mother later, I was finally able to peel myself off the ground in time to actually enjoy my first Mother’s Day. 

Jonathan brought me cinnamon rolls in bed and I enjoyed a much needed bubble bath. A relaxing morning was just what I needed to restore my strength after not eating for nearly two days (and p.s. I didn't lose 1 stinkin' pound...how is that even possible???!?!?). 

After Forest’s second nap we loaded up the car and headed to the coast for our first Redwood hike near Half Moon Bay. We opted to check out Purisima Creek Redwoods rather than the more popular nearby John Muir Woods because we figured on a picture perfect Mother’s Day weekend, the renowned Muir Woods would be even more packed than usual. We’d heard the redwoods near Half Moon Bay were a bit more secluded so we decided to save John Muir (which we’ve heard is FANTASTIC) until another day. 

A walk through the Purisima Redwoods was quite different than a trek through the friendly Aberdeenshire forests that inspired our son’s name. First off, upon beginning the hike we saw this sign:

I made sure to snap a photo of the instructions in case I was actually confronted with a mountain lion and forgot the directions. One of the great things about hiking in Scotland is that there are virtually zero predators. Not the case in California! But the scenery makes the danger of being hunted by large cats worth it. 

The redwoods were majestic and provided perfect shade for a sunny mother’s day hike. 

Forest enjoyed his first hike riding in the back-pack position. 

He was so comfy he actually decided to take a snooze on the go, which is pretty rare for our little guy. The trails were mostly forested but would occasionally provide vistas of the nearby coastline. 

At first, I couldn’t even see the ocean because it blended so well with the sky. 

Can you spot where the sky ends and the ocean begins?

Truly beautiful! 

Unfortunately we didn’t have too much time to hike since we had a 7 pm bedtime to get home for, but we definitely enjoyed our first redwood forest experience and can’t wait to explore more of these lovely hikes…mountain lions and all.