Cool, Clean & Crisp
October 22, 2008
Hello Team Redwood Friends,
Cool, Crisp & Clean. 3 words that perfectly describe our fall air at Redwood Adventures Vacation Village. The arrival of the latest season brings a refreshing crispness to the air here on California’s North Coast.
While most of our vegetation stays predominantly green, year round, we are still blessed with a few pops of colorful trees here and there. It is always pleasing to look up at the surrounding forests and see the bright orange leaves of a deciduous tree mixed in with the evergreens.
Our past week at Redwood Adventures has lent us some of the best weather so far this year; which made it possible for me to capture this photo of our stunning, large maple that anchors our drive here at Valley Green Camp Road.
Enjoy the fall colors and I hope that you’ll come join us here in the fall sometime soon.
Happy Trails,
Berry Season at Redwood Adventures
October 21, 2008
Hello Redwood Adventure friends. It’s berry season here on the North Coast and at the Redwood Adventures Vacation Village we have a bumper crop of berries this year! Our mild year round climate must provide the perfect climate for the Himalaya berry as each year our berry patch becomes loaded with juicy black berries.
One of my favorite uses for the Himalaya Berry is pie making. The large black berries are perfect for pies; and here is a good recipe:
9” Pie Pan
Pie crust for top and bottom
6 cups Himalaya Berries
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
4 Tbsp butter, divided into 4 pieces
Line pie pan with bottom crust, mix berries, sugar and flour together and pour into prepared pie pan. Place 1 Tbsp chunks of butter randomly over berries. Cover with top pie crust. Pinch crust pieces together at edge of pie pan. Use knife to cut small slits in pie crust to for vent holes. Brush top crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce temp to 350° and bake for an additional 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool and then enjoy! The warm pie is great with vanilla ice cream.
Another great use for the blackberry is making homemade Jam. Never made jam before? No problem. A good useful website is www.PickYourOwn.org. This website provides detailed instructions for jam making and also provides a list of farms across the country that offer ‘pick your own’ crops.
Now it’s off to the berry patch.
Happy Pickins’ from TeamRedwood
TV Tokyo Scouts the Redwoods
May 3, 2008
I just started my new job as one of our public service representatives for the Elk Meadow Cabins at Redwood Adventures’ Village. Early in the morning on my second day at the cabins I got an interesting phone call… It was from Maiko at the Robyn / Tani Media Factory in Venice. She was arranging for a television show to come film the ancient redwoods of Redwood National Park. As the head of Robyn / Tani told me, “it’s a must” for them to feature some of the amazing things that can be found here and nowhere else.
As you might imagine, I gladly and excitedly obliged! We quickly arranged for one of our expert guides, naturalist and photographer Lowell Cottle, to take them around the parks and show them some of the sights.
In order to get a bigger picture of the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the scouting crew drove up scenic Highway 1, which winds along the California coast line on one of California’s oldest highways. They passed through Wine Country towns like Napa and Sonoma before getting to the “Redwood Curtain”, which one hits around the “Avenue of the Giants”, where you really feel like you have entered the redwood ecosystem. It is an epic drive, perhaps one of the most beautiful drives in the world. For those with time restrictions, Highway 101 is much faster and very beautiful as well, and takes you through Humboldt Redwood State Park.
We met them Friday morning at Lady Bird Johnson Grove. They were drawn to this trail due to its historical significance and popularity. The air was fresh and crisp. We took them to the dedication plaque where U.S. presidents Nixon and Johnson dedicated the grove to First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson. No event has ever brought more U.S. presidents, past and future, to one place than the dedication of Lady Bird Johnson Grove.
The Japanese Film crew appreciated the historical importance of the Lady Bird trail, but they were particularly looking for the amazing nature that can be found here. We talked about how redwoods are part of a system that perpetually creates new life from the old. For example, the “fairy rings” that redwoods make when a mother tree drops seeds onto herself. Those seeds give birth to new redwoods that fuse their root systems with the mother tree. Over time an impressive ring of trees forms. Though there are many trunks, because the root systems are all interconnected, it exists as “one tree”.
Our friends from the East were on the hunt for what we call “nursery logs”… A nursery log is a tree stump or log that is no longer living, but is providing a fertile home for new life. Trees literally growing on other trees!
After we left Lady Bird Johnson we went to Prairie Creek State Park, with some of the most amazing phenomena of the redwood ecosystem all easily accessible.
There is so much that our friends did not get to see, such as our amazing Roosevelt elk that can be found on our properties almost every day. But in just a few hours we had given them a feast for their senses. From trees so large they could hold a meeting inside, to the youngest new growth coming from an old nursery tree, we know they saw enough to make a television show!
Satisfied that there would be no problem filming an episode about the redwoods our Japanese friends hopped back in their car and headed back up the coast with hardly a moment to spare. Their next stop was the pristine waters of Crater Lake, yet another one of the wonders that can be found here in the Pacific Northwest. We are thrilled that the crew found everything they came looking for, and so much more.
Those that have been here know this is a spectacular place. But it is always a thrill to show someone new around. Special thanks to Mas and Maiko for making this happen… The crew will be back to film mid May. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming episode of Chikyu Kaidu, TV Tokyo, 10:30 PM, for the special episode featuring a famous Japanese Pop star enjoying Redwood National park with a guided tour by Redwood Adventures!
Enjoy our photo gallery with a few of the best photos from that day…
~ Elk Meadow Joey, Signing Out ~
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
March 28, 2008
Hello all, it’s Team Redwood here. Since I last wrote, I haven’t found my binoculars, but I did find my bird book guide and I’ve been busy trying to identify the many birds that call Redwood National Park home. Many different kinds of birds live here in the surroundings and within Redwood National Park and sometimes identifying them can be quite tricky as one needs a good set of binoculars, a good reference book and even then, sometimes, one needs an expert on hand to accurately identify the fluttering creatures. Now, as I’m no expert, I’ve done my best to accurately identify just a few of the birds that I’ve seen out here at the Redwood Adventures Vacation Village and a few that I’ve seen in my travels out here to the village. And as for the rest of the birds, I’ll let you come here and spot some for yourself.
The first bird I spotted here at the Vacation Village was a Great Blue Heron. I was surprised to see it here as they tend to frequent marshes and swamps. Nevertheless, he was here looking for food out in the ditch near the highway. These birds are fairly easy to spot as they stand about 4’ tall when their long legs and long necks are stretched out.
The next birds spotted weren’t so easy to identify and I won’t be surprised if I’m off a bit in my judgment. One morning lined up on the telephone wires were numerous swallows: barn swallows, cliff swallows and a few purple martin swallows. A little farther down the road we also saw a little white crowned sparrow and lastly we spotted some Great Egrets sharing the pasture with a few jersey cows. The Great Egrets are also easy to spot as this bird stands about 38” tall and is pure white except for their yellow bills.
Yet another day we were able to spot a variety of ducks trolling about on our nearby waterways. The Mallards are out in full force right now and I’m quite sure we also spotted a Merganser duck out with her little ones in tow.
Then just this morning I spotted a pair of Canada Geese floating about in one of the farmers fields.
Well that’s it for now. I’m leaving it up to you all now to look up these birds I just mentioned to see what they look like so you know what to look for when you come and visit us here at Redwood Adventures Vacation Village located in the heart of Redwood National Park.
Teamredwood out,
Happy Trails
The Sun is Shining
March 5, 2008
Hello All! Just another beautiful day out here at the Elk Meadow Vacation Village. The sun has been shining all day, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing and the elk are moseying around accross the way there at Elk Meadow in Redwood National Park. It is very peaceful out here today also as all the cabins are empty today. Late winter is usually a great time of year for us up here on the California Coast. The wet weather usually gives us a break this time of year and the sun then begins to show her face a little more. The days get longer and with that it brings the signs of spring. Birds are starting to make their way back up here to Orick too. We are beginning to hear them singing their songs through out the day. Teamredwood is going to have to start packing their binoculars around so we can give a full and accurate report of what’s beginning to show back up here around Redwood National Park. So it’s off to find my binoculars to report back another day.
Teamredwood out for the day,
Happy Trails
Redwood Adventures Goes to New York
February 28, 2008
Teamredwood here has some exciting news coming out of the Redwood National Park area. In late 2007 Redwood Adventures launched it’s Entertainment division with the creation of the Redwood Adventures TV show. Redwood Adventures TV is a half hour show dedicated to bringing it’s viewers news, activites and information from within Redwood National Park. Our first episodes have been viewed on our local cable CBS channel 6. Getting great feedback from the first viewings Redwood Adventures entered the show into the New York International Independant Film and Video Festival. Since being entered, our show, Redwood Adventues TV has come up for nomination under Best TV Pilot category; the screening is scheduled to be held March 6, 2008 in the ImaginAsial Theater.
Redwood Adventures TV series is being produced and directed by Emmy award winning Dave Losko. In the pilot episodes, hosts John “Johnny Redwood” Russavage, Haley Becksted and Kristina Combs take their viewiers on a fun and informative tour thru parts of Redwood National Park.
It’s Teamredwood out for the day; hope you’ll catch up with us again,
Happy Trails
Just another day in the Redwood Paradise
February 27, 2008
Today happened to be another one of our wonderful winter days. With the sun peeking out from behind the clouds our temperatures soared into the hig 50’s! Out at the Elk Meadow Vacation Village today, the Roosevelt Elk were wandering to and from, here and there, finally settling in this evening over at our saw mill site.
This time of year, getting a sunny day is always pleasant. The crisp, cool, clean air is refreshing and taking a deep breath can be empowering. The traffic flows tend to be much lower here in the winter time which means that this could arguably be the best time of year to visit the redwood forest here in Redwood National Park. The Elk Meadow Cabins out at the Redwood Adventures Village are
Winter in the Redwoods
February 23, 2008
Winter in the Redwoods; winter up here in the redwood forest, to be frank, is quite wet, and today was no exception. We started our day out here with the water spout turned on full steam. Yet, by early afternoon, the sun was out and showing some of the pretties blue sky a person will ever see.
Rain is one of the many elements that keep our redwood forests looking the way they do; which by the way, happens to be, green! Up here in Orick, California the average yearly rainfall can average anywhere between 75 to 100 inches of rain. Our beautiful old growth redwoods love that precipitation and literally soak it up!
So, now that you know what the weathers like, today, it’s team redwood out for the day.
Be sure to check back later, as I’ll be keeping you up to date.
Redwood Adventures Entertainment Broadcasts First Episode of “Redwood Adventures TV”
January 11, 2008
“Redwood Adventures TV” gives viewers an inside view of California’s Redwood National and State Parks and its unique habitat and wildlife.
ORICK, Calif. – Jan. 11, 2008 – Redwood Adventures Entertainment, a division of Redwood Parks Lodge Company, is bringing the beauty of the California Redwood National and State Parks into Northern California and Oregon homes with its new television series, “Redwood Adventures TV” on CBS KVIQ, Channel 6 and Access Humboldt, Channel 12.
Redwood Adventures TV is a 30-minute weekly “edutainment” series highlighting the history, habitat and activities in and around the California Redwood National and State Parks. The series is directed and produced by Emmy awarding winner Dave Losko and features hosts Johnny “Redwood” Russavage, Haley Becksted and Kristina Combs.About Redwood Parks Lodge Company
Based in Orick, California and formed in 2002, Redwood Parks Lodge Company, Inc. is poised to become the leading lodging, hospitality and entertainment company serving outdoor lovers, vacationers, adventurers and travelers visiting the California Redwood National and State Parks. The company owns approximately 68 acres of land on three parcels adjacent to or near the Redwood Parks system and bordered by Highway 101 in Orick.
The company’s first phase development is completed, and it has totally refurbished six existing sawmill employee houses into luxurious, 1,200-square foot vacation cabins at Redwood Adventures Village, with each cabin featuring three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a full kitchen, a living room, an attached garage and more. Additionally, the company has secured permission to conduct guided tours, hikes and excursions throughout Redwood Parks and Humboldt County, as well as hold special events/festival services within the parks system.
In the future, Redwood Parks Lodge Company plans to develop a luxury lodge, resort hotels/meeting centers, restaurants, stores and recreational facilities on its three properties adjacent to/surrounded by Redwood National and State Parks. For more information, please visit www.redwoodparkslodge.com or www.redwoodadventures.com, or call 866-733-9637.
Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, 801-523-3730(work), 801-597-7515(cell), csmith@soarcomm.com or
David Politis, SOAR Communications, 801-523-3730(work), 801-556-8184(cell), poppa.p@soarcomm.com
