yeh it was really a nice time, started from home to mall of america (for the mrs) then to mt rushmore, then i have a friend in washington, spent some time there Seattle, mt rainier, mt st helens, then redwoods, then yellowstone for a few days, through grand tenton, stopped by american pickers, once back in made a stop at some sand dunes on the west side of state and a brewery then home not a bad way to spend 8 days and 6500 miles.
I used to live right next to the Big Basin redwood park for over 20 years... loved the big trees. However, if you want even bigger ones, head for the Douglas Fir groves up in the Pacific Northwest and get away from that atrocious traffic and insane taxes.
I can live with the shorter trees here in Colorado and every now and then it gets cold enough I realize why I rarely visit my home state of Montana. Plus we got wolves, bear [possibly an oversupply near Boulder], three kinds of deer, foxes all over the place, raccoons, possums, three kinds of rabbits, coyotes, and enough elk to supply every other state in the union. Unfortunately the secret is out, and the traffic is starting to resemble California more and more each day. But, we do have trails and refuges and mud puddles for Jeeps.
I'm planning on taking my Jeep from South Florida to Cali (Los Angeles to be exact) in December. What bike rack do you have on there? I want to take my bikes as well. I can't pass up riding the mountains!!