While bicycling down the West Coast, travelers enjoy majestic moments of Washington and Oregon's coastlines. They watch Gray Whales spouting great steam clouds when they surface. They see otters playing in the lagoons. They watch seals frolicking in the surf. Endless pelicans and other seabirds fly in formations across the waves. Beach combers walk the eternal sands. Life thrives along the shoreline of the Pacific.

Once you hit California, a whole new experience awaits: the Redwoods and the Sequoia trees. So what is so special to place your hand on a redwood? Well, you're touching a living being that has thrived since the time of the Roman Empire. It's been growing since Leif Erickson touched his sailing ship down on the shores of North America. That 350 foot tall tree, weighing 120 tons, and 25 feet across at the base has been growing long before Captain Cook sailed around the world or Robert Falcon Scott pitched his tent on the South Pole along with Roald Amundsen.

That same tree grew through the centuries of human conflict from Charles Martell to Genghis Kahn to the Spartans to Troy to Winston Churchill. In that time, it watched Caesar, Napoleon, Marco Polo, John Muir, Nellie Blye, Amelia Earhardt, Jane Goodall, Susan B. Anthony, ML King, M. Ali, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, Robin Williams, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and hundreds more strut and fret their time across the stage.

But for that one sacred moment that you place your hand on that "eternal tree" that stands as an ambassador from another era, it signifies your 'time', your 'moment', your journey. Thank the ones who saved that tree from the lumberman's ax...and please do your part to make a difference to future generations as to caring for the Natural World during your time on this planet. Mother Nature and all the creatures on this planet thank you. Frosty Wooldridge, 6 continent world bicycle traveler, who lives and rides with great appreciation to all of those who cared. Summer, West Coast of America.