...GPS failure?

We departed Friday night after work for a 2 hour trip that turned into a  4 hour trip. Damn GPS.  No matter how many times we put Jedidiah Smith State Park into mapquest we got the same directions, right until we lost signal and were winging it on our own. We drove through the dark rain and LOTS of "slow to 30mph" or ARROW< ARROW<ARROW signs around bends.  We even remarked that the arrows in California are quite large.  It would not be until departing Sunday in the daylight we actually saw what dangerous curves we were traversing.

 When we did reach a sign that said "Jedidiah Smith State Park," it was 9:30 pm so we were worrying it would be beyond check in time at the Ranger Kiosk for cabins. A sign just inside the open gate warned RVs and Campers were not advised on the park road. We followed signage, pretty scant at that the 6.3 miles to Stout Grove. It turned out to be indescribably magical.  The rain had stopped and we caught glimpses of the full moon in between gaps in the forest canopy. The road narrowed to about 3 inches on either side of the car with switchbacks in between colossal pillars of tree trunks, some the size of a truck at the base. When there were no cabins at Stout Grove, and still no cell service, it got less enchanting.  We took a camp road on the other side of the grove until it started to look like we were back in a neighborhood and then we knew we were lost again. 

        At 10:00 we were grumpy enough to say screw it, let's go to Crescent City and get a hotel. On the way, we passed a tinier town Hiouchi and stopped at their hotel which had VACANCY lit up in neon.  The owner Dave was a chatty friendly guy and told us we were literally 3/4 mile away from the cabins.  He gave us a map and directions and we arrived at the park with a big sign, a ranger kiosk and a welcoming envelope with our name printed on it. We realized, we had driven right by it about 1.5 hours ago.  How did we miss it? The cabin looked brand new--not a spider web or dust bunny anywhere. It even had an electric fire place, although it really wasn't meant to put out much heat, but the ambiance was inspiring.  Another little surprise: six clean bunks, but not a mattress in sight.  (The directions had said to bring sleeping bags and a mattress pad if you wanted.  I had assured Judd that must mean they had mattresses and if we didn't want to sleep on their plastic liners, we could bring a pad.)  So, after cocktails in front of the roaring fire, we slept on the sleeping bags as our cushion with another sleeping bag on top.  We were warm but not comfortable, but ready for adventure.