There are two ways to get to the Cathedral Redwood Grove near the crest of Bear Mountain in the Felton redwoods of Henry Cowell Redwood State Park: on foot or by train. When you’ve got kids, grandkids, with you, you take the train.

The train is a fun ride to the top, and the conductor makes the ride fun. Cathedral Grove lives up to its name. And once the crowd returns from its visit back on to the train, if you ask nicely, the conductor will hold the train while you set up a tripod and capture the image you envisioned.

We haven’t been here since before the millennium. And except for the ease of buying tickets (and even ordering box meals) on line well ahead of time, nothing has changed. And that’s a good thing.