Road Trip

[mnoble485]

You guys were better than AAA with the suggestions you had before the wife and I went to Maine. This year we are thinking of a road trip lasting 7 days driving the west coast. Very open on starting point and ending. My thoughts are fly in, rent a car, drive, eat, ooh and ahh over great scenery and find a place for my weary head. Rinse and repeat. How far north can I start and how far south can I get?

Anyone done this?

Mike

[Dave Thompson]

For me a trip down Hwy 101. Fly into Seattle and stop before you get to Los Angeles (terrible traffic any where near) would be a pleasant way to see a spectacularly beautiful part of the U.S. Small coastal towns, local eats, scenery burned into your brain. Been there, done it, would do it again just because I could. To me the second best thing to driving Italy.

[tedbarbeau]

Route 1 down the coast of California would be a great trip. That said, unfortunately this wet winter resulted in a landslide near Big Sur that took out a section of the road.

An unorthodox suggestion would be to check out the National Parks in Southern Utah (aka The Mighty 5). Breathtaking landscape--at times you feel like you're on Mars. My wife and I drove across the country twice in the span of 12 months and still talk about those parks on a weekly basis. If you mountain bike it'll also give you an opportunity to check out Moab :-)

[spopepro]

A combo of 1 + 101 along the coast would be the winner for me. I know that for many 1 between Big Sur and Morro Bay is a big hit but I actually don't like driving it. The scenery would be breathtaking if there was anywhere to stop or if it straightened out enough to look. To me it's just been stressful (and often foggy) whenever I have driven that leg. I'd go down as far as Julia Pfeiffer/Big Sur SP and then turn around, and go on 101, but I'm sure others will disagree with me. I think the central coast between Morro Bay and Santa Barbara is often underrated as a place to road trip along. I have a few favorites that I'd be happy to share if that's the direction you're going. Depending on washouts, I'd also say that 35 is better than 1 or 101 along the bay area peninsula, using 9 to drop into Santa Cruz if it's also not washed out/trees down.

If you want a different kind of adventure, you could start in Portland, go up the gorge, down 395 past active volcanoes, high plateau, ghost towns, hot springs, the steep side of the sierras, the highest point in the lower 48, turn left to the lowest point in the US and end up in Vegas (or go the other way). This would be seasonally dependent, as you would either be snowed out or roasted alive for many months of the year. I've been to some of these places, but not all, and many are not often visited. Damn, I'd love to do this trip now that I think about it...

[zetroc]

If you do decide to drive 1 up or down the California coast, remember that at some point you'll have to turn inland to 101 due to the aforementioned bridge being out near Big Sur (which is too bad, because that's one of my favorite stretches of coastline.) Cambria and San Simeon are neat (Hearst Castle, etc.) but out of the way since you won't be able to stay on 1.

I would suggest taking 101 from Santa Barbara to Solvang to Pismo Beach to San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles, then a sprint up 101 to Salinas before detouring over to Monterey, then back on 1 north to Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, SF, Marin, and points beyond.

edit: 35 is nice but it also got washed out very badly at one point in Santa Clara. Highway 9 is fun too.

[mjbabcock]

Shoot, I'd fly to Juneau, hop on the Alaska State Ferry (get a room or bring a good quality tent and camp on the deck), and ride it south to Bellingham. Pick up a car there and drive To Astoria, Tillamook, Cannon Beach, then over to Portland to fly out.

[mnoble485]

Route 1 down the coast of California would be a great trip. That said, unfortunately this wet winter resulted in a landslide near Big Sur that took out a section of the road.

An unorthodox suggestion would be to check out the National Parks in Southern Utah (aka The Mighty 5). Breathtaking landscape--at times you feel like you're on Mars. My wife and I drove across the country twice in the span of 12 months and still talk about those parks on a weekly basis. If you mountain bike it'll also give you an opportunity to check out Moab :-)

This is option number 2. My wife, unfortunately, is not the outdoor enthusiast that I am.

Jason, I'll need to research your suggestion, it sounds great.

Thanks for the ideas, please keep them coming.

Mike

[jlyon]

My advice is don't do too much driving! Pick one region and do it well. All of the above are very good suggestions but some are too much time on the road for my tastes. California is a huge State and there are far too many cool things to see.

I love Utah as well and found Las Vegas as a good starting and ending point to access Utah. A half day guided ATV tour in Utah is always fun.

[j44ke]

The Olympic Peninsula is tremendous. We were there for a week and barely scraped the surface on the experience side of things. There is a really cool hotel with restaurant that is run by the state parks system I think.

Yep, Kalaloch Lodge. I could live there I think. Walking the beach never got old, even in the rain. And we ate a lot of seafood. Oh man - hungry already. Olympic National Park Lodging | Kalaloch Lodge

And while on a book tour, I stayed in Bellingham WA - what a great town! Everyone seemed super droogly, and I went to 2 very nice restaurants. I think I stayed in Fairhaven at the Village Inn. Right near the water.

My plan eventually is not to drive the coast, but to ferry hop around the San Juans and Victoria Island. I know someone who booked a couple days here and there on different islands at inns and rental houses, then just rode the ferry around and got off when he reached each spot. I remember that he did it without a car(?), but I don't know the specifics. Anyway it sounded grand.

And Vancouver is beautiful. Does rain a bit depending on the seasons.

So perhaps what I am saying is Olympics north to Vancouver? And maybe by boat? With seafood.

[spopepro]

Yeah, if the lady isn't an outdoors enthusiast, then my 395 suggestion is right out. Probably 101 along the Oregon coast and nor cal isn't going to be too exciting either.

Jorn's suggestion is better. Start in Seattle, and head up the sound side of the Olympic peninsula. The ocean side is only interesting if you're wanting to hike through temperate rain forest, hike up to hot springs, hike out to features along the sea. But not much civilization out there aside from forestry operations. Take the ferry from port angeles to Victoria and then drive out to sooke for my favorite B&B and maybe my favorite restaurant in the world. There's a really awesome small meadery near by that makes both sweet and dry meads and all are really good and unique. There's also all the usual awesome stuff to do around Victoria. Then you can take the ferry to orcas and/or San Juan island and those are also awesome places (and it's good to have a car on orcas to visit all the little villages). When done the ferry returns to port anacortes and drive back down to Seattle.

[mjbabcock]

This is option number 2. My wife, unfortunately, is not the outdoor enthusiast that I am.

Jason, I'll need to research your suggestion, it sounds great.

Thanks for the ideas, please keep them coming.

Mike

There is something fantastic about being on the water without the BS that I hear cruizes involve. There is no programming. Buy a cribbage board, bring a camera and binocs and a book. Maybe try to paint. You could even pack a box or teo of wine for the evenings. When there isn't much to do, a happy couple can find so much to do.