San Fran to Seattle- Coastal

[Deleted]

Anyone ever do this? Thoughts?

[NastyWoman]

I assume you are talking about the train? DS2 was going to this a year or two ago with a friend, but they decided that it was too expensive, so they flew, rented a car, and still saved money

[Deleted]

I actually was talking driving the coastal route. I didn't even know there was a train Sorry...

[MarleyKeezy78]

We did this when I graduated high school (lived in California at the time). There are some fantastic stops! There is a place called Whales Head that you can rent little cabins and hike under the highway through a tunnel to the ocean, Cannon beach is really cool and Seattle was awesome! The market there is amazing! We also did a trip back in 2007 and started from where my dad lives and made our way from Santa Barbara to Monterrey. We saw Pizmo Beach, Hearst Castle, the Redwoods, Pebble Beach, and a few other cool places, the coast there is so cool! Oh and on the highschool trip we also when whale watching, saw light houses and toured a cave and stayed in a bed and breakfast in Napa Valley [img src="http://images.proboards.com/new/smiley.png" src=" src="http://images.proboards.com/new/grin.png"> Whatever you end up doing on this trip, you will have a great time!

ETA: San Francisco is way cool! We went to China town and rode the trolly cars! We even went to Gherideli Square 

[cael]

Can't speak to much of coastal CA, but Oregon is great. When I was 13 we took the train across the country to visit my family in Portland. It was AMAZING. We took a northern route from Boston-Portland, then road tripped around the PNW and northern CA with my aunt & uncle. We saw the redwoods, went to Bandon beach in Oregon, went to the High Desert Museum (also OR), stayed in a beautiful place in CA called Crescent City, saw Mount St Helens and maybe Ranier (don't remember), saw some lava field somewhere, it was sooo good. Tons of good stuff to see - we didn't go further south than the redwoods in CA, but that was amazing and so was Oregon. Road tripping is just so good.

On the way home we took a bus to Sacramento, then a train to LA, then a train through AZ/NM and up to St Louis, then back to Boston from STL. I want to do it again someday. Highly recommend the train!

[ArchietheDragon]

My wife soooo wants to do this.

[Deleted]

Thinking my mom, my sister, the kids and I...

[Abby Normal]

It's a beautiful drive, but you need a lot of time.  Hwy 101 travels much slower than you expect it to.  It's a very curvy road, and goes through a lot of towns. 

[shelby]

I have done the train trip from Seattle to San Fran years ago right after high school. It was beautiful and it does go closer to the coast for the whole trip than 101. It takes a lot longer than driving like a day and a half compared to as little as 14 hours on I-5. The California and Oregon coast are great but the Washington coast is kind of uggo. Best to cut over to Olympia and drive I-5 the rest of the way to Seattle.

[billisonboard]

Sept 7, 2015 22:15:22 GMT -5 oped said:

Anyone ever do this? Thoughts?

My trip was south of there. Fun memory.

I was leaving a job with a bunch of money for unused vacation time. Told (now ex-)wife I was using part of it for a vacation for us. Told her it was "x" number of days but that was all I would say. She did push on what to pack and I did say warmer weather. Made arrangements for her ex to meet us to take the kids off our hands. She was surprised when I turned towards the airport. Got her on a plane to LA. I did relent and tell her the rest of the plan on the plane, that we were picking up a rental car in LA and driving up the coast to SF. I had reservations along the whole route, everything set up. She told me that the vacation proved how compatible we were. It was like, "Yeah, because the whole trip was designed to meet your desires. I would have had us backpacking in a wilderness area."

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Haven't done this one, but wanted to say that I am a HUGE fan of family road trips.

Some of my kids' fondest and most humorous memories are from our many road trips.

DO EEEETTTT!!!!

[wyouser]

Dumb question, but can you do that by ship? I know cruises go north from Seattle up into Alaska, and they go south from LA along the coast of Mexico.i

[Baby Fawkes]

I've done it the other way. When we moved from Seattle to San Jose we drove down the coast. We actually took 4 days to do it and it was great. Got to stop in at a whole bunch of places along the way.

[mmhmm]

We did that trip several times; although, it was quite a few years ago. It's a really beautiful drive and one we always enjoyed. As has been said, just give yourself plenty of time.

[lurkyloo]

Sept 8, 2015 11:59:44 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

It's a beautiful drive, but you need a lot of time.  Hwy 101 travels much slower than you expect it to.  It's a very curvy road, and goes through a lot of towns. 

  I looked at the mileage and compared it to the google maps estimate of driving time and thought "no way".  Way.     South of SF and possibly some to the north the road is both awe-inspiring and feels pretty dangerous; it's cut right into the side of the cliff.  Check road conditions before you go, sometimes there are long-term blockages.

Also, book your hotels in advance.  The towns along 101 north of SF are tiny and the hotels fill quickly especially during summer or long weekends.

[Bonny]

Sept 10, 2015 20:25:13 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

We did that trip several times; although, it was quite a few years ago. It's a really beautiful drive and one we always enjoyed. As has been said, just give yourself plenty of time.

Agree. I'd probably give myself a week.

You are going to want to spend a least a day in each city; two days or a weekend would be better if you've never been. Hotels in both cities are going to be expensive. I can't speak to Seattle but if you want to PM me I can make some recommendations for hotels south of SF and you can take BART into the City.

Last spring we drove up the Coast and stayed at a sweet B&B near Trinity CA and near Redwood National Park which is close to the border of OR. On another trip we drove the OR Coast. Driving from SF to the OR coast is a full day's trip; ditto driving the OR coast. And you are going to want to explore once you stop. As folks have said driving 101 is slow and curvy. But boy o boy it's BEAUTIFUL and well worth it.

When are you thinking of going? September would be my choice but I think you have kids with a school schedule.

[Deleted]

We homeschool. I was thinking November actually? But not sure yet. Winter isn't bad that part of the world is it? 

Im guessing I'll suck it up and stay with my sister in Seattle this time, so I can spend $ elsewhere on the trip

[NastyWoman]

Winter isn't. Bad, but if that monster el Nino is going to manifest ( please      ) you may run into some really wet weather with landslides and the like...

[shelby]

Sept 11, 2015 10:15:50 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Winter isn't. Bad, but if that monster el Nino is going to manifest ( please      ) you may run into some really wet weather with landslides and the like...

Especially on the coast and through Oregon it may be foggy blocking the views.

[saveinla]

Sept 11, 2015 10:31:18 GMT -5 shelby said:

Sept 11, 2015 10:15:50 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Winter isn't. Bad, but if that monster el Nino is going to manifest ( please      ) you may run into some really wet weather with landslides and the like...

Especially on the coast and through Oregon it may be foggy blocking the views.

Seattle and San Fran may also be foggy at that time. Late September/ Early October would be great if the weather is good.

[Deleted]

I doubt I can make it by then . When in spring gets better then? 

[Bonny]

Sept 11, 2015 10:33:04 GMT -5 saveinla said:

Sept 11, 2015 10:31:18 GMT -5 shelby said:

Especially on the coast and through Oregon it may be foggy blocking the views.

Seattle and San Fran may also be foggy at that time. Late September/ Early October would be great if the weather is good.

We won't have serious fog again until May. The CA Coast is notorious for it's May-Gray and June-Gloom.

Normally I'd say the first week of January is a surprisingly good (sunny and warm) time but not this year with El Nino predicted to replicate the winter of 97-98. As someone else said there will be a lot of road wash outs which could take months to repair.

October 15th is normally the beginning of our rainy season which typically ends the end of April. Then we're dry until the next October. The first El Nino storms are supposed to hit the week before Halloween.

I'd go in April if you can't make early September. There may be some road washouts so check. The Marin coastline (Hwy 1) is especially problematic. But if that happens go inland to 101 and go winetasting in Healdsburg Square instead.

[cronewitch]

I am in Seattle so have driven up and down the coast a few times. The last time was 1993 we drove to Fresno then took a Semi Truck to Colorado with two other trucks by way of AZ since we had oversized loads with haz mat. Then back to Yuma then dead head back to Fresno. So we took a slow drive up the coast, bought some wine and took some back roads around Rouge River, one of my favorite places. ISO was a trucker delivering cooling equipment so usually worked 4-5 months spring and fall but this was just a single run so I went with him. One of the other truckers was married to his ex step sister so we both knew him, he stayed with us when he was in the city.

[Deleted]

DD just did this trip. The beaches in OR are fantastic, but you want to be doing that in August. She hopped down from beaches to NorCal Wine country really fast, so I think there was not much of interest to her in between.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Let me know when you're going. You'll drive right past me. You can use our bathroom.

I've done all of it except for the Washington part. 
It is beautiful on a clear day. The two years, we've had significantly more sunshine. We're actually in a drought, even though we're on the coast. It's usually clear by late morning. It's cloudy right now, and the weather.com app says it'll be 70*F and sunny by this afternoon. 

November can be colder, but it's not rainy like the spring time. If you want to actually have some full-ish day stops worked into the trip, let me know and I can tell you our favorite spots.