[Mgs] West coast road trip time and places to stay

[Aaron Whiteman]

On Jun 28, 2007, at 10:55 PM, Rod Williams wrote:

> Man, Aaron, you've got a real Road Warier trip planned, my friend!

That's part of the plan.  Make the journey part of the destination.

>> First, is two days reasonable to get from Portland to the Bay area
>> along the Coast Highway?
> Umm... not really. The drive is insanely great but *very* twisty  
> and you'll
> want to/have to stop to take in the view, eat, get your heart to  
> slow down
> after almost being run off the road by a huge lumber truck again,  
> etc. It's
> really more like two and a half to two and three quarters days  
> minimum. And
> that's not being pokey either.

That's good to know, I can extend the trip to 4 days down (including  
the day to Portland).

> You didn't say; what will you be driving? I assume the Subaru.

Nope.  US 101 and CA-1 are MG roads, and the MG needs to play.

> You *could* just slam it through in two very long, tiring
> days, but why bother?? Two long days will just about get you from  
> Petaluma
> to Portland via 5 and 101 whistling along at 75 mph.

If that was my only choice, I'd just fly :)  I'd get there in 5  
hours, and enjoy the compliments of Horizon air doing it.

> The tent thing will be fun, wet, and affordable, but it will also  
> determine
> your stops 'cause there's not a lot of organized civilization for a  
> big
> chunk of your route. One great stop is the Redwood National Forrest  
> south of
> Crescent City. Super cool.

It sounds like it's just a matter of knowing where I am and doing  
some research to know where I can throw up a tent.  I'm actually less  
worried about finding places to stay going south than the return  
trip.  I grew up in a 2 season town ("July and 'wet'"), so a little  
moisture won't bother me.

> Petaluma's a great place. You'll enjoy your time here.

Yeah, I've enjoyed the previous trips too.  Normally, I head down in  
the fall to catch the cougs playing Cal or Stanford, but this year  
the game is during a bad time, so I'm going to enjoy the summer.


-- 
Aaron Whiteman -- http://www.panix.com/~awhitema/
  '75 MGB (red for now), HIF4 carbs
  '06 Subaru Impreza Outback