Summer Road trip (Portland, Redwood, Brookings: motel, campgrounds, to live)

[mikemorrow]

The key word is (Outside) of Reedspit.
I live in Reedsport. I wish it wasnt so depressed. And I remember the first time I road tripped though the state. The Elk Veiwing area was impressive. But that was late in the year. I dont know how it is in the summer

[collint]

wow thank you all for the advice it's really helping

[Steve97415]

I've lived in Iowa and will caution you first that Midwest road trip culture will be problematic if you attempt to apply it here. There, people can look at an atlas and make broad plans and schedules just by eyeballing the map with no real regard to local topography or traffic capacity. TerryJ, for example, suggests taking 299 from Redding to Eureka. That might look reasonable on a flat map, BUT...I've driven that backroad and it takes forever. Okay, not forever but it will eat up half a day all by itself. Once you get behind a big RV -- and you will -- you're stuck going around all those mountain curves at 15 mph until you get to the next passing lane (which might be 20 miles away). Hwy. 101(the PCH) has similar poor capacity issues. Some sections close to the cities are 4-lane, but north of Santa Rosa, a lot of it is low-capacity 2-lane highway clogged with other tourists and slows to a crawl as it slogs through the main street of towns and cities. Many highways on the West Coast have a volume-to-capacity ratio that is exceeded by a factor of more than 2 to 1 during summer. Plan on an average speed of 40 mph on the PCH.

Realize that the vast Coast Range separates California's Central Valley from the PCH and there are limited opportunities to get across it. The fastest way would be to drive down to the Bay Area and go across at San Rafael. Personally, I like taking the Hwy. 20 corridor up through Clear Lake. The next good opportunity is to take I-5 up to Grants Pass, OR and take the Redwood Hwy. (U.S. 199) through the beautiful Smith River canyon down to North Bank Rd. which joins the PCH just north of Crescent City, CA and drive north on 101 from there. That will look like quite a bit of backtracking on a map, but it will be faster than trying to thread your way through the Shasta/Trinity alps on one of those windy backroads through Humboldt County (don't be fooled into thinking that a road will be a significant highway just because it's labeled as a U.S. highway). You'll also get your fill of redwoods that way. Realize, too, that summer is the only season there is for doing road work on these roads and you might have 20 minute waits at construction zones or be stuck driving 10 mph behind a road striper for many many miles.

Let me say one more thing about Midwest road trip culture. I grew up doing it, but the whole thing is poorly adapted to this part of the country. In the Midwest it works because the terrain is rather flat and boring and you go through interminable acreage of corn and soybean fields before the view changes much. So you cram a cooler full of pop, get some bags of chips and some tunes in your CD player and you hammer along. Since the terrain is fairly flat, you see landmarks from a long ways off and get your fill of them by the time by the time you've actually passed them. At the end of the day, you measure the success of the road trip by how many miles you "covered" and flatter yourself by "what good time you made." That simply doesn't work here. The topography is very mountainous, interesting things are very close together and the best of what the West Coast has to offer can only be experienced on foot. Covering a lot of miles by car is a profoundly dissatisfying way of experiencing the region and your lasting impression will only be one of missed opportunities. The amount of fun you will have on such a trip will be proportional to the amount of time spent off the highway. If you spend more than 6 hrs. a day on the road, you'll go home feeling like a chump for foolishly choosing a travel strategy that is ill-adapted to the area you're visiting. It would be more fun and a heckuva lot cheaper to just flip through photos of the West Coast on Flickr.

[seashelly]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

..... It would be more fun and a heckuva lot cheaper to just flip through photos of the West Coast on Flickr.

LOL @ "Flickr"?!? Yeah but where's the adventure in that? LOL.

[Nell Plotts]

I wish someone would revive and update "Oregon for the Curious" by Ralph Friedman.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by seashelly

LOL @ "Flickr"?!? Yeah but where's the adventure in that? LOL.

It has no more or less adventure that watching the landscape whiz by your windows while you're trapped in a motor vehicle. Both are vicarious substitutes for authentic travel. Flipping through on-line pics offers an equivalent quality of experience for a lot less money.

[mikemorrow]

Steve is so right about 199 Redding/Eureka. I did that going back to Iowa. And It is a hairy drive if your not used to it. I couldnt enjoy it at all becouse my eyes were glued to the road.
Trust us Iowans that live out here. Talk to people when you get out here. There are very cool spots that wont cost you a dime.
Last summer I took a few road trips, went to Kentucky Falls. Just a few miles (I think 10) off of Smith River Rd. It took me over 1/2 hour to get there. In Iowa the roads are a grid, north, south, east, west straight and flat. Out here they go round and round.
Let me put this another way. I live 2 miles from the coast (beach) as the crow flies. It takes me 20 mins in a car.

[Peanutt]

Originally Posted by seashelly

Wait, there is something to see just outside Reedsport on Highway 38 -- the Elk Viewing Area.

Ok, I realize this is a bit off-topic, but there's also really good pizza IN Reedsport...if you're into pizza. Bedrocks on the main drag...you can't miss it. (Or you shouldn't anyway...heh.)

[collint]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

I've lived in Iowa and will caution you first that Midwest road trip culture will be problematic if you attempt to apply it here. There, people can look at an atlas and make broad plans and schedules just by eyeballing the map with no real regard to local topography or traffic capacity. TerryJ, for example, suggests taking 299 from Redding to Eureka. That might look reasonable on a flat map, BUT...I've driven that backroad and it takes forever. Okay, not forever but it will eat up half a day all by itself. Once you get behind a big RV -- and you will -- you're stuck going around all those mountain curves at 15 mph until you get to the next passing lane (which might be 20 miles away). Hwy. 101(the PCH) has similar poor capacity issues. Some sections close to the cities are 4-lane, but north of Santa Rosa, a lot of it is low-capacity 2-lane highway clogged with other tourists and slows to a crawl as it slogs through the main street of towns and cities. Many highways on the West Coast have a volume-to-capacity ratio that is exceeded by a factor of more than 2 to 1 during summer. Plan on an average speed of 40 mph on the PCH.

Realize that the vast Coast Range separates California's Central Valley from the PCH and there are limited opportunities to get across it. The fastest way would be to drive down to the Bay Area and go across at San Rafael. Personally, I like taking the Hwy. 20 corridor up through Clear Lake. The next good opportunity is to take I-5 up to Grants Pass, OR and take the Redwood Hwy. (U.S. 199) through the beautiful Smith River canyon down to North Bank Rd. which joins the PCH just north of Crescent City, CA and drive north on 101 from there. That will look like quite a bit of backtracking on a map, but it will be faster than trying to thread your way through the Shasta/Trinity alps on one of those windy backroads through Humboldt County (don't be fooled into thinking that a road will be a significant highway just because it's labeled as a U.S. highway). You'll also get your fill of redwoods that way. Realize, too, that summer is the only season there is for doing road work on these roads and you might have 20 minute waits at construction zones or be stuck driving 10 mph behind a road striper for many many miles.

Let me say one more thing about Midwest road trip culture. I grew up doing it, but the whole thing is poorly adapted to this part of the country. In the Midwest it works because the terrain is rather flat and boring and you go through interminable acreage of corn and soybean fields before the view changes much. So you cram a cooler full of pop, get some bags of chips and some tunes in your CD player and you hammer along. Since the terrain is fairly flat, you see landmarks from a long ways off and get your fill of them by the time by the time you've actually passed them. At the end of the day, you measure the success of the road trip by how many miles you "covered" and flatter yourself by "what good time you made." That simply doesn't work here. The topography is very mountainous, interesting things are very close together and the best of what the West Coast has to offer can only be experienced on foot. Covering a lot of miles by car is a profoundly dissatisfying way of experiencing the region and your lasting impression will only be one of missed opportunities. The amount of fun you will have on such a trip will be proportional to the amount of time spent off the highway. If you spend more than 6 hrs. a day on the road, you'll go home feeling like a chump for foolishly choosing a travel strategy that is ill-adapted to the area you're visiting. It would be more fun and a heckuva lot cheaper to just flip through photos of the West Coast on Flickr.

I totally understand where your coming from. I actually orginally grew up in indiana, which isn't as flat as people think. I do know a little bit bout how the california roadway system is like. Most of my mothers side of the family lives out there and i've been out there to many times to count. So i know all about the winding roads and it taking 20min to get to a place that is only 5 miles away, course with trains here in the midwest that isn't to uncommon.
The main reason i'm wanting to do this is because i'm wanting to move out to the northwest at some point once i'm done with school out here. I would love to get a look at the scenery and the things to see out here, but i also want to get a feel for the city's and the people too. Being a midwestern i'm big on living in a town thats fairly friendly and has people that are willing to help out a stranger instead of just walking away when the see one in need.
I know i wont be able to see all the things i wanna see in a weeks time but i hope i can see enough to get a general feel for things and help with my desicion in my move.

[Steve97415]

Since you have limited time and you're starting in Sacramento, I'd just go up I-5 to Portland and forget about going over the coast range to drive the PCH. You won't be considering moving to the coast if you're not retired anyway (no jobs there). Portland will give you the best feel for the area and there are loads of side trips from there. You can head down to Bend or you can shoot over to the coast. Spend some time around Ashland and Eugene on your way up. You'll make pretty good time on I-5. It's not as scenic as the PCH, but it gets you from one place to another quickly.