Driving from Dallas to San Fran, to Seattle, to... (place, cons, moving)

[Pfhtex]

I am FINALLY going. Leaving Dallas for an Interviewing Vacation. I have interviews in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

As far as the trek itself, I plan to take in a few baseball games, but would appreciate feedback about potentially great experiences along the way. I'm not taking the Southern route to San Diego - - probably going through Salt Lake City if I go bottom-up. BUT I can also drive to Wyoming, hang a left, and after Seattle, drive down the 1 to San Francisco.

Between you and me, in the past couple years I have literally lost everything and this tour of the West will hopefully end with a great job in what will be a great city. This fantastic board has prepped me as much as can be expected for the cities in question. I just need to feel like I'm living.

BTW, if it matters: single white straight male, 41.

[khyn]

if i were you, i would do the route to san diego, because if you have an interview in those 3 cities and you are moving west, you might want to see what the whole west has to offer. i just drove from denver to seattle [thru wyoming] and wyoming is pretty boring. if you like to see dead cows and prairie dogs mutilated by semi trucks on the freeway wyoming is the place for you to drive thru!

buttt for being in seattle, i would check out pike place market, if your bringing a friend with you, check out the wine trains that take you from vinyard to vinyard, take a ferry to an island, see a mariners game, just walk around the water front and go into all the cool shops, maybe go see mt. rainier or snoqualmie falls, or just find somewhere to park and walk the city for the whole day.

for being in portland, i'd say to go check out the riverfront park, or one of the malls, and thats about all they have to offer.

for san francisco, definately go check out the fishermans wharf, take the street car, check out lombard street, go to the palace of fine arts, go to goldengate park, go see chinatown, and theres alot more to do.

[grapico]

well if you take 40...that goes right by the grand canyon... is this the way you are going... I am considering taking that route soon as well.

[eskercurve]

Um, wrong forum?

Last year around this time I took a drive from Seattle down the 101 to San Fran, then took 5 to LA, then hooked left to Phoenix. It took 5 days of driving, with 1 day off.

The natural scenery is just absolutely mind bending! There are some really nice small towns along the way - and some not so nice ones. You're going at the right time of year too ... I went in April and it was still snowing in the mountain passes.

If I were you, I would go north through to Montana (yes that means surviving the boredom of Wyoming, but it's do-able), then go West to Seattle. Spend a day or two in Seattle, visit Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, the Int'l District, and Capitol Hill. Job-wise, Everett, Bellevue, Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia are where you'd want to look.

Going south, once you get to Olympia go west and you will get the 101. I recommend going North and spending a day going to the Hoh Rainforest (part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Then go south along the 101 along the coast all the way down to San Fran. In Oregon, you can hook into Portland from the 101 pretty easily, then go back. If you want to venture further east, visit Stevenson, WA, on the border. Can't argue against visiting the home of the National Association of Wind and Kite Surfers LOL.

After Portland it's pretty boring. Norther California has the redwood forests, and try the 101-bypass (basically the byway to the byway). After that it's a skip and a hop to San Fran.

Good luck!