Advice/Tips For November Road Trip To California

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by sa226

I'm going to piggy back on this to ask a question. I have some time at the end of August and I was thinking of doing a 3 day drive of the Pacific coast highway from SFO to LA. But my time off is over a weekend.

Is it utter insanity to do that drive over a summer weekend?

We did three days, SFO to LA, in November. Fairly quiet. It would be quite different in mid-summer on a weekend I suspect.

My advice would be to get on the road early in the morning. Its probably nicer anyway. Then take your time. As the traffic builds, go with the flow and do a lot of stopping. Get out of the car and walk around.

We stayed in Monterrey, Morro Bay and then Santa Monica.

It's a beautiful drive in lighter traffic.

Cowperson

[tvp2003]

I just flipped through the photos of our road trip a few years ago (similar route, although we didn't do the WA/OR coast and went all the way down to San Diego). Driving back through Utah was neat surprise -- it's like a desert (flat and hot) down around St. George, but a few hours later as you get closer to SLC we saw lots of mountains and snow (this was around the last week of October -- we also took a detour on I-70 so I'm not sure if it's the same if you take I-15 all the way up).

If you're going to Zion NP I'm assuming you'll be doing the North Rim? I heard it's a lot less busy than the South Rim.

[Northendzone]

That is an ok trip, but I'd rather head out to Bronson, Missouri myself.

Where you go, bring a bottle of gypsy tears

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I just flipped through the photos of our road trip a few years ago (similar route, although we didn't do the WA/OR coast and went all the way down to San Diego). Driving back through Utah was neat surprise -- it's like a desert (flat and hot) down around St. George, but a few hours later as you get closer to SLC we saw lots of mountains and snow (this was around the last week of October -- we also took a detour on I-70 so I'm not sure if it's the same if you take I-15 all the way up).

If you're going to Zion NP I'm assuming you'll be doing the North Rim? I heard it's a lot less busy than the South Rim.

It's closed in November (including the road to get there)

[CarlW]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Where you go, bring a bottle of gypsy tears

What the heck does this even mean?

[carom]

My wife and I did a similar trip from Calgary down to San Francisco a few years ago. Our trip went:

Calgary-Vancouver-Portland-Eugene-Coos Bay-Eurika-Napa-San Fran-Pacifica-San Jose-Klamath Falls-Fairmont Hot Springs-Calgary

Some highlights were:
Beer and breweries! Everywhere we stopped we went to a brewery or brewpub.
The trip was originally planned around going to a University of Oregon football game and watching the Flames play San Jose. I also wanted to spend as much time off the interstates and on the coast as possible on the way down.
Portland was very cool, voodoo doughnuts are great. Great place to explore on bicycles and some of my favourite breweries.
Coos Bay has some really cool sand dunes on the coast and we rented a side-by-side (wife didn't want her own quad) and ripped around the dunes for a few hours. Mid week in November we had the dunes all to ourselves.
Quite possible my favourite day of driving of all time was from Eurika to Napa because we did the Avenue of The Giants then California State Route 1 where we jumped over the mountains at Leggett and along the coast all the way down. Definatley much slower than the interstate, but fun driving and amazing scenery. North coast brewery in fort Bragg was a nice lunch stop.
San Fran was cool and we did a couple days surfing in Pacifica before going to the hockey game.
It was a couple big days back to Canada from San Jose with the first night stop in Klamath Falls. Crater lake the next morning (the road up was open, the road around the crater was not), a stop in Bend for lunch and powering across the boarder around 3 am. I just couldn't stand the thought of another night in a Hotel. I wish we had been able to spend a day or two in Bend, seemed like a really cool place.

This trip was the first 2.5 weeks in November 2010. We didn't have chains and didn't have a problem. Just pm me if you have any specific questions.

[socalwingfan]

You only need chains for the front wheels - I have made a few winter drives back and forth and that was all that I ever needed.

[icecube]

HELP WANTED PLEASE!

Not sure if piggybacking on this thread is a faux pas or if I should have started my own- but I thought I'd try here first, so as not to clutter the board...

I'm spending two weeks in Cali over Christmas (21st- Jan 4th). I want to basically get in the coolest stuff and get away from the cold. I need help with my itinerary. I hope you guys can chime in because I haven't been there for 20 years.

Thinking fly in to San Francisco and try to hit L.A. and San Diego. Palm Springs and Vegas are maybes but not necessary. I want sun and heat for most of the trip. Any advice is greatly appreciated. It will be myself, wife and one and half year old baby. Thanks!

[tvp2003]

^ Are you driving down? What are you interested in seeing/doing? (sports? attractions? activities?). Looking for food tips? If so, are we talking fine dining or local grub?

Do some searches -- I believe SF, LA, and SD have all been discussed in previous threads.

P.S. With a 1.5 year old, I'd pass on Vegas (unless there is something specific you want to do -- and can do). Ditto with Palm Springs (other than golf, there probably isn't much there that you can't get elsewhere).

[Fire]

Originally Posted by icecube

Thinking fly in to San Francisco and try to hit L.A. and San Diego. Palm Springs and Vegas are maybes but not necessary. I want sun and heat for most of the trip. Any advice is greatly appreciated. It will be myself, wife and one and half year old baby. Thanks!

San Francisco will be cold so avoid that if you want sun and heat.