Anyone have advice for a road trip from San Francisco to Seattle? Thinking of doing a one-way car rental and driving to our cruise out of Seattle and then flying back (or vice versa). Looked at one-way car rental prices and while expensive, isn't horrifically so. Oddly, Seattle to SF area looks cheaper than the other way around.
DS wants to go to Confusion Hill (north of Mendocino) for the Gravity Falls connection. Want to see the Redwoods, Oregon Dunes, and maybe Crater Lake but seems a bit out of the way. There's a new Wyndham timeshare in Portland, so might want to stay there (we own and I'm a sucker for new), it would have a 3 night minimum though. Any recommendations for don't miss places or fun places for kids (they'll be 8 and 11 by then)? Or for good places to stay on points along the way or in Seattle (have Hilton, Bonvoy, and URs)?
FUN!
We did a road trip from San Francisco up to Crater Lake over a Fourth of July weekend a few years ago. We've done another road trip from SF to the Redwoods National and State Parks in late May.
I think the difficulty is some of what you want to see will have you criss crossing from the coast to inland. IIRC, there aren't much in the way of chain hotels that are bookable on points once you pass the North Bay, so your pickins are limited to what you can find on the UR portal.
We LOVE Mendocino and try to visit when we can and make a long weekend out of a trip to Mendocino alone. If you take the 1 all the way up, the Marin Headlands are gorgeous and Point Reyes is cool for the shops, restaurants, oysters, and trails, but beyond that there's just a lot of beautiful windy roads along the coast with small towns scattered in between. The drive from SF to Mendo along the 1 can easily take 5-6 hours with stops. There's the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena, which we've been meaning to do but we keep running out of time (advance reservations are required). To cut down on time, we usually take 101 to Cloverdale, then head west on 128, which takes you through the Anderson Valley vineyards, Boonville, and eventually several redwood groves as you near the coast, and then merge back onto the 1. Mendo is this quaint little historic New England-style town on a bluff with cool shops, restaurants and B&Bs. There are great hiking trails and little hidden beaches and coves all around. You can rent a kayak and go out on the river or ocean. Or rent a bike and ride some trails. Fort Bragg is just north of Mendo, and it's a bigger town with more modern conveniences, including Starbucks and a Safeway! You can visit Glass Beach, where you can easily spend half a day looking for sea glass, or ride the Skunk Train through the redwoods.
What I'd probably do then is from Fort Bragg on the coast, take 20 back to 101 at Willits, and head north on 101 to Confusion Hill. We've driven past it, but never visited. I think there's a drive your car through a redwood attraction up around there. Eventually, 101 will run through the Avenue of the Giants in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. You'll see some of the biggest redwoods here, such that if you need to cut down your itinerary you could probably skip the Redwoods National and State Parks north of Eureka. We did make our way up to the Redwoods National and State Parks on one trip. We ended up staying at a Best Western in Fortuna, just south of Eureka because everything was booked up for the Kinetic Race over Memorial Day weekend. Ferndale is an old Victorian town with a very cute Main Street. Eureka is cool too. The cove off of Trinidad further up north is absolutely beautiful, and there are some walking trails at the head. We hiked a few trails once at the Redwoods National and State Parks. Our car took a beating getting to Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, but it was worth it. If you plan to hike, bring good water resistant hiking boots.
If you want to visit the redwoods, that'll take you close to the coast since they only extend about 50 miles inland. But if you then want to visit Crater Lake, you need to head inland. I've never done the direct drive from the coast towards inland Oregon, but I guess that's what Google Maps is for. Just be sure the roads in and around Crater Lake are open to cars when traveling. I guess your travels will then take you back west towards the Oregon Coast. I've wanted to make the road trip for years, so I'd love to read your trip report!
P.S. Interesting about rental cars from SEA>SFO being cheaper than SFO>SEA. I've read stories about so many people leaving the Bay Area that moving trucks out of here are $$$$ compared to moving trucks coming in $.
P.P.S. I'll throw in Mt. Shasta Lavender Farms if you're ever traveling up north on the 5. They've been closed for the past 2 years and plan to be closed again this year for replanting. But if and when they reopen, it's this beautiful farm of French and English lavender on a hill with sweeping views of Mt. Shasta. June is the prime time to go when the lavender are at their peak, but they're open into July, and you can pick and buy your own bunches of lavender. In the past, they also serve the best lavender lemonade on the house.
