August family camping road trip suggestions?

[hodad]

Hey hey hey it turns out we have the month of August free and would like to drive from Uncle's house in Seattle to Grandparents' house in Southern California with our five-year-old daughter, camping and seeing the sublime sights of the west coast along the way.

After giving it about five minutes of thought, I've come up with this completely arbitrary but quite possibly not far from the final itinerary to give you an idea of our ambitions:
Day one: Drive from Seattle to Portland.
Day two: Drive from Portland to around Crater Lake.
Day three: Drive to the Redwoods.
Day four: Drive to SF
Day five: visit peeps in SF
Day six: drive to Monterey and visit peeps
Day seven: drive to Julia Pfeiffer SP
Day eight: drive south, stay somewhere
Day nine: drive to Orange County.

The big questions:
1) What are some do not miss attractions for a 5yo?
2) What's the best way to rent a car in Seattle and return it in SoCal? Are there secret car rental clubs that I am not privy to? At this scope does it become feasible to rent an RV instead? I haven't even done the beginnings of research so I have no idea.
3) Convince me it's worth it to include the Sierras and other inland adventures on this road trip, with the knowledge that there will be future trips out west and we're not trying to be exhaustive here.

This suddenly arrived on our plate today so we haven't done much research but are pleasantly surprised at the opportunity. Thanks for your ideas!

 

[endy]

Are you tent camping? I prefer KOA'S as I find the time are always pretty clean and safe.
Last year we camped a night at Morro Rock. I would've loved to stay another night. Waking up answer seeing the rock was incredible, it was dark when we got there so the view was unexpected. It was across the street from the beach. We were there last May but I would think you would need reservations for Aug.
I usually find KOA'S have lots of kid related activies.
Monterey Aquarium, the elephant seals 5 minutes nothing of Hearst Castle. I think Hearst is fascinating but I don't think a 5 year old would enjoy it.
I tent camp every summer to California and/or Seattle so ask away. Tho I only sleep in the tent, no cooking, no places without showers and when DS was young no places without pools. Have to give the kids some fun to wear of their energy.

 

[hodad]

Thanks for the suggestions! We do basic tent camping from the trunk of the car, and the most cooking we do is hot dogs and baked beans on the campfire. I think I need the most help getting from Seattle to San Francisco, since I've only done that drive twice and it was before I had a kid. SF-LA I'm very familiar with.

 

[endy]

Same as I do - From the trunk of the car. We stayed at the Koa east of Portland in Cascade. I really liked Portland and want to go back again. From Portland we headed over to the coast and stayed in Cresent City. I would have liked to spent a day or 2 exploring the dunes and small towns along the way.
The Avenue of the Giants is well worth the drive thru. Last year we didn't do the coast drive from ST north but have in the past. There are a couple of lighthouses that you can climb up to the top. Mendicino was a nice area that I'd like to explore again too. Muir Woods somehow we completely missed it on several trips. Last year we stayed at Peteluma Koa for a few days. It is more resort like with lots of kids activities. We went into SF a few times from here as well as Oakland for baseball games.
If your daughter has started to read you can get state maps or tourist information and show her where you are in the morning and have her follow the map at each town. I did this with DS as he wasn't allowed to ask how far or are we there yet. Be at your campground early enough to have a swim before bedtime so she's tired.

 

[GrandBob]

1) What are some do not miss attractions for a 5yo?

Exploratorium in San Francisco
Big Trees Railroad through the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains
Gilroy Gardens, an amusement park particularly geared towards your daughter's age
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, plus the paddleboats on Lake El Estero right next door
Point Lobos State Nature Reserve will be great for the whole family. Easy walking trails among spectacular scenery

Those are just off the top of my head in the (greater) local area. Enjoy.

Bob

 

[Purrkins]

Jedidiah Smith State Park is awesome for camping. Sits right on the border of OR and CA. I'm a fan of Lassen NP, nobody ever goes to Lassen... Montgomery Woods near Ukiah is great. Grand Bon up above covered some great things. We're partial to the CA Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park but the Exploratorium is amazing for the little ones.