Driving Seattle to Anaheim

[allgrownup]

OK, that much we know. At least 3 adults and one infant....I remember there are others who have made the trip, what is the halfway point?
Any suggestions on where to cut off to drive a bit on 101?

One suggestion is to tag team drive to San Francisco and spent a night there, the zoo is a big draw.

Experiences with the drive anyone?

Thanks!

 

[staley7580]

OK, that much we know. At least 3 adults and one infant....I remember there are others who have made the trip, what is the halfway point?
Any suggestions on where to cut off to drive a bit on 101?

One suggestion is to tag team drive to San Francisco and spent a night there, the zoo is a big draw.

Experiences with the drive anyone?

Thanks!

We did it.. Probably a little wonky, but we wanted to see the redwoods. We drove down 5 until we hit... Grants Pass?? Something in southern Oregon, and we spent the night in Eureka CA. Drove through and saw some lovely big trees... stayed on the 101 to SF, crossed the Golden Gate.. and made it DL by 6 pm that day! it was a LOVELY drive! Except for my little one getting car sick a few times.

 

[allgrownup]

We did it.. Probably a little wonky, but we wanted to see the redwoods. We drove down 5 until we hit... Grants Pass?? Something in southern Oregon, and we spent the night in Eureka CA. Drove through and saw some lovely big trees... stayed on the 101 to SF, crossed the Golden Gate.. and made it DL by 6 pm that day! it was a LOVELY drive! Except for my little one getting car sick a few times.

That sounds good, the Red Woods were also mentioned as something to see.

Thanks!

 

[PinkBudgie]

We actually leave 101 before SF. We take the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. 101 gets a little crazy and bogged down in SF and it can be easy to get confused. We make our way over to 5 and take that all the way down.

 

[Sherwin]

We roaded down there a couple years ago. Stopped somewhere in Northern CA, past Mt. Shasta more or less near Redding.

 

[Dis-Ted]

OK, that much we know. At least 3 adults and one infant....I remember there are others who have made the trip, what is the halfway point?
Any suggestions on where to cut off to drive a bit on 101?

One suggestion is to tag team drive to San Francisco and spent a night there, the zoo is a big draw.

Experiences with the drive anyone?

Thanks!

It's a fun drive down but a long drive back up (if you get what I mean). My advice is to take enough time stopping that it doesn't get too rough.

If you want to make it straight 2 days it's a tough ride. Try and stop in Northern California (Sacramento or just north ideally) and your second day won't be insane -- anything much to the north of that and it just gets to be two painful days.

If you're making the 3 stop trip which is much more pleasant then stop south OR and then in SF. Looping into 101 in Northern CA gives you some nice coast lines without being completely insanely out of the way like it would be if you took 101 after the Bay Area.

Since you're going to be pushing hard I'd suggest at least a quick rest break in the redwood forests in Northern CA. There's a few malls in OR which make good longer breaks and food stops as well.

Have fun and invest in a gas credit card, it will be worth the savings.

 

[Brady's Mom]

We did it.. Probably a little wonky, but we wanted to see the redwoods. We drove down 5 until we hit... Grants Pass?? Something in southern Oregon, and we spent the night in Eureka CA. Drove through and saw some lovely big trees... stayed on the 101 to SF, crossed the Golden Gate.. and made it DL by 6 pm that day! it was a LOVELY drive! Except for my little one getting car sick a few times.

I grew up in Eureka, Ca. It is beautiful there. We made the drive regularly to the East Bay area so I am familiar with the drive. You get to see lots of redwoods, in fact some of them are so close to the road that you think you might run into them! There are a few places south of Eureka that have drive thru redwood trees and small places to stop and actually see the trees up close. It's really cool. (At least there used to be - 20 years ago!!)

It is definately worth the trip at least once. I agree with another poster that said to take the San Rafael bridge - unless the Golden Gate bridge is really high on your list of must-sees. You bypass a lot of spaghetti like freeway junctions. And traffic - don't forget the traffic!

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I forgot to say, I live in the "Redwood Empire". Armstrong Woods is a very pretty state park to eat a picnic lunch in and walk around. They have hiking trails but also very good wide, flat paths through the trees with special ones labeled. We usually go every summer just for a day out.

 

[Albort]

hmm, can consider.

Southwest Airlines is having a 50% off sale for all flights to and from Seattle, WA. You must book travel by January 22, and travel between February 3 and May 31. Flights start at $59 per leg (+ taxes and fees). Thanks uscpsycho
Note, you must choose a "Wanna Get Away" fare (furthest colum to the right) to get the discount

 

[Mycutekitties]

I would think it would be best to stay on 5. Going through SF would be out of the way and a huge mess.

 

[DahliaRW]

But if you do go to SF, be sure to stop at the Ghiradelli Ice Cream Shop down by the Wharf. SOOOOOO worth it.

 

[nun69]

we have driven this twice {the past 2 years} and find that even though 101 is beautiful drive, timewise it is better to take the 5 straight down...we drove about 10 hours from Portland Oregon and stopped and then drove the rest of the way down the next day...I think you should shoot for getting as far down I-5 as you can make it and then the next day is not so bad...we slept in a little and still made it on the road and to our hotel and checked in by 3:30 pm andit was perfect timingand we didn;tcatch too bad of traffic anywhere...just my 2 cents it is a great drive either way and we did go through the Redwoods as well...

 

[allgrownup]

Thank you everyone, keep the comments and suggestions coming! Our trip isn't until mid/late March and I LOVE the planning aspect.
We will definitely be driving, although the airfare sales are fantastic. There could be as many as 8 of us which pretty much makes even the cheapest fares a wash.

Thanks again!