Driving to DL from BC

Lollipop's Mom

<font color=teal>Special trip with your little one
Joined
Feb 26, 2004
Messages
4,358
Thinking of doing this this summer - I am hesitant because I would be the only driver - just me and my 12 yr old daughter. What cities do you tend to stop overnight in?
 
Do you like driving? You usually can handle 8 hours before needing a night off. With the air prices the way they are you might find it cheaper to fly. Promotion with fly for free is on right now. What is the time frame for your trip? You wouldn't want to waste your time driving all the way down. We are from Victoria and are flying this December.:cool1: :yay: :dance3:
 
We always fly, but it would be more for the reason of a roadtrip/sightseeing on the way down, and also we have good friends in Sacremento we would like to visit.
 
We usually drive down every summer, going all the way to San Diego to visit friends who live in Carlsbad. The drive is great if you have a considerable amount of time for vacation. It's not recommended if you only have about 1 or 1 1/2 weeks. We usually do a 2 to 3 week vacation in the summer.

When we want to do the quick, aggressive drive, we usually do the I-5 with this schedule:

Saturday
5:30am...Get up and cross the border.
8:30am...Have breakfast in Tacoma.
11:30am...Have lunch in Portland, Oregon.
5:30pm...Arrive in Redding, CA, and check into Hampton Inn Redding.
6pm...Dinner at Red Robin in Redding.

Sunday
7:30am...Have breakfast (included at the Hampton Inn) and check out.
6pm...Arrive in Anaheim.

We usually stay in Anaheim for 4 nights, stay in Huntington Beach for 2 nights, and then head to Carlsbad for 5 days. On our way home, we stop in L.A. to shop at the Grove, Long Beach to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific, Sacramento for lunch at Mimi's Cafe and a brief tour, Corona for an hour to visit the Olive Pit, then off to Portland for a night or 2 to visit Powell's bookstore and Cannon Beach.

We have also done the leisurely drive using Hwy 101 where we stayed at various points on the Oregon Coast, stopped in at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Pismo Beach, Monterey, Santa Barbara, etc.

Lots of options, depending on how fast or slow you want to get there. Let me know if you want more specific info.
 

I have done the trip with just myself driving with 5 kids in tow:scared1:
I would reccomend trying to get away after work the first day and get across the border and down maybe as far as Seattle. with the traffic at the border it can take a big chunk out of the drive. The next day you may be able to get somewhere close to Sacremento and the last days drive is very short getting you into Anaheim in the early afternoon. The highway in Ca is a much nicer drive I find, straight and flat for the most part. I loved the drive, I pulled over at the first sign of fatigue and would get out at a reststop and walk around or we would stop at a restaurant and have a snack. It doesn't add that much time to stop and it makes it so much safer. I kept snacking on peanuts and liquorice too. :)
If you want more details just pm me, we live in North Van
Christine
 












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