Help With Seattle-San Diego Roadtrip

[BC Disney Lover]

We're traveling from Mission, BC to San Diego in February and need suggestions on where to stop/eat on the way down. We hope to get across the border and past Seattle the first night to avoid delays. We thought maybe around Olympia and then on to Sacramento the next day and finally to San Diego. Can anyone suggest places to stay/eat at our 2 stops or other places that would be better to stop at for the night?
Thanks

 

[c&m]

We're drive south to Disneyland and SD almost every year from Richmond, B.C. This is what we usually do:

DAY 1
5:30am...head out and usually have breakfast in Seattle, near Tacoma.
11:30am...get to Portland, Ore. We find a Whole Foods (downtown Portland next to Powell's Bookstore) to have a healthy lunch (their deli counter is great!). We pick up some snacks for the kids to munch on during the ride.
5:30pm...usually arrive in Redding, CA, where we spend the night. Highly recommend the new Hampton Inn in Redding. For a little over $100 a night, you get a really comfy bed and free breakfast in the morning. It's a 5-minute drive to the Olive Garden or Red Robin for dinner. Target is adjacent to those restaurants for a short stroll after dinner.

*** We make occasional bathroom breaks at the Targets that occasionally show up on the I-5.

DAY 2
7am...have breakfast at the Hampton Inn Redding, check out, and head out on the highway.
11:30...stop in Sacramento at Mimi's Cafe for lunch.
6:30pm...arrive in Anaheim and stay at the Hyatt Orange County (our fave place to stay in Anaheim).

DAYS 3-6
Use our 3-day hopper pass in DL/CA.

DAY 7-12
11am...drive to SD. We usually wait till this time of day to drive to avoid early morning rush-hour traffic.
12:30pm...arrive at Hyatt La Jolla, where we usually stay. Check in and then go to University Towne Center (UTC) for lunch.

Do you have a GPS? It's good to have on drives like this one.

Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, let me know. We've done this drive many times and are currently planning our next trip for July 2008.

 

[barkley]

if you are going to stop in olympia, i cannot reccomend more highly 'AMERITEL'. it's a REALY nice, very small chain of hotels. the rooms range from a standard to a 'suite' which is a bedroom with a king or 2 doubles, and a living room with a double pull out couch. both rooms have tv's (a godsend if you have multiple kids. in the suite there is a kitchen that includes a full size fridge and stove. at the olympia location, right across the street is a 'sheris restaurant'-open 24/7, serves nicer than coffee shop food. down the street is a number of other restaurants ranging in type.
the rooms are clean, well maintained-and incredibly well priced. rates include a decent breakfast in the a.m. (including hot items), and warm chocolate chip cookies in the p.m. there's an indoor heated pool.