Road trip down the Coast

[5throw]

I'm heading on a roadtrip down the coast at the end of the month.Taking 2 weeks from Tacoma,wa to south of LA. Any must see's or places worth checking out?

[SCSpecB]

Don't miss Hwy 1 from at least Santa Cruz south. Hit up West Cliff dr in Santa Cruz, easily accessed from hwy 1 right when you come into town from the north. Lovers Point area of Monterey/Pacific Grove is a gorgeous little detour. 17 Mile Dr is nice too, although its a toll road....I'm sure if you post up when you're headed through the SF Bay Area or the Monterey Bay area, a few people would come out and say hi

[5throw]

Thanks for the suggestions. The plan basically is to have no plan but to drive down 101 and then hwy 1 and enjoy the coast with nowhere to be.

[SCSpecB]

That sounds like a damn good time to me

[Jim_KT]

Don't miss Hwy 1 from at least Santa Cruz south. Hit up West Cliff dr in Santa Cruz, easily accessed from hwy 1 right when you come into town from the north. Lovers Point area of Monterey/Pacific Grove is a gorgeous little detour. 17 Mile Dr is nice too, although its a toll road....I'm sure if you post up when you're headed through the SF Bay Area or the Monterey Bay area, a few people would come out and say hi

 

Agreed! Absolutely beautiful drive. My wife and I drove from San Luis Obispo, CA to Seattle, WA and used HWY 1 for the majority of the trip.

 

Just keep in mind that you drive the PCH to enjoy the drive as well as scenery. Do not take it if you need to get from one place to another in a short amount of time!

[wpmarky]

Sounds like an awesome trip. 101 will take you through most of the highlights.

 

Starting from super northern Cali, there's Yreka, Mount Shasta, there's a small town named "Weed" that could be worth stopping to take a funny pic. But if you're into checking out some real weed, stop by Ukiah in Mendocino County where alot of that stuff is grown. Careful not to venture too close to the farms tho, I hear they pack automatic rifles.

 

Then there's wine country. Napa is 45 mins east of 101, but you can stop in Healdsburg which is a nice lil wine town with alot of wine tasting in the downtown square area. If you want to venture deeper into wine country, you'll have to take Hwy 12 east to Sonoma and Napa to hit up the more popular wineries.

 

Or if you go west from 101 towards Hwy 1 & the ocean, there's some really good & fresh oysters in Tomales Bay. Check out "Tomales Bay Oyster Company" or "Hog Island Oysters" for some really sweet oysters. The drive over there is really fun and scenic too.

 

Before crossing Golden Gate Bridge, Tiburon & Sausolito are nice waterfront towns to get a glimpse of SF from far away. There's also a vista point area right before the bridge to take pictures.

 

For SF, the popular spots are Union Square, Financial District, Lombard St, Pier 39 Fisherman's Warf (look for the Bushman), and Emarcadero Rd. North Beach & the Marina Districts have alot of bars and night life. SoMa (south of Market St.) also has alot of the same.

 

When you're out of SF, if you're driving down 101 still, take Hwy 92 to either Hwy 35 (Skyline) or you can take it all the way to Hwy 1 and visit half moon bay. Hwy 35 (The Skyline) is a popular drive, nice and windy up in the mountains. If you do go all the way to Hwy 1 again, there's the Crowne Plaza hotel in Half Moon Bay. nice golf course & beach you can walk around.

 

If you stayed on 101, you can pass through the Silicon Valley, and check out the HQ's of some popular companies (Google, Ebay, Facebook, Linked In, Intel, Yahoo, etc). Not much sight seeing other than that. Valley Fair or Santana Row are the popular shopping malls over here, and could be worth stopping by. Santana Row is more upscale stores like LV if you're wife is with you. They're next to each other, so getting to both is easy.

 

South of Silicon Valley, there's Santa Cruz and Monterey. ScSpecB knows that area pretty well ; )

 

Then 3 more hours south and you're in Santa Barabara, and another 3 hours after that you'll be in LA.

[Jim_KT]

Don't forget San Luis Obispo on that list!

 

SLO is quite possibly one of my favorite places to visit, then again I'm biased as my wife and I met there during school. If you're not tired of Napa, and want more wine check out Paso Robles.

[SCSpecB]

...there's a small town named "Weed" that could be worth stopping to take a funny pic.

 

 

A friend bought me a shirt from their local FD, even their fire engines are green

 

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu157/solsurferx/IMG_0350.jpg

[sactojesse]

I used to live in Tacoma and would drive down to my parents place in San Luis Obispo several times each year. As far as northern CA highlights, there are quite a few fun places to visit on the way down on both US 101 and SR 1. Along US 101 in Humboldt County, check out the quirky college town of Arcata, Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, the historic village of Ferndale (just west of Fortuna on US 101), the company town of Scotia, and the Avenue of the Giants, home to some HUGE redwoods. Then, when you get to Leggett, take SR 1 down the Mendocino and Sonoma County coasts towards San Francisco., stop at Fort Bragg to have a beer at North Coast Brewing Company, check out the photogenic coastal town of Mendocino (where the 1980s show "Murder She Wrote" was filmed), and stop at Bodega Bay (where Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds" was filmed) for some BBQ oysters. There's tons to do in San Francisco, depending on your interests. South of S.F., take SR 1 down to check out Santa Cruz, then spend some time in Monterey, head down the 17-Mile Drive towards Carmel, then take the drive down the famously scenic Big Sur coastline to Hearst Castle and then to San Luis Obispo.

[hadvw]

San Luis Obispo city fair or whatever when they hold a party downtown (every Thursday in the summer?) and sell roast turkey legs, whatever was tons of fun.

 

And don't be too shocked to see a few zebras out in a field along with cattle somewhere around there. I certainly did a double take :-)

[LosAngelesLGT]

Sounds like a lot of fun. Makes me wish I could fly up and drive down. Be sure to post LOADS of pics with the leggy! You are going to have a MILLION great picture opportunities!!!

 

Don't miss out on BIG SUR, Carmel, Morrow Bay, etc. You should absolutely, positively STOP and see the California Coastal Redwoods. They are the tallest life on earth. The biggest individuals on earth (with the exception of some large fungus). Absolutely incredible.

[Jim_KT]

San Luis Obispo city fair or whatever when they hold a party downtown (every Thursday in the summer?) and sell roast turkey legs, whatever was tons of fun.

 

And don't be too shocked to see a few zebras out in a field along with cattle somewhere around there. I certainly did a double take :-)

 

SLO Farmers' Market every Thursday evening in downtown.

[FJ60]

If you're a baseball fan (even if slightly) I would see if the Giants are in town. ATT Park is a great place to catch a game. I'm finally going to complete my "West Coast MLB park tour" when I catch SF vs LA at Dodger Stadium next week. Visited Safeco Field last summer -- also a beautiful venue.

 

And take your Accessport if you have one. I had a CEL within the first 30 minutes of a 7+ hour drive home from So Cal on Christmas morning. I thought it was engine/oil related since I discovered I was a quart low and refilled the day before. I kept my speed at a minimum and had my eye on the oil pressure the whole way home. Turned out to be the exhaust O2 sensor -- reset and all was good. In addition to unnecessary stops to check the oil, I had no cruise control (which is a must for me when I drive on I-5).

[5throw]

I used to live in Tacoma and would drive down to my parents place in San Luis Obispo several times each year. As far as northern CA highlights, there are quite a few fun places to visit on the way down on both US 101 and SR 1. Along US 101 in Humboldt County, check out the quirky college town of Arcata, Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, the historic village of Ferndale (just west of Fortuna on US 101), the company town of Scotia, and the Avenue of the Giants, home to some HUGE redwoods. Then, when you get to Leggett, take SR 1 down the Mendocino and Sonoma County coasts towards San Francisco., stop at Fort Bragg to have a beer at North Coast Brewing Company, check out the photogenic coastal town of Mendocino (where the 1980s show "Murder She Wrote" was filmed), and stop at Bodega Bay (where Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds" was filmed) for some BBQ oysters. There's tons to do in San Francisco, depending on your interests. South of S.F., take SR 1 down to check out Santa Cruz, then spend some time in Monterey, head down the 17-Mile Drive towards Carmel, then take the drive down the famously scenic Big Sur coastline to Hearst Castle and then to San Luis Obispo.

 

 

This sounds pretty close for what I thought about for the drive.

[5throw]

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg37/5THROWRACING/IMG_2331.jpg

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg37/5THROWRACING/IMG_2330.jpg

 

There will be lots of stops and pictures taken. Thanks for all the suggestions. Iam really looking forward to it.

 

keep an eye out for me.

[GoSix]

Might I recommend beermapping.com for all the vital stops

[5throw]

Might I recommend beermapping.com for all the vital stops

That is a damn good idea my friend.

[SCSpecB]

Pretty good brewery around the corner from our place...RockBottom in Campbell.

 

In Santa Cruz look for Seabright Brewery (full restaurant) and Santa Cruz AleWorks (tasting room only).

 

Oh and on hwy 1 between SF and SC, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is damn good as well.

[SneakyFast]

Seabright Brewery has really gone down hill. Well, their beer and food has anyway. It's tough to beat their patio though. Rock Bottom is tits. I think they are up in the PNW too.

[sactojesse]

There will be lots of stops and pictures taken. Thanks for all the suggestions. I am really looking forward to it.

 

keep an eye out for me.

Have a safe trip! That wagon looks way too bad ass to be a 2.5i.

[SCSpecB]

Seabright Brewery has really gone down hill. Well, their beer and food has anyway. It's tough to beat their patio though. Rock Bottom is tits. I think they are up in the PNW too.

 

Well that sucks, I do admit I haven't been there in a while. On a sidenote, Mark, one of the guys who started Santa Cruz AleWorks, used to be the master brewer at Seabright ~10 or so years ago....

 

...and yes RockBottom is VERY enjoyable

[SneakyFast]

Santa Cruz Ale Works makes some damn fine beers.

[LGTLW]

I was all over CA last month. If you're looking for a fun nightlife with no worries to not being from the area, check out Hermosa Beach at night. Good looking people with plenty of busy bars. Also, don't be afraid of CouchSurfers.com I used that and met some pretty cool people in the Manhattan Beach area.

[cagefreak]

keep an eye out for me.

 

damn nice wagon!! Kind of hard to miss you, actually...

[5throw]

damn nice wagon!! Kind of hard to miss you, actually...

 

Have a safe trip! That wagon looks way too bad ass to be a 2.5i.

 

Thanks Guys.