Right after July 4th, taking our daughter back to school in San Francisco. Going to take the scenic route and was hoping for some recommendations and advice. Want to cut over to 101 somewhere down by Coos Bay and see the southern Oregon coast. Samual Boardman State Park for sure. Then head south down 1o1 until the first chance we can cut over to the 1. Then wind our way down the 1 to SF. This is where the recommendations come in to play. Wondering if any of here have done this trip and have some definite must stops. Small little towns or scenic beaches we could hit. Might even play it where we stay the night somewhere down there. Depends on how many things we want to see. Just spend one afternoon/day on that section. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Threw this map together real quick. Created a few stops, just so the app would take us on the route we wanted.
Motel for sure. Just wanted to get some idea of a cool little beach town to stop at and maybe then I’d know where to look for a hotel or Air BnB.
Avoid Bakersfield and Fresno. That's my only advice. And yes I know they're south of where you're going. It's still good advice, just in general.
We aren’t planning on anything too adventurous. No camping or major hiking or anything. Just thinking of some great beaches to pull over and see and some good restaurants to hit. Have to get her down there for training camp. Just going to spend like one afternoon, that’s all we got.
Did it several times, last time when I drove my 1993 Miata when we moved to the Bay area in 2012. The dunes near coos Bay are fun to stop at, rent an ATV and go hoon. The lost coast is nice to drive. https://www.visitredwoods.com/listing/lost-coast-scenic-drive/148/#:~:text=The Lost Coast is California's,Lost Coast without a backpack. Of course the redwoods if you never did that. Eureka is a nice enough little town. Closer to SF Napa and Marin county are lovely. Stop at Sol Food in San Rafael for fantastic Puerto Rico food. Sol Food https://g.co/kgs/TkWHi5b Have fun.
The Trees of Mystery is a cheesy, yet very cool tourist trap. Mendocino is awesome (though spendy). A buddy and I did a week long mosey in January, starting in Crescent City and working our way up to Ilwaco. You really can't go wrong anywhere on the Oregon Coast (or the Northern California Coast for that matter). We visited every lighthouse and scenic viewpoint (okay, and all the casinos too. The Triple Sevens Casino in Smith River has an amazing steak breakfast for $7.77) along the way. Bandon (Face Rock Creamery tour!) and Gold Beach are nice places to wander through. The drive through the wine country is very pretty. The hardest part of the whole trip will be not having enough time to see all there is to see......
My mother in law grew up in Frestucky. Moved to Oregon when she got married (at her insistence). Growing up, "vacation" for my wife was annual trips to Fresno, whether she wanted to go or not. Some days, all these years later I think she is still dealing with the trauma......
Sea Lion Caves. And if you don't make some photoshopped picture of your head on the body of a sea lion, you have failed as a human being.
It's summertime. There won't be very many sea lions in the caves. Which is good, because the smell in winter is serious.
