We were running out of time to drive the West Coast as an excuse to visit our boy in LA: this is his senior year! So, we combined this bucket-list item with a visit for Thanksgiving, hoping for nice weather, if not quiet roads. Well, the California fires didn’t count as nice weather, but perhaps because of them, we did mostly have the roads to ourselves, even on a holiday weekend.
Because, of course, we went the long way! The GPS guidance offered the fastest route, the shortest route, but not the scenic route. We finally said: avoid interstates, and just picked our way south, looking for the best views.
Itinerary
- Seattle to Bandon, OR: we cut over to the coast at Salem, OR
- Bandon to Mendocino, CA via the 101, through redwoods, then Hwy 1
- Mendocino to Carmel-by-the-sea, via Hwy 1
- Carmel to Los Angeles, via Hwy 1, just reopened after the Woolsey fire
- Two days in Los Angeles, for Thanksgiving
- Los Angeles to Sacramento, via Hwy 99, with a detour for sequoias
- Sacramento to Eugene, OR, finally via interstate
- Eugene to Seattle
With a couple of days as a breather in Los Angeles, we took advantage of our boy’s new digs to cook some brunch. Dinner was chez Mitchell, for their family Thanksgiving gathering, a record 30 people. After a quiet Friday, we were on the road again.
From prior trips and advice from others, here’s what we figured out. Heading south along the coast was a good idea, with easy access to pullouts for photos, but either direction is spectacular. Seeing the redwoods and sequoias was more rewarding than I’d thought: they are just so damn tall! Misty morning coastal vistas were amazing, but smoky horizons, still beautiful, were so sad. Staying under 500 miles a day was a good idea; under 400 might be better. There are sections that aren’t critical for views, but others were highlights, even worth repeating: the southern Oregon coast (Port Orford to Brookings), the start of Hwy 1 (Leggett CA to the coast and onward), and Carmel to San Luis Opisbo.