Appoligies first off if this post isn’t relevant in this board but not sure where else to put it.
In short i’m planning a bit of a road trip up the West coast. Starting at San Francisco then South to Monterey/Carmel after which it will be back Northbound following Route 1 through California and 101 (i think) up through Oregon, across to Portland and then to Seattle. I know i’m heading in the wrong direction initially but that’s just how it’s got to be done, lol!
At the moment we’ve got overnight stops planned, after leaving San Fransisco, at Carmel, Garberville, Gold Beach, Glen Eden beach, Portland and finish for three nights in Seattle.
Just looking for any tips and recommended stops, restaurants etc. Everything really. Don’t mind doing these things blind but dont want to miss any must sees.
Monterey - Cannery Row, the aquarium, we saw whales from their viewing platform last December. Eat at the Sardine Factory just up the street.
Carmel - lovely place, we spend Christmas there, got engaged there. Recommend the Fireplace Inn to stay at, but there are many great hotels there. Tends to be a little bit expensive though. I think its been voted one of the top 10 US holiday destinations. Expect to walk around town.
17 mile drive/Pebbly Beach? Maybe…
Some great scenery between SF and the Salinas.
I would say try to stay of the major freeways if possible as you miss so much, try the local diners rather than the chains.
Can’t tell you how it went but can say how it’s going! Bloody awesome! I’m in my element out here. Followed route 1 from San Francisco down to Carmel. Been wandering around Carmel and Monterey today. Fallen in love with Carmel, as has the wife. Managed to get as far south as Big Sur yesterday, now that’s a cool stretch of road. Especially enjoyed the Bixby canyon bridge. Also did 17 mile drive today, some great spots along there.
Heading back north tomorrow via SF and the Golden Gate Bridge. One more stop in California tomorrow night and then we hit Oregon, can’t wait!
Thank you for those tips by the way!
One little thing to add, can’t help but notice how the people of California don’t like indicating. No-one seems to bother!
taffytrucker:
I think most vehicles over here have the indicators un plugged anyway lol
…and their lights, and they have their mirrors because they never look in them any way. There must be a very healthy business in brakes over here though, seeing as the vast majority of the morons love to accelerate to 70mph even though they can see stopped traffic, make it look like they’re going to slam in to the back of whatever is in front of them, then emergency brake at the very last second. Then of course there are several fools every mile who want to act the part of a rock in a river, and drive in the middle lane going 20mph less than the flow of traffic so everyone is bunched up, trying to go past their on either side, but as they’re Americans they can’t go past quickly, so most of them that were doing 70mph will move to either the right or left lane to go past the fool in the middle lane doing 50, they’ll then slow down to 50.1 and take 3 minutes to over/undertake and so you have a situation where half the traffic density of the UK is twice as congested.
Ok, so the road trip is over un-fortunately. Back in damp, foggy England as of yesterday afternoon. We will definitely be making a trip to the west coast again, loved every minute of it.
However, I made some observations, truck related ones I’m afraid!
Firstly, logging trucks in Oregon. They were primarily made up of a long chassis unit and rear dolly with what looked like an extendible tow bar between the two. And then when they were empty, the dolly would be mounted on to the rear of the unit. What’s the reasoning behind this?
Secondly, why so many axles? This seemed an Oregon and Washington state set up. 6x4 unit with a lift axle also and then a standard set of tandems on a trailer complete with two more lift axles. Eight axles in total, what sort of weight are they carrying?
Thirdly. A wagon and drag bulker outfit with the longest ‘tow bar’ I’ve ever seen. The distance between the wagon and trailer was massive. Also four axles on a trailer no more than 20ft long, what are they carrying, lead?
Another one similar was a wagon and drag again but of the a frame type. The a frame itself was massively long, looked like it would flex and bend if there was any harsh driving involved.
I can only answer re: the tipper wagon & drag from my experience of living and driving in Aus.
The extra long ‘tow bar’ is to allow the driver to tip the trailer and then reverse it so that it comes down the side of and parallel to, the main unit, so that he can then tip the unit in the same spot. You can literally reach out of the window and touch the tailgate of the trailer when doing this. In Aus they are called truck and dogs and i’m assuming they are similar, if not the same thing that they use over the pond.