Road Trip - Los Angeles to Seattle

Firecloud

I'm finally making the drive to Seattle in a couple weeks, and while I'm pretty familiar with everything between LA and San Francisco, I'm really eager to see everything NorCal, Oregon and Washington have to offer - so I'm wondering if anyone's familiar enough with the drive/area to make any sightseeing suggestions.

And naturally, I need to put a couple mixes together.

Any recommendations for a feel-good upbeat Pearl Jam mix? So far I've got the 'Roo version of WMA and Can't Keep, but my mind has seized up and shut down all of a sudden. Usually mixes are my favorite thing to make, but I need help this time around. Plus it might be cool to see what you guys would suggest.

Thanks!

norm

if you haven't done it and have the time, go the coast route....:)

covered in bliss

Maybe check out Leadbetter Beach?

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-view-1186319-los_angeles_to_seattle

Firecloud

cutback wrote:

if you haven't done it and have the time, go the coast route....:)

Yeah def. planning to go the coast route after Sacramento or so. We're leaving Los Angeles Sat. night, having breakfast/lunch with my sister in San Fran and dinner/drinks in Sacramento with friends on Sunday, then setting out for the real trip early Monday morning. Can't wait to see the redwoods and the pine coasts in Oregon....

South of Seattle

Firecloud wrote:

Yeah def. planning to go the coast route after Sacramento or so. We're leaving Los Angeles Sat. night, having breakfast/lunch with my sister in San Fran and dinner/drinks in Sacramento with friends on Sunday, then setting out for the real trip early Monday morning. Can't wait to see the redwoods and the pine coasts in Oregon....

Stop at Oswald West state park south of Cannon Beach, and then hike down to the Cove. That's the local surf spot and a good place to relax.

Corduroyboy

This is a trek I've made many times and it never gets old. My suggestions.

1. Take 101 up the coast of Northern California from Ukiah through the Redwoods and visit the Smith River. Unreal part of the country. I spent 2 summers up there and never got sick of it. Just lots of weird hippies and tweekers all over the place looking to hitch hike back down to Eureka.

2. Take the 101 all the way up the Oregon Coast. If you think the California coast is beautiful, you haven't seen anything until you've seen the Oregon coast. Go on the jet boat tour up the Rogue River. It's an all day ordeal, but worth the price and well worth the time. Great spots to camp out in Newport, OR. Rogue Brewery is there too. Some of the most amazing concrete arch bridges in the country dawn the 101 on the Oregon Coast. Watch out for all the log trucks.

3. Visit Canon Beach and Astoria Oregon. You can see where the Goonies happened!

4. Drive along the Columbia River over to I-5. Again, scenic beauty at it's best.

5. Bomb up 5 to Seattle and when you are through with Seattle, take more time off and head up to British Columbia!!

6. On the way home, bomb down 5. You will be sick of scenery by then and will just want to get the hell home! Have fun and take lots of pictures. Great mountains to see going down 5.

Corduroyboy

Oh yeah, whatever you do, do not take Route 299 from Redding to Eureka. You will hate life after about 2 minutes of being on this road. If the devil was a road builder, his finest is the 299. I've driven it 2 times and that's 2 times too many!

Firecloud

Corduroyboy wrote:

This is a trek I've made many times and it never gets old. My suggestions.

1. Take 101 up the coast of Northern California from Ukiah through the Redwoods and visit the Smith River. Unreal part of the country. I spent 2 summers up there and never got sick of it. Just lots of weird hippies and tweekers all over the place looking to hitch hike back down to Eureka.

2. Take the 101 all the way up the Oregon Coast. If you think the California coast is beautiful, you haven't seen anything until you've seen the Oregon coast. Go on the jet boat tour up the Rogue River. It's an all day ordeal, but worth the price and well worth the time. Great spots to camp out in Newport, OR. Rogue Brewery is there too. Some of the most amazing concrete arch bridges in the country dawn the 101 on the Oregon Coast. Watch out for all the log trucks.

3. Visit Canon Beach and Astoria Oregon. You can see where the Goonies happened!

4. Drive along the Columbia River over to I-5. Again, scenic beauty at it's best.

5. Bomb up 5 to Seattle and when you are through with Seattle, take more time off and head up to British Columbia!!

6. On the way home, bomb down 5. You will be sick of scenery by then and will just want to get the hell home! Have fun and take lots of pictures. Great mountains to see going down 5.

You're awesome. Than so much. As for the weird hippies around Smith River, what are the odds of stumbling across some norcal buds up there?

covered in bliss

Dude. The weird hippies can be your friend. Don't shut them out. Follow your gut... wish I was going with you!

Corduroyboy

Firecloud wrote:

You're awesome. Than so much. As for the weird hippies around Smith River, what are the odds of stumbling across some norcal buds up there?

If you mean the norcal "buds" it's really not hard to find. I think 4 out of 5 people have it up there. The small towns in between Ukiah and Garberville if I recall have tons of shops that sell those alternative "smoking" devices. Ask in one of those shops and I'm sure you will find what you need.

mensane

we drove from seattle to l.a. in 2006.....

YOU MUST GO TO THIS PLACE...IT IS INSANE!!!!

http://www.oregonvortex.com/

covered in bliss

mensane wrote:

we drove from seattle to l.a. in 2006.....

YOU MUST GO TO THIS PLACE...IT IS INSANE!!!!

http://www.oregonvortex.com/

sweet. Thanks for sharing!

Firecloud

mensane wrote:

we drove from seattle to l.a. in 2006.....

YOU MUST GO TO THIS PLACE...IT IS INSANE!!!!

http://www.oregonvortex.com/

What the hell? That looks awesome! Thanks!

Echo27

Corduroyboy wrote:

Oh yeah, whatever you do, do not take Route 299 from Redding to Eureka. You will hate life after about 2 minutes of being on this road. If the devil was a road builder, his finest is the 299. I've driven it 2 times and that's 2 times too many!

Oh, my God, this person speaks the truth! My husband and I took this bitch of a road two years ago. We still talk about it. I was soooo carsick, and he practically was, too, even though he was driving. When we looked at our atlas we had no idea what was in store for us. You may think I'm being dramatic, but you'd have to be on this road to believe it.

On a side note, if you get a chance to take a day trip outside of the Seattle area, check out the Olympic Peninsula and the rain forest. We were married there. It is a magical place.

Firecloud

Echo27 wrote:

Oh, my God, this person speaks the truth! My husband and I took this bitch of a road two years ago. We still talk about it. I was soooo carsick, and he practically was, too, even though he was driving. When we looked at our atlas we had no idea what was in store for us. You may think I'm being dramatic, but you'd have to be on this road to believe it.

On a side note, if you get a chance to take a day trip outside of the Seattle area, check out the Olympic Peninsula and the rain forest. We were married there. It is a magical place.

Thanks for the heads up... unfortunately we'll only be up there for two days. I've been there before so I know how to make short work of Pike Place Market and the Space Needle and such, but I want to make it back to Snoqualmie Falls as well if there's time.

More specifically, we're looking for really cool views, unique places, etc. Hiking is out this time, since we've got our 2 year old daughter with us, but maybe a canoe rental thing could be cool...

Corduroyboy

Echo27 wrote:

Oh, my God, this person speaks the truth! My husband and I took this bitch of a road two years ago. We still talk about it. I was soooo carsick, and he practically was, too, even though he was driving. When we looked at our atlas we had no idea what was in store for us. You may think I'm being dramatic, but you'd have to be on this road to believe it.

Too funny!! It really is the road that leads to hell!!

Firecloud

I'll keep that in mind for sure. We plan to hit up Fort Bragg, south of which is Glass Beach. It used to be a glass bottle dump decades ago, but is now a beach full of multicolored little glass pebbles. So awesome. haven't been in a few years though.

Any Seattle-specific recommendations for cool things to see/do?

wolfbear

Corduroyboy wrote:

If you mean the norcal "buds" it's really not hard to find. I think 4 out of 5 people have it up there. The small towns in between Ukiah and Garberville if I recall have tons of shops that sell those alternative "smoking" devices. Ask in one of those shops and I'm sure you will find what you need.

Also Arcata just north of Eureka where Humboldt University is. Patrick's Point just north of there is also a great stop. You can walk right down to where the waves are crashing on the haystacks and it's not a far walk. Agree with everyone else on the coastal route too. All of the coast up to Astoria is awesome. Have a fun trip!

Firecloud

wolfbear wrote:

Also Arcata just north of Eureka where Humboldt University is. Patrick's Point just north of there is also a great stop. You can walk right down to where the waves are crashing on the haystacks and it's not a far walk. Agree with everyone else on the coastal route too. All of the coast up to Astoria is awesome. Have a fun trip!

Thanks! Is humboldt as worthwhile for the 420-friendly as it's rumored to be?

walkunafraid

mensane wrote:

we drove from seattle to l.a. in 2006.....

YOU MUST GO TO THIS PLACE...IT IS INSANE!!!!

http://www.oregonvortex.com/

That's one of the places we stopped at when my girlfriend and I made this trek two years ago.

It was fairly interesting, but I'm wondering how fucking AWESOME it would be to see this place when you're stoned.

Dude, I say try it and let us know how it goes!

Firecloud

walkunafraid wrote:

That's one of the places we stopped at when my girlfriend and I made this trek two years ago.

It was fairly interesting, but I'm wondering how fucking AWESOME it would be to see this place when you're stoned.

Dude, I say try it and let us know how it goes!

Haha that's the goal! Just need some guidance on the local wares...
Now as for Oregon, what's the better drive, the 5 through Portland or the 101 up the coast? I'd imagine the coast, but I've heard great things about Portland. Maybe that's a stop for the ride home...