Seattle to SoCal - can we do it in 11 days?

[Jdailey98]

I want to take my daughter who will be graduating next year on a West Coast trip. We are on a budget and want to see it all.

Points of interest are
Seattle -Olympic National Park
Cannon Beach - just to stop and see
Glass Beach - just to stop and see
Red Wood Forrest
Sequoia National Park
Yosemite - I saw on another post - Yosemite Bug - will check into that for two night lodging
Monterey Aquarium
San Francisco - must go to Alcatraz
Big Sur
Grand Canyon
LA Vegas?

We'd like to drive along the coast as much as possible. I know we are going to have to cross some things off but I am a little overwhelmed with where to start.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

That would be quite a rushed trip for 11 days while driving the slower coastal route. You really need a couple of days to get around Olympic NP and Yosemite and with a full day in SF to visit Alcatraz and one at the Grand canyon and that adds up to 6 days which you have close to another 6 days for the driving alone. Sure you could rush through it all, but then instead of seeing everything, you will see very little. [By the way it would take a lifetime to see everything along your route] ;-) There are no right or wrong choices, it's just a matter of what appeals to you the most, or whether or not you could find extra days.

[Jdailey98]

Thanks for the welcome. I was thinking we may have to make this two separate trips. I will check back after we decide what our focus is. Thank you for telling me what I already knew.

[Southwest Dave]

That would be a good idea and if you can create a loop trip starting and ending in the same city you will not have one way drop off fees on your car rental.