Vancouver BC to Morgan Hill in August

Hi! I'm glad to have found this site. I hope you can help us plan a road trip to Vancouver BC to Morgan Hill, California. We are renting a car and will leave Vancouver in the morning around 8:30am. We expect to spend the night somewhere. Can anyone suggest where a good place to stop is? Because we are on a shoestring budget, we plan on sleeping at rest stops. Is that allowed or advisable?


Coming back, we are thinking of taking the scenic coastal route from morgan hill. where is the best way to take that and does anyone know how long it would take to maybe astoria before going back on I-5?


I'd appreciate any information. Thanks!

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

It is legal to sleep in Rest Areas in Oregon. Your 'rest' is limited to 10 hours out of 24. But I would hardly call it safe and it's certainly not advisable. Besides being completely vulnerable to whoever rolls into the rest area looking for victims (You'll be asleep and visible to any assailant. They'll have the element of surprise and a quick and easy getaway.), you can't expect to get a good night's sleep while in a car parked in a well-lit and noisy traffic area, However, for the record, there is a rest area at approximately mile 110 of I-5 in Oregon, roughly halfway on your trip.

If you'd like something a bit safer, certainly quieter, and a whole lot more scenic - and can spring for $15 (at most), then get off the highway at exit 124, head for Bogus Creek, and enjoy yourselves.

On the way back, if you have extra time, then by all means take some time to explore the coast. You will need a full two days for the direct drive on the way dow2n and any detour to the coast will cost (time-wise) so plan on making two overnight stops and taking the better part of three days to get back. For driving scenery, the northern California coast is hard to beat, so I'd get to it as soon as possible. What I'd suggest is bypassing the Bay Area to the east by taking US-101/I-680 up to Benicia, then I-780/I-80/CA-37 around Vallejo and back onto US-101 northbound. The first numbered route over to CA-1, the Pacific Coast Highway, is CA-116 west from Rohnert Park. The PCH will take you through several redwoods parks around Orick. Basically, anywhere north of Leggett there are enough state and national park campgrounds that you should be able to find one pretty close to wherever you happen to be at the end of an evening.

AZBuck

The best way from 101 to 1 north of 37 is get off 101 at the Washington St exit in Petaluma, and turn left (west). Take it through town, it becomes Bodega Av, then Valley Ford Rd. This becomes 1 North just before you get to Valley Ford.

yes, I think we will try Bogus Creek. Thanks for the suggestions.

I wonder where my reply to your post went. Anyway, I am reposting it here in case it was gone.

I am now thinking of getting of 101 from Crescent City to Grants Pass on 199. I read that is a scenic drive too. Then get on I-5.

The other option is take 101 down to Florence then 126 to Eugene then I-5. We have driven on the coast north of Florence so maybe we could skip it this time.

Which do you think is a better option between 199 and Florence to I-5? Thanks.

It all depends on what kind of scenery you want to see - coast or mountains.