The Harris' Family EPIC ADVENTURE 2015: From Claremont to Vancouver

Husband and Wife Super Hero Team, are taking 7 days off for our 2015 EPIC ADVENTURE! We're putting on our Halloween costumes at home in Claremont, CA, jumping into our Justice League Mobile, and driving up the PCH then the 5 til we get to the Vancouver Lookout in Oh CanaDAH, and then we'll work our way back home from there. Its our EPIC ADVENTURE 2015. We would love your input.

Looking for suggestions of great places to visit along the way. No suggestion is rejected. Thanks for fun ideas of things to see along the way. We'll pull our choices from the list and formulate our plan from there, then tell you all how it went from there.

ROADTRIP... HARRIS FAMILY SUPERHERO STYLE... LETSGOOOOOOOO!

There and back is about 2600 mi. That's 400 mi per day. Doable on I-5 I think but the PCH is much slower.

You might want to rethink this.

Claremont- I went to elementary school when we lived on Mt. Castle Ave way long ago....

Route we were planning... Thoughts?

merge onto I-210 W/Foothill Fwy toward Pasadena
19.3 mi
Use the right 2 lanes to take the I-210 W exit toward San Fernando
0.1 mi
Keep left and merge onto I-210 W
5.9 mi
Keep left at the fork to stay on I-210 W
18.9 mi
Use the left 2 lanes to take exit 1A for I-5 N/Golden State Fwy toward Sacramento
0.6 mi
Keep left at the fork, follow signs for Autos and merge onto I-5 N/Golden State Fwy
Continue to follow I-5 N
59.5 mi
Keep right at the fork to stay on I-5 N, follow signs for Interstate 5 N/San Francisco/Sacramento
226 mi
Use the right 2 lanes to take the I-5 exit toward Stockton/Sacramento
0.8 mi
Continue onto I-5 N
78.5 mi
Keep left to stay on I-5 N, follow signs for Interstate 5/Woodland/Redding
Entering Oregon
571 mi
Keep right to stay on I-5 N, follow signs for Interstate 5 N/Interstate 84/Seattle
Entering Washington
Entering Canada (British Columbia)
285 mi
Continue onto BC-99 N
23.4 mi
Keep left to stay on BC-99 N
0.4 mi
Keep left to stay on BC-99 N
1.7 mi
Take BC-99 N to W Hastings St/BC-7A
21 min (6.1 mi)
Continue onto Oak St
0.4 mi
Turn left onto Park Dr
0.5 mi
Turn right onto Granville St/BC-99 N
4.0 mi
Use the right 2 lanes to turn slightly right onto Granville Bridge/BC-99 N (signs for Nanaimo & Gibsons/Whistler)
Continue to follow BC-99 N
0.8 mi
Continue straight onto Seymour St
0.3 mi
Turn right onto W Hastings St/BC-7A
Destination will be on the left
151 ft
Harbour Centre, 555 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC V6B, Canada

noFanofCB is absolutely right. If you were to make your trip as described in a sedan with nothing more than the minimal stops for food/fuel/rest and took enough time each night for a good night's sleep at a motel right off the highway, you would need to spend six full days, out of your available seven, just for driving. If the 'Justice League Mobile' is an RV, then you'll have even less than one day spread out over the entire trip for 'great places to visit along the way.' As described, your trip will consist of little more than sitting in your vehicle and sleeping in motels for a week. If that's what you want, and are prepared for, then fine. But there are better ways to spend your time and money. But assuming you'll press on regardless, check out these suggestions for things to do on or near the northwest coast.

AZBuck

After skimming the wall-of-text route I see some streets to get to I-5 and some streets to get off of it in BC. (don't know how long it takes to get across the border or cross back but with a vehicle named that way - you might get special time consuming treatment at the crossings)

OK, 400 miles a day on an interstate. Gives maybe 90 minutes/day for doing stuff. If you stop to do stuff every other day you might enjoy a few hours of something. Still sounds more like an ordeal than recreation to me.

Considering the fact you copy/pasted step by step directions from an online mapping program (not particularly helpful in a forum like this, btw), I think it bares giving a warning that the travel time estimates that such programs provide are pure fantasy, and if you're building your trip around those estimates, then you really will need super powers to make it work!

In the real world, on the Interstates, going at or slightly above the speed limit, you typically average less than 60 mph over a full day on the road, factoring in just basic, quick, stops for food, fuel, restrooms, etc. Covering 600 miles will take you 10-12 hours, as is very much a full day on the road - roughly the maximum that professional drivers are allowed to do in a day. That doesn't leave any time left for any significant exploration along the way.

YOU GUYS ARE [/B]AWESOME[/B]. THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK. Sorry for our naivete, chock it up to our being two working stiffs stepping out into the world on a bit of a vacation. Your input, has us now purchasing plane tickets to Bellingham,WA from LAX on Friday, and then from there, driving back down on Wednesday to see the sights all the way home. If you were driving down from Canada now, all the way back to Claremont, CA, where would you go? What would you do? What is a MUST SEE, what is a rare gem, Whats a spot to remember for years to come, and where should we never go at ALL? LOL. Thanks for the input. You guys are the real super heros...

On most people's must do list, and on mine, would be the Pacific Coast Highway CA1. It is a spectacular drive. But be aware, it is a TWO day drive from SF to Claremont. Along the way there is Carmel by the sea, Monterey Aquarium, Big Sur, Hearst Castle as well as several State Parks and beautiful beaches.

Lifey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

On most people's must do list, and on mine, would be the Pacific Coast Highway CA1. It is a spectacular drive. But be aware, it is a TWO day drive from SF to Claremont. Along the way there is Carmel by the sea, Monterey Aquarium, Big Sur, Hearst Castle as well as several State Parks and beautiful beaches.

Lifey

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Thank you Lifey... So were planning to fly up on Sunday night... Stay in Bellingham that night. Cross the border on Monday Morning, hang out Monday maybe even tuesday. Then start driving back down Wednesday.

You are planning to rent the car on the US side, right? That would be more do-able than trying to rent in Canada and drop it in the USA. The other issue is that with a car rental, you're going to pay a one-way drop-off fee, which could be anywhere from $350-1000. Be aware of that.


Donna

Also need to be completely sure what documents you must have in order to cross the border in BOTH DIRECTIONS. I don't know the answer to that - I let my passport expire as I have no need for it. I tell my Dad that if he gets stuck in BC when up there fishing that he'll have to get help from someone else to get back out.

I have done this (rented a car in Bellingham for use in Canada), and several thousands of other people do it routinely. Bellingham is serviced by Allegiant Airlines as their alternative to more expensive airports such as SeaTac and Vancouver International. The car rental franchises at Bellingham are quite used to providing the documentation needed. Typically, this amounts to nothing more than a card showing proof of insurance coverage in Canada. The only problem I have ever had crossing the border in a rental car came when I took a Canadian rental (for which I had not pre-cleared use in the U.S.) into Point Roberts, a unique bit of the U.S. reachable only from Canada. When I drove back into Canada I was told I shouldn't have done that, but was let back in anyway. So, when you reserve your car, just make sure to tell them that you plan to take the car into Canada (and bring it back to the U.S.). Mention this again when you actually pick up the car and all should be fine.

Edit: And yes, you will need passports for crossing the border in both directions!

AZBuck