Driving from Seattle to Phoenix via Oregon and California

[kathleen kn01]

Help! We are leaving in 2 weeks and I need ideas on places to stay between Portland OR and Phoenix (3 stops) and which routes to take. We will have 2 cars, one is a 12 foot moving van. I am OK with the route from Seattle to Portland but am open on which places to stop to divide the trip up after Portland (3 stops at night to break up the driving). We do like San Francisca, but how to park the moving van? Park outside the city and drive in in my Honda? (4 of us)

Kathleen

[AZBuck]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America forums!

Well, the first thing I'd note is that you do have an advantage in having two vehicles. I'd pack absolutely everything into the moving van and leave the Honda as your 'scout' vehicle for forays into cities and parks where driving or parking or both will likely be a problem. Assuming one of your overnight stops will be in the Bay area, then your other two stops would be roughly Medford, OR and Mojave, CA. The second might require some explanation. The usual route that mapping software will give you from San Francisco to Phoenix would be to continue down I-5, use I-210 'around' Los Angeles, and finish up on I-10 to Phoenix. In my experience I-210 is as congested as any freeway in Los Angeles so unless you want to visit the city (for which you really don't have time), then you'll be better off avoiding it all together by taking CA-58 through Bakersfield to Barstow, I-40 to Kingman and US-93 to Phoenix. It will take a bit longer, but will be not nearly as nerve-racking. If you go this way, Mojave is about half way, but Bakersfield or Barstow would probably offer more lodging options, and either would still leave two very manageable days on either side.

AZBuck

[kathleen kn01]

Thank you so much - this is EXACTLY the kind of info i was looking for! I have never been south of San Francisco so have no idea what route would work best, and LA-type traffic would be very frustrating! Let me know if I can help you or anyone with Northwest info (Seattle, Spokane, etc. )

Kathleen