CA, OR, MT, ID, NV - and more or less?

[curious]

This years "Mustang trip" starts in San Francisco May 28, ending in San Francisco June 17 (3 weeks)

List of the cities we have talked about - not in any prioritized order - just to give a hint of the route:
San Francisco
Seattle
Spokane
Shelby
Willison
Billings
Helena
Twin Falls
Reno
Sun Valley
Levistown

The initial plan is to spend a couple of nights at Oceanside, OR (revisit) and besides this just "generally, not to hurry" - rather skip something less important to spend time on the god stuff :-)

Any suggestions on what to see, special places to stay - or eat :-)? We love the beautiful nature you guys have - and therefore scenic routes ;-), great museums, indian history, ghosttowns ect. (basically all of the "old" USA) - or music events (blues, rock or folk)

How about smoking rules in these areas? Has there been any thightenings from last year? We prefer to stay at motels - don't have to be fancy, just clean - and occationally a nice Best Western ;-) So if you know of motels on this route that has smoking rooms or allow smoking at least on the premises, please let me know that, too.

And avarage temperatures end May/beginning of June? Still chattering my teeth from last years cold in the mountains of Colorado dressed in flipflops - but yet, thrilled that I am still capable of learning ;-)

Thanking everyone in advance for taking the time to consider any of this!

Curious from Denmark

[AZBuck]

Velkommen! Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Well, since we don't know exactly where you'll be going it's pretty hard to offer advice on what to see and impossible to recommend restaurants and motels (which is generally not the forté of this site in any event), but what we can offer you is advice on how to find resources to help you plan a RoadTrip tailor made for you by you. First off, you should be checking state tourism web sites for scenic roads (e.g. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana.) You can use these roads to travel between our National Parks where we keep the best of the good stuff. Once you have a broad outline of what you'd like to do we can help you with some of the details and smaller venues on your way.

Smoking is going to be tough. Rental firms now pretty much universally prohibit smoking in their cars, and most states prohibit smoking in enclosed public spaces including restaurants and even bars in some cases. You can still usually find motel rooms that permit smoking but you will have to ask, and the rooms will have a definite 'air' to them. Smoking is even restricted in national forests and parks, not so much because of the air pollution but because of the fire hazard.

Average temperatures are going to be all over the place from Mediterranean style warmth on the California coast to sub-freezing as you work north and up in elevation. The best advice would be to pack a variety of clothing and be prepared to dress in layers for warmth and flexibility. And I can't think of a single instance where flip-flops would be either appropriate or useful footwear.

AZBuck

[curious]

Hi AZBuck
Tak ;-)

Sorry - of course I should have been more specific! We have travelled the states 2-4 weeks every year the last 11 years, so we are not quite unfamilier with the conditions and what to see. The thing I was wondering was if there were something - besides the beautiful national parks - that we HAD to see on a route in or around the cities mentioned e.g. a specificly interesting museum, scenic route or a fabulous small old town not to pass ;-) We will be travelling from San Francisco up to Seattle following the cost line (revisiting Oceanside, OR) - into Montana - driving around in the area of Helena and Billings (why there?.. don't know... maybe you have a reason? ;-)) - back towards Twin Falls in Idaho - down towards Reno - and to Death Valley - and back to San Francisco.

The smoking hasn't been a problem yet - but we have heard that some states resently have changed the smoking law and was wondering if it concerned any of the states we are going to - and to what extend.

We have never really travelled Montana before, so I was wondering whether to pack sensible clothes - and shoes! - this time or just do as last year ;-) Some stupid Danish homepage told me that weather in Colorado mostly was warm and sunny, so I left most of the "extras" in Chicago - only they forgot to mention how cold the mountains can be in mid May ... and I guess I my self forgot. We have no mountains in Denmark ;-)

And thank you for - once again - answering my call out ;-) You also helped me out back in 2008!

Best regards
Curious