Van to San fran

[Mad Max]

My wife and I are planning to hit San Francisco for New year's eve. We'll leave Vancouver B.C. on Sat. (24th). We have never driven the west coast and need 411 on routes, sites to see, places to eat, and a good party in San. Thanx!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Well, before anyone can give you the 411, they would need some good, old fashioned information, such as how much time you have for the trip, what your interests are, whether you prefer to cruise the main highways or ramble along the less traveled byways. In addition to the links at the bottom of this page, you can also check a recent thread for a very similar trip (at least for the part you'll be driving).

AZBuck

[Mad Max]

We have about 10 days. We are planning on taking our time going down, and getting back in a hurry. Leaving from Vancouver B.C. Our first stop-over will be in Portland. Does anyone know of inexpensive ho or motels to stay in? Downtown would be nice so we could see the city. After that probably Eureka for a night before hitting San Fran. We plan on visiting the Redwood Park and Oregon Vortex along the way, but are looking for other sites to see. Once in San Francisco, we are hoping to hit a good New Years party. Our main interest is a good house DJ but we're open to anything really. Good greasy spoon breakfast joints are also a necessity. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Mad Max

Oh yeah, we leave tomorrow. (NO Pressure)

[AZBuck]

For the way down, since you have the time, I'd suggest that you generally follow US-101 and take a look at a recent thread with information on some intriguing parts of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. You may have to spend a day seeing this but I think it would be well worth it. As far as inexpensive motels near downtown Portland, Days Inn, Motel 6, and Super 8 all have motels that would fill your criteria. Farther south you might want to check out some holiday activities along the Oregon coast. In southern Oregon, you can head inland to Crater Lake National Park but be sure to call ahead first to check current conditions and road closures, and keep an eye on the weather. As you head into northern California, be sure to see Redwood National Park. And by all means take the time to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) for the drive from about Leggett, CA into San Francisco.

The return trip (in a hurry) can be done comfortably in two days by just using I-80 out of San Francisco, and then taking I-505 to connect with I-5 north all the way to the Canadian border and BC-99 into Vancouver.

AZBuck