NW Honeymoon: flight into Portland roadtrip to Reno airport!

[dscudi]

Hi All,
When we thought about a vacation/honeymoon we knew we wanted to see the beauty within the USA. We live in the Catskills area of NY. We are not beach or heat lovers either. I traveled out to Portland about ten years ago and i remember hiking to the waterfalls, seeing the mountains in the skyline and great wine. More recently I heard about Mt. Tabor park and it will be my new last name, plus I wanted to see the Redwoods-and there is no direct flights there. Roadtrip it is!
So the deal is my best friend had flightpoints and bought us a Southwest flight into Portland, OR in the end of April and out of Reno,NV a week later. I only have a week but if it seems necessary we will add on another day or two. We both have new jobs and my fiance only gets 10days for sick/vacation. My plan is Mon/Tues in Portland, hit the road for about 8 hrs Wednesday, arrive in Eureka, sightsee Thurs/Fri, Saturday drive to Reno/Tahoe area and leave Monday at noon. I did google maps and it says to travel down 5, then redwood highway and then highway 101 to Eureka. see link: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=portl...ed=0CAgQ_AUoAg
Should we take alternate routes to see other stuff?

thanks in advance!
Future Mrs.Tabor

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The thing that makes honeymoons so different from other RoadTrips and vacations in general is the attitude that you have while on them. They should be a time for enjoying the company of your new spouse in a romantic setting rather than trying to fit in as much as you can. With that in mind, I'd make a few suggestions. I've traveled a bit around Portland and along the Oregon and California coasts and they are at their best when viewed at a slow (walking) pace rather than from the road with other competing traffic. So, some suggestions....

Certainly spend a couple of days in the Portland area. The waterfalls along and off the Historic Columbia River Highway would make a great way to spend a day. For lunch plan on eating on the lawn at the View Point Inn in Corbett - great views of the river and it was the location for the prom scene in the original Twilight movie. On your other day in town explore some of the many gardens that give Portland its nickname, the Rose City.

Next up, I'd urge you to reconsider your plan to drive to Eureka in a single day. Not only would that require you to spend an entire day in the car and on the Interstates, but Eureka is not a particularly romantic town. Instead consider taking two days for the drive down to the redwoods, using US-101 along the coast. It's a gorgeous road and the Oregon coast is dotted with numerous state parks that offer cliff-top and beach hikes with views of sea stacks and wildlife. Spend the night in a nice B&B about halfway, say Reedsport or North Bend, and then continue down to Arcata. Arcata is a funky college town built around a large grassy square that is the social center of life in the town. My wife and I recently stayed in a studio just off the square when we visited this area and we were within walking distance of several good restaurants and a hand-made ice cream store. I also highly recommend the Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail in Redwood National Park.

The drive from Arcata to Reno is another one that will take pretty much a full day, but it has the advantage of going through mountains and forests with the accompanying great scenery and chances for short nature walks to break up the drive. Tops on the list of such stops would be Lassen Volcanic National Park. Then while in Reno a day trip to Virginia City would be in order as well as the usual visit to Lake Tahoe.

AZBuck

[dscudi]

thanks so much, Mr.AZBuck! It's just the insight I needed. I figured we can go along the east coast anytime.
I'm just looking at hotels in Portland now. I'll look up places in North Bend and Arcata. Or else I'm wondering if we can wing it and find a place while traveling....I just hope it doesn't rain terribly while we travel. Oh well. We'll be so darn happy it won't matter. It's too bad I can't have my Subaru for my drive. I don't think any rental place has them...ok on to planning/booking! much thanks!!

[AZBuck]

The question of whether to pre-book accommodations for a RoadTrip or to wait and maintain flexibility during the trip is one that comes up often. There is no clear cut 'right' answer, with arguments to be made n both sides. However, in your case I think the arguments for pre-booking would carry a bit more weight. What pre-booking allows you to do is to get all your shopping out of the way before you start out on your once-in-a-lifetime trip. You can find that romantic B&B, or secluded inn from the comfort of your home rather than trying to find something in the dark when you're tired from a long day of activities and just want to get to bed. You can shop for the best price and not have to simply take the first thing that comes along with a vacancy. You and your husband can work things out now in a relaxed atmosphere rather than finding that your tastes and ideas differ enough (perhaps) to start an argument during what should be your most relaxed and enjoyable time together. Yes, as the 'cost' for that, you lose some flexibility in where you're going to end up each night, but what's more important to you, your geographic location or who your with and what circumstances are you together in?

And while I too am a Subaru fan, most modern front wheel drive small sedans (what you'll typically find at rental companies) will do in simple rain and even light snow.

AZBuck