Vancouver, BC - Las Vegas (West Coast down, ID back up)

[benjis_monikuss]

I knew this forum would be the death of me! I can't stop adding POI to our trip because of reading everyone else's threads! Hahahah. I think we are going to skip over to the 101 after Eugene and follow that down to about Eureka. Then we can see the Prehistoric Gardens (this makes me much too excited for someone my age), the Redwood National and State parks and the Trees of Mystery. Not to mention just the pure beauty we'll get to drive down for about 5 hours as opposed to our straight shoot... which after the bluff is a lot less scenic. We'd stay in Eureka instead of Weed then just jump back over to the I5 via 36 at about Red Bluff and continue on our original route. I think I need to step away from this site, I've already added an extra day and a half driving! Lol

[Midwest Michael]

If you cut over to the coast at Eugene, you're going to be adding a whole lot more than 5 hours to your trip, and that's if you don't stop at any of the places you listed. There's also no way you can get from Vancouver to Eureka in a single day (It's nearly 800 miles!)

There is no quick way to get between I-5 and US-101, as you're going over/through mountains on 2 lane roads. Cutting over at Eugene will take you about an hour and a half just to get to the coast, and using CA-36 to get back to I-5 will take you 3.5-4 hours. That's 5 hours of extra driving right there, and that doesn't factor in the extra time it takes to follow the coast. Taking US-101 will take you roughly twice as much time as I-5, where just the section of the coast you're looking at will likely take you about 7 hours all by itself.

Mind you, if you want to visit these places, that's great, just know they aren't a simple little detour. This addition basically adds a full day to your trip, just for the extra driving, and you'll need more time than that to see the places you've listed. I'd also say if you do go this way, then you'd be better off taking US-101 all the way back down to the Bay Area, rather than cutting through the mountains to get back to I-5.

[Eris]

Once drove route 36 from route 101 to Red Bluff at the I-5.

It was a long tiring time on a two lane road full of twists, turns and ups and downs. About 140 miles long and with a brief stop took 3.5 hours. You don’t need to be in a rush to take this road.

[glc]

CA-36 between the coast and I-5 is a very tiring but beautiful drive. This will be half a day right there. If you stay on US-101 to CA-20 that would be a better bet.

[benjis_monikuss]

As I said, I've added a day and a half to our trip. We would be doing Vancouver to Eugene and stay there, Eugene to Weed CA via the 101 route then stay there, fully aware this is a 550mi drive, then back on to what we originally had planned for the last 2 days.

If the 20 is better, maybe we will choose to stay around the Newport area as opposed to Eugene.

We really want to see the Prehistoric Gardens on the 101 and spend the night at the Hi Lo in Weed CA (famous pies), that why this is literally a detour.

[glc]

Weed is on I-5, not 101.

With the places you have mentioned that you want to go, I'd just take I-5 all the way.

If you want to go through the redwoods, then you can take US-199 from Grants Pass to US-101. This will bypass Weed.

In other words - pick either Weed or the redwoods. You don't have the time to do both.

[benjis_monikuss]

I'm making the rookie error of trying to fit too much into my given timeframe. I'll do the 101 some other time. We'll stick to our original route mostly, just broken up over more time. Having a safe road trip is the #1 goal and I feel like we'll get to see a decent amount along the way regardless.

Day 1
Vancouver, BC - Bellingham, WA - Olympia, WA, Powell's Bookstore Portland, OR - Multnomah Falls, OR - Albany, OR

Day 2
Albany, OR - Grant's Pass, OR - Weed, CA and see Lake Shastina.

Day 3
Weed, CA - Red Bluff, CA - Modesto, CA - Bakersfield, CA

Day 4
Bakersfield, CA - Barstow, CA - Las Vegas, NV

How are we doing? Are we getting any better at this? Then for my drive back;

Day 1
Vegas - Ely, NV - Wells, NV - Twin Falls, ID and see Shoshone Falls while there if I'm not exhausted.

Day 2
Twin Falls, ID - Boise, ID - La Grande, OR- Ellensburg, WA.

Day 3
Ellensburg, WA - Easton Lake State Park, WA for breakfast - Bellingham, WA to fill my tank with cheap US gas for the last time - HOME!

[glc]

Day 1 - 400 miles. 7 hours plus stops and border delay.
Day 2 - 300 miles. 5.5 hours plus stops.
Day 3 - 500 miles. 9 hours plus stops. Best place to cross from I-5 to CA-99 is through Stockton on CA-4.
Day 4 - 300 miles. 5.5 hours plus stops.

Day 1 - 500 miles. 9+ hours plus stops. This is taking NV-318 from Ash Springs to US-6 to Ely. There are no services whatsoever on this route from Alamo to Ely. Taking US-93 through Caliente and Pioche is 50 miles longer.
Day 2 - 500 miles. 9 hours plus stops.
Day 3 - 250 miles. 4.5 hours plus stops and border delays.

I personally would see Shoshone Falls in the morning of Day 2, then only drive to Kennewick that night. Stop at Lake Easton for lunch instead of breakfast on Day 3. This will make the drive times 7 hours and 6.5 hours. If it's still early enough when you get to Kennewick, you can press on to Yakima - about 1.5 hours.

[benjis_monikuss]

Yup, you got pretty much the same info as me. I'm still tinkering with the return trip. I don't mind doing the 500mi days, trying to stay under 550 as a max and I think my longest trip is 527ish.

Thanks for the info on CA 4, I'll definitely take that!

I'm going to fill my tank in Vegas on the way out of the city and planned on taking your suggested route through NV 318. I'll fill my tank in Ely then in Wells too.

If I do turn out to be too exhausted or the day is a lot longer than expected, I will definitely see Shoshone on the way out of Twin Falls. Same thing with Lake Easton. For my return trip those stops are more like estimates at this point. They are the furthest I'm willing to drive, if I'm too tired before I get to those points I will just stop at the first place I see along the way. For the second night I predicted my overnight to be anywhere around that Yakima/ Ellensburg area but could end up being anywhere from Pendleton depending on how I feel at the time. My ideal return trip would be the one I laid out as it would get me home at roughly midday on the last day of travel which still gives me most of a day to unwind and relax and catch up at home.

Luckily for us we still have 8 weeks left to get all the details ironed out haha

[benjis_monikuss]

Yup, you got pretty much the same info as me. I'm still tinkering with the return trip. I don't mind doing the 500mi days, trying to stay under 550 as a max and I think my longest trip is 527ish.

Thanks for the info on CA 4, I'll definitely take that!

I'm going to fill my tank in Vegas on the way out of the city and planned on taking your suggested route through NV 318. I'll fill my tank in Ely then in Wells too.

If I do turn out to be too exhausted or the day is a lot longer than expected, I will definitely see Shoshone on the way out of Twin Falls. Same thing with Lake Easton. For my return trip those stops are more like estimates at this point. They are the furthest I'm willing to drive, if I'm too tired before I get to those points I will just stop at the first place I see along the way. For the second night I predicted my overnight to be anywhere around that Yakima/ Ellensburg area but could end up being anywhere from Pendleton depending on how I feel at the time. My ideal return trip would be the one I laid out as it would get me home at roughly midday on the last day of travel which still gives me most of a day to unwind and relax and catch up at home.

Luckily for us we still have 8 weeks left to get all the details ironed out haha