Live on the Central Coast worked in the Bay Area for a while.

If one wants to get North to South or vice versa as fast as possible and doesn’t mind driving by feedlots (smelly) and miles of boredom, I5 is the way to go.

If one wants a more pleasant, more interesting, but a little slower drive, 101 is your huckleberry.

If it is all about tourism, you don’t care how long it takes, or what it costs, you’re good to go with twisty roads, sheer drop offs into the ocean, way too many tourists, RVs bollixing up traffic, etc, then you may want to consider highway 1, also known as the coast road. Unfortunately, due to multiple slides it has been closed in and around Big Sur on and off for the last several years. If you want a taste of this, you might consider 101 down 68 or something similar to cut over north of the highway 1 closure and see that part or 46 west a little south of Paso Robles to cut over south of the closure. You’d have to backtrack a bit either way if you wanted to see all the way to the closure, but if you have the time, money, and driving ability (gas is stupid expensive in CA, worse along this route as it has to be trucked a long way in) and you really want to see it you can.

If one is at all aware about neighborhoods, one is unlikely to have problems on any of the three (two really, with the third just being detours added to see more coast) routes in CA. I don’t know enough about OR to speak to that.

Email is in profile, happy to share more info about Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, Los Osos, San Luis Obispo, Avila, Pismo Beach/Five Cities area and/or be a resource in the area if they need one.

Most of CA is not like Bay area and Los Angeles. Highway 99 is a shit show as usual, so be careful if traveling through 99.

quote:

Originally posted by BearBio:
We just returned yesterday from a Memorial Service in Seal Beach, CA. We went down along the east side of the mountains and returned along the coast. We are 67 and 74 respectively. You can get to San Simeon and the elephant seals along the coast but have to turn around. Hwy 1 is closed just above Big Sur. We left San Luis Obispo because a brush fire on the hills above the hotel took out the power in most of the city. Traffic into Monterey was BAD in the AM (20-30 miles of bumper-to-bumper). We went over to I-5 and had no real problems through Redding and Oregon as far as Albany. Then it was STOPPED!! Detoured to Corvallis and back to I-5. Leaving Portland along the Gorge was clear in the AM. LOTS of construction!

Got some good pics of wildlife!

We are 67 and 74.

As stated, traffic jams will be the biggest issue! I learned to drive in Los Angeles traffic! Just advise them to calm down. Most CA drivers are jerks (spelled "As-----s") but they do know how to drive, unlike Seattle, Portland or Spokane.

Redwoods State and National Park is stunning and worth the drive. It is extremely humbling, to me, and worth taking even 20 minutes to walk one of the easy loop trails directly off the main road.

We are of similar age and drive through California yearly. (Seattle to Casa Grand)do an Oil change, fluid and tire check.
Travel I-5. The only sketchy area is Sacramento to Stockton. I’ve yet to find a decent hotel.
We belong to Costco and plan the trip using the gas stations. Places are clean, and have attendants. Plus there’s always people around.
Join AAA. I’ve had a dead battery that was quickly replaced. You are rarely out of call phone range.
Our trips are to get through the state. We also travel in Jan-Feb (chains, sleeping bags etc)

They are in Oregon today. They are really enjoying it

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
Most of CA is not like Bay area and Los Angeles. Highway 99 is a shit show as usual, so be careful if traveling through 99.

I believe that at one time the 99 was considered one of the deadliest highways in CA and/or the nation?

Oh, and then there's the Tulley fog to contend with, at anytime of the day, with some drivers not realizing that doing 78 mph in 65 mph zone and with less than 50 feet of visibility is not the safest of decisions.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
They did mention seeing the redwoods. Not sure what routes they are taking but I will refrain from offering them any advice.

I feel much better after reading the comments.

Hwy-101 is the main route through that area. If they'r already in Oregon, they can get down to Grants Pass on I-5, then cut-over onto 199 to connect to 101 at Crescent City.

Crescent City isn't much, it exists because of the big state penitentiary keeps the town alive, otherwise it's quite isolated. Further along is many, many groves of Redwoods, best hotels are going to stretch from Trinidad to the big 'city' of Eureka; Arcata is the other big 'urban' center, and McKinleyville is the 'suburb' to Arcata/Eureka-area.

The rest of 101 is a great drive, the vegetation/foliage goes from Redwoods to Marijuana to Grapes. A stop in Healdsburg is one of my favorite towns, enjoy wine country and great food without getting priced-out like Napa. They can avoid going through the Bay Area proper and get some coastal driving-in just South of San Francisco starting in Pacifica, drive southbound thru Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, do an overnight around Monterey, then get back onto 101 in Salinas and continue all the way down towards Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo (another favorite town) and Santa Barbara.

I-5 is the easiest, safest, and most traveled, obviously, year-round. I would just make sure they plot out their gas points, check the air in their tires including the spare and have some food and water.