Hey Collective!
I'm going to be driving from San Francisco (Reebok #8 will be worn for Venezuelan vote on Sunday btw) to Crescent City on Monday. I've never done the 101/1 drive and want to see the cool stuff on the way. I've seen the Redwoods; but my girlfriend hasn't who is from Ven. All she's seen is Jungles and crap, haha. Any tips? She knows about and wants to do the car drive through tree.....To me it looks like the 1 up the coast until it gets back to the 101? I guess I'm asking about things to check out on the way? The maps show tons of state and one or two natl parks...recommendations? I think she'd rather see 350ft trees than beaches though. We'll basically have all day to go from SF to Crescent City (~10 hours?)
Thanks in advance!

-SH

Check out Point Reyes. It has a bazillion different trails to walk/hike, and a lot of them are under a mile long. If you're into the forest and the beach, this place will blow you away. My Mom's side of the family is from the bay area (UGH!), and I always loved going there.

Check it out.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/best_places_USA/point-reyes-california-slice-heaven-earth/story?id=14255501#.UWkpw8piJMw

Beautiful drive. Take pictures. And when the sign says 10 mph, it means TEN MILES AN HOUR! Those curves are sharp.

Smokey: I used to live in Mendocino, CA, and have made the drive to SF and have also driven from Mendo to Skagit County.

First let me say that driving along the Coast is beautiful for the first 2-3 hours, then it gets to be a bit of a pain...and very time consuming. Here is what I suggest:

Take 101 up into the Sonoma Wine Country and maybe stop for a quick wine tasting. Continue on 101 and get off at the Cloverdale/128 exit and take 128 over to the Coast. 128 winds through the redwoods and you hit the Coast just below Albion on the Mendocino Coast. Follow the coast north. You may want to stop in the town of Mendocino and cruise for a bit. (Lots of TV & Movies have been filmed on the Coast.)

Continue north until Hwy 1 turns inland to the town of Legget. IIRC, there's a 'drive thru tree, @ Legget. Here Hwy 1 meets Hwy 101. Take 101 North. This will lead you through the redwoods again.(you might want to try the 'Avenue of Giants.') 101 will then take up towards Eureka and then Crescent City.

I usually turn east at Crescent City to Grant's Pass, OR, then catch I-5 for the rest of the trip.

I see you live in Ballard. Do you ever go into the Viking Tavern? The owners, Tim & Peggy are friends of mine from Mendocino. I'm sure they'd have advice too.

One last thing, TAKE YOUR TIME DRIVING!! Trust me, if you hit one of those redwood trees they hardly move at all...and the Coast is just as dangerous. Just chill and enjoy the views and your Sweetie.

Enjoy the ride!

take pictures!

The Avenue of the Giants (the section of 101 where the drive-through tree is) is actually south of where 1 and 101 split, so if you take 1 all the way to where you run into 101 you'll have to turn back south. I found this out the hard way on my first motorcycle coast ride - I was in Mendocino and realized I had to take a road (which turned out to be From Hell) from Mendocino/101 straight over the coast range to get back to my route, which I was trying to ride on 1 all the way south.

GeekHawk wrote:The Avenue of the Giants (the section of 101 where the drive-through tree is) is actually south of where 1 and 101 split, so if you take 1 all the way to where you run into 101 you'll have to turn back south. I found this out the hard way on my first motorcycle coast ride - I was in Mendocino and realized I had to take a road (which turned out to be From Hell) from Mendocino/101 straight over the coast range to get back to my route, which I was trying to ride on 1 all the way south.

Sorry Patrick, but I have to disagree here. The Tree I'm talking about is in Leggett. http://www.drivethrutree.com/

There may be other drive-thru trees, but this is the one I'm talking about.

Avenue of the Giants is north of Leggett; up near where they hold 'Reggae on the River.' (French's Camp?) I lived on the Mendocino Coast for 16yrs and have made the trip many times.

All I know is that I cut over from south OR to the coast and caught 101 south, didn't reach the 1 cutoff, went on the Avenue of the Giants, rode through a tree, took a pic of my bike in front of it, then continued south until rejoining 101. At that point, I continued south until reaching Mendocino, where I stayed for the night and enjoyed libations at a local brewpub downtown (within walking distance of my motel, of course). In the morning I consulted my map and realized that I had bypassed the first part of 1, so I asked several locals the best way to the coast. I got a couple of votes for this road that went pretty much straight over the ridge there (Elk Ridge, maybe?), with the twistiest road I've been on without 4WD. At times the pavement was barely wider than my Harley, and there were plenty of up-and-downgrades of 20% or more. I reached the coast and Hwy 1 at a lighthouse where the guesthouse was closed for renovation.

Did you happen to spend the night in the town of Hopland? Was the brewpub, 'The Hopland Brewery?' They make Redtail Ale...among other brews.

If you took the road over Greenwood Ridge, (Elk Ridge) you'd hit the coast at Elk, (formerly Greenwood, CA.) And yeah, that is a hell of a road! But, you must have seen some great views! I can remember driving that road in a '64 Chevy P/U, praying no one was coming in the other direction....'cause there was no room for two!! LOL!

Did Seattle to SF a few years ago for my anniversary. Took 101 the whole way.

My only suggestion is to not stop in Crescent City haha. That place was a dump :/

LymonHawk wrote:Did you happen to spend the night in the town of Hopland? Was the brewpub, 'The Hopland Brewery?' They make Redtail Ale...among other brews.

If you took the road over Greenwood Ridge, (Elk Ridge) you'd hit the coast at Elk, (formerly Greenwood, CA.) And yeah, that is a hell of a road! But, you must have seen some great views! I can remember driving that road in a '64 Chevy P/U, praying no one was coming in the other direction....'cause there was no room for two!! LOL!

I spent the night in actual Mendocino, and I don't remember the name of the brewpub (I may have had a couple before the night was done ). Yes, there were some great views, but dang! By the time I got over that road, then made my way down Hwy 1 around all those 10mph curves until staying my next night where ever it was (Half Moon Bay, maybe? the memories kinda run together) I was certainly ready for a shoulder massage... I knew it was a heluva road when I went around the very first curve leaving the valley, standing on my Harley's footboards like dirt bike pegs, wishing I had a gear lower than 1st and hoping to not see a '64 Chevy P/U coming the other way. I need to see that place again, I think.

Winding roads are a way of life in Mendocino...'specially the Coast. I lost more friends to those roads then I care to remember.

Patrick: I don't mean to be a wiseguy, but the Town of Mendocino is on the Coast. I lived and worked there. (Musta been hella beer.)

Hey,
Thanks for all the recommendations! We're in SF right now...looks like Maduro "won", anyways....Gonna go to GG park in the AM and then hop on the freeway that runs through there and go north. We don't really care if CC is a dump, it's just a place to crash for the night after the drive North, remember she's from Venezuala so all these trees, she wants to see, we have more time so gna check out the coast, we have all day basically..I'll definitely post some pics when I get home and have access to a real setup..(posting on the shi..er at hotel nikko in Union Square on a 1.25Ghz G4 Ppppowerbook...haha, works great btw Roland).
We just got back from John Farley's....ok place, itwas open mic. Shasta was the best as always. Hooked up with my friend who works at Cal..he says wearing wearing Hawks gear causes issues during the season with some of his labmates..

-SH

edit: and yes, I've been to the viking et al..not sure I ever want to move; but if I did, I'd always go back to Ballard.

So how was the trip? Where's the pics?

LymonHawk wrote:Did you happen to spend the night in the town of Hopland? Was the brewpub, 'The Hopland Brewery?' They make Redtail Ale...among other brews.

If you took the road over Greenwood Ridge, (Elk Ridge) you'd hit the coast at Elk, (formerly Greenwood, CA.) And yeah, that is a hell of a road! But, you must have seen some great views! I can remember driving that road in a '64 Chevy P/U, praying no one was coming in the other direction....'cause there was no room for two!! LOL!

My memory is failing me... (Dang that old age! As you know, I'm sure ) I was in Mendocino County, not Mendocino proper. I'm pretty sure I stayed in Boonville. When I hit the coast after The Ridge Road From Hell, I came out right near Point Arena Lighthouse. I obviously need to ride back down there!

Hey y'all!
Awesome trip Lymon! No fighting and she only got mad at me once! Haha....Back with pics...was a quick trip, kind of sort of took some suggestions; but didn't plan very well as our hotels were already reserved...any ways, here's some pics:

Mt. Shasta from our room in the AM...Tree House Inn baby!


SF, these are Maduro supporters, he "won" and is a Chavezista...


These are Capriles' supporters...He is the the candidate that ran against Maduro/Chavez...


Nice looking "Porsche", probably a bug based on the wheels, girl took the pic, I didn't see it so don't know for sure...


First winery we stopped at, totally random, I was sick of driving and pulled into this one because it had an easy turn in...turned out to be Bruce Coehn's who was/is the Mgr. for the Dooboe Bros...nice...hehe


Kunde winery or the shire?


Big ass Tree, Leggett, CA


Harris Beach Ore, there were some frisky squirrels there..hehe


Dunes, Dune City Ore


Regal Seagull, somewhere, Ore coast


Kick Ass museum that I must go back to someday, McMinneville, Ore


PDX, Almost home...aggghhh



-SH

Yes the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville is high test. They have a 2 seat SR-71 and the Spruce Goose.

That Porsche is just the typical 50s "Bathtub" version. A very popular item in the Northwest, surprised you haven't seen them before. They were really big on the sports car tracks. There were a trio of them Red, Blue, Green, that showed up at road race venues a lot. Fun to watch them cause they normally ran bumper to bumber way out front and usually changed positions every lap. lol

That lighthouse pic is just north of Florence, I'm pretty sure.

Why didn't you tell me you already had reservations! LOL!

I'm trying to figure the route you took? The wine country and Leggett are on #101; Mount Shasta is by I-5; and IIRC, McMinnville is on the road between Lincoln City, OR, and I-5. Did you take I-5 to Grant's Pass, across to Crescent City and then up the coast to Lincoln City? You've got me curious.

Haha,
No. We went from Seattle to Shasta, Shasta to SF, then I was asking for stuff to do from SF to Crescent.....I've done the South route many times; but never specifically North SF to CC...Usually when I come back from the South it's always just I-5 as fast as I can..hehe. From SF to CC the only reservation I had was in CC. It all worked out though. Another trip without time constraints will probably happen soon. Thread command Cd into textedit, hehe.

-SH

I took a picture of that same lighthouse when we took that same drive.



Sweet vantage point.

SmokeyHawk wrote:Haha,
No. We went from Seattle to Shasta, Shasta to SF, then I was asking for stuff to do from SF to Crescent.....I've done the South route many times; but never specifically North SF to CC...Usually when I come back from the South it's always just I-5 as fast as I can..hehe. From SF to CC the only reservation I had was in CC. It all worked out though. Another trip without time constraints will probably happen soon. Thread command Cd into textedit, hehe.

-SH

Thanks for straightening that out. So, how did you get from SF to CC?

Glad you had a good trip.

BTW: I should be making the trip from Skagit to Mendocino for July Fourth.

I'll dig up some pics from when we put the 747 on the McMinnville water park.
Its pretty cool.

So from SF we headed North across the GG bridge through Petaluma and Wine country, stopped at the 2 wineries I mentioned above and had lunch in Glen Ellen (at the Glen Ellen Inn, super good!) We took the 101 all the way to Eureka then up to Crescent City. After that we did the 1 up Oregon and hit some beaches and Dunes. Was rel nice because it was a weekday and there wasn't much traffic.

-SH

Have stopped there a lot of times through the years and agree its really great.

Also mentioned its a dirty bastard to get out of safely pulling a travel trailer. lol

Here is a pic of us setting the 747 on the water park

I like this one better.

Wait, so that's a water park under there and there just happens to be an airplane museum next to it?? Awesome pics btw!

-SH

Yep.
Bad thing is I've worked out there off and on for years and still haven't been there as a tourist.

SmokeyHawk wrote:Wait, so that's a water park under there and there just happens to be an airplane museum next to it?? Awesome pics btw!

-SH

Yep, I've been there twice. Last time I paid extra to get into the Spruce Goose's cockpit, got to sit wear Howard Hughes sat when he flew it. Was awesome.

Very cool museum. I believe there's a theater there as well.