Help me plan my trip ~ UPDATE

[Gina D.]

I am actually going to get two weeks in a row off over the XMAS holiday!!! Woo Hoo. My resent to myself? A long jaunt in the egg.

If anyone remembers, I WAS planning on Colorado, but that has changed after some research and helpful info on this site about towing in the winter there.

So.. I am going home to Oregon. No one up there has seen my egg yet, so I get to show it off in Portland.. maybe taunt Donna into a short campout.. others?

I will be avoiding I-5 in No. Cal, So. Oregon, so I thought I might do I-5 to Sacromento area and cut over to the redwoods, then up the Oregon Coast and back in to Portland.

So far, I have put myself in a cruddy KOA in Lost Hills the first day, just to get out of the LA area on friday afternoon, nite, then on to Sacremento day 2. There is a big state historic park there..is it campable? I have heard it is, but I don't know for sure as I don't know the name!

Whats the easiest way to cut over from there? I have done Clear Lake, but remember the grade as pretty icky. Don't even know what hiway I was on.. help?

Can I make the redwoods in a short day from Sacremento?

After getting to the redwoods, there is a campground evry mile it seems, and I know Oregon well, so.. what do I do in between??

On the way back, I will schedule based on the weather.. may just shoot down I-5 if I for sure know it is OK.

[Sharon Herman]

Would sure be nice to meet you in Portland. Give a ballpark as to the dates that you would be around there. Hope my furnace works....

[Byron Kinnaman]

I would like to see your egg. So stop by Woodburn for a visit. I've got lots of parking space and you're welcome to use some of it for as long you'd like.


Byron

[jdtrotter]

Can I make the redwoods in a short day from Sacremento?

After getting to the redwoods, there is a campground evry mile it seems, and I know Oregon well, so.. what do I do in between??

Gina, the only Redwoods you can make in a short day from Sacramento are the ones just north of San Francisco. No matter how you go, it is a long ways from Sacramento to Redwood Nat'l Park north of Eureka.

When we lived in Crescent City, we could drive to Sacramento in a day, but it was a long day. We often took 299 out of Redding over to the coast, but that is quite a mountain road.

You might think about heading a little southwest of Sacramento toward San Francisco and then through some of the wine country. Also, there are lots of nice places along the coast north of San Franciso, like Fort Ross, Bodega Bay, Mendocino.

Have fun
Diane

[Time K]

Gina, if you need a respite ( before or after family) on the road just south of Portland, the Albany KOA is clean, friendly and well managed. Open all year. You can make it there in a long day from Eureka on I5

[jack maloney]

Heading for the Oregon Gathering last summer, we took the (ugh) Interstate 5 north to get as far and fast from Sacramento as possible. Turned off at Redding and cut across the gorgeous Trinity country on Hwy. 299 - it's a truly beautiful drive. Camped in the Trinity in a very nice USFS CG (there are lots of them!), broke out to the coast next day and went up 101 to the Jedediah Smith State/National Park for a couple of days - really lovely. If misfortune should ever find us in Sacramento again, we'll take the same escape route!

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Gina,
2 weeks off at Christmas, thats what I call great news. We're praying for travel mercies and a glorious trip for you visiting family and friends. If you take advantage of offers you might have to actually make an effort to stay in campgrounds.
By-the-way, thanks for posting the secure donation address. I'll repeat it here:

Fiberglass RV
P O Box 844
Atascadero, CA 93422 US

Kurt & Ann K.

P.S.
Better put your camera in the Shady Bush II now so it's not forgotten.(He says with tongue in cheek)

[jdtrotter]

Turned off at Redding and cut across the gorgeous Trinity country on Hwy. 299 - it's a truly beautiful drive.

I have always loved the Trinity Alps and we lived very close to Jeddidiah Smith State Park. However, the Trinity Alps could be a problem at the end of December.

Diane

Then again, I am someone who thinks snow is something you look at through the window while enjoying a nice warm fire----definitely not something one drives in.

[Nancy in Oregon]

Glide! You gotta come to Glide! You gotta come to Glide! And stay with us.

Nancy

[Gina D.]

Glide is entirely possible on the return trip!

I will be staying in Milwaukie when I get to Portland. My friends have an RV pad! (Yeah, they bought the house JUST for my visits LOL!)

Would love to go thru Trinity, but the snow is a probem. Have to save that for a driving and motel trip, I think. That area is the one I am trying to avoid by going over to 101.

I Have found out I will have additions with me too. I'll have to remember the name of my Vet in Gresham to board! Does anyone in Portland have a good boarding place that treats thier babies like royalty and puts up with daily calls? "Did they go poopies? How is Stickys sneeze? Did I bring enough tissues?"

Thanks for the offers for parking spots. It will be the holidays and the last thing you want is some strange bird with two Beagles making your nieghborhood look like the Beverly Hillbillies have come to visit!

I looked at the route south of San Fran.. that takes me over the Golden Gate. Thers a Home Page phot if I ever saw one...

Too bad it won't happen unless I hire a Helicopter!

[DaveK]

This isn't in Portland per se, but it's close: http://www.susiescountryinn.com/
I'm told it's very nice. It's been booked whenever I've needed a kennel, which seems to speak well of it.

PJ has stayed here more than once: http://www.gomontage.com/ It's easy to get to from I-205, which would be convenient from Milwaukee. Depending on where in Milwaukee, probably about 25-30 minutes travel time.

Don't forget that 101 is treacherous in winter, and you can wind up stuck in Tillamook because all of the passes to Portland are closed for snow.

[Donna D.]

I've sent Gina a message asking for dates she'll be in the Portland area. How does meeting for a no-host meet and greet maybe McMenamins Kennedy School sound?? Fairly centrally located, large parking lot, no smoking atmosphere, good inexpensive food, they serve alcohol or not as you wish?

[Joy A]

Gina,

I go to Oregon frequently and often in the winter. My routes are either I- 5 to Woodland then through Clear Lake as you well know. Or, just north of Stockton on I - 5 turn west onto Hiway 12. When you get to I-80 turn west towards San Francisco. Travel 10 miles or so to Vallejo and take Highway 37 west. Hiway 37 meets Hiway 101 at Novato.

There's a third route but much slower. Go the Hiway 12 route except when you get to I 80 go west for about 2 miles and take the Hiway 12 exit west. Hiway 12 jogs below Napa and ultimately ends up at Hiway 101 in Santa Rosa. There is a cutoff to Petaluma on Hiway 116, still slow.

You mentioned the grade to Clear Lake being steep. It's not any steeper than some of Hiway 101 below Willits. The Hiway 37 route would be the flattest route.

I've also gone the 299 route out of Redding. It's much steeper, several grades, but pretty. I wouldn't chance it in the winter though.

[Gina D.]

Joy.. those are GREAT directions. I am going to check the map asap. I wasn't really impressed with clear lake, it was just a place to plop my tent on a long trip.

DaveK!!! I love you! I checked the Montage site. My dogs are booked there from the 22nd to the 27th! I may stay with them, it looks nicer than my trailer LOL!

Prices are GREAT compared to what I pay here, and they can accomidate my sometimes stinker males "issues". I feel better they will always be within reach, or with me. I don't like to leave them at all for more than a couple of days.

My KOA book has many options and the KOAs north of San Fran all look like nice spots.. with WiFi.. woo hoo!

As far as the dates I will be in P-Land, it'll be the 22nd thru the 26th, leaving the morning of the 27th.

Donna has an evil plot... she can tell you about it.

[Gina D.]

Dave.. do I come off as THIS bad? LOL!

Check his other link.. look at this place!

http://www.susiescountryinn.com/dogs.html

[Lance MacArthur]

Its a nice ride up 101 from San Rafael through the wine country. Lots of redwoods along the way, and a few pretty decent rv roosts. If you're coming up I5, cross over 580 and stay on it to San Rafael, where it meets 101. You'll be going on a piece of 880 through Berkeley and then across the San Rafael bridge ($5) where it meets 101. Clear sailing to the Oregon border, and you don't have to do the curvy drives further north.

Hope the weather's ok in Oregon. It can get COLD there!

[Gina D.]

Curvy roads = Bad. Since the Kids will be with me, I want to keep the, er, ejection factor at a minimum.

"Kitty, want to go for a ride in the car?"
"yeah Mom! Yeah yeah yeah, woof. Blat".

[Jackie]

Donna D. Posted on Nov 12 2005, 06:38 PM

How does meeting for a no-host meet and greet maybe McMenamins Kennedy School sound??

Awright! Sounds like a great idea...please do let me know when!!

And, Gina - take a look at this for some ideas on campsites between Sacramento and Portland...

Campsites

Jackie

[Gina D.]

OK, so far, I have figured 1/2 of it out.. just to get out of California and see some pretty sites.

I can't stand most KOAs, but the ones in No. Cal are really nice. (My favorite is the one in Shasta, but I wn't be going there this time.) They also have full hook ups, which I will need to relax after a full day of whipping a trailer and 2 dogs around.

I will go to Stockton on Saturday. That looks like a crumby spot, but it gets me out of LA and set for the rest.

Sunday, on to Peteluma, then monday, up as far as Cresent city.

There are a zillion state parks and county campground in Oregon, I am not bothering with ressies on those.. it's winter and even Oregonians stay put, for the most part. Probably hit Florence the next day, then up to Astoria, which puts me back thru Longview, and on down to Vancouver/PDX to drop off the kids at the doggie resort.

I don't want to rush, I have two weeks, but I don't want to doddle either.

[Elsie G.]

Hi Gina, if you're coming up 101, take a potty break, at the Mill Casino. They will even let you stay overnight, free. No hookups there yet. They are trying to get utilities in by next summer, supposedly. But, they do have a really nice grassy potty area, for the "kids." Give us a call, we'll come down, to say HI!