road trip!!

I love the Oregon coast!

Hug beach is just south of Seaside... watch for it. If the tide is out, walk North up the beach around the point to see the waterfall.

DH just mentioned Tillamuck. Do the factory tour.

I love all of the coast.

 

Hug Beach? That's right before Conception Pass, isn't it?

I thought Jedediah Smith park was very nice, and 101 was a fun road. Well, at least on a bicycle. I suppose it depends what you're driving.

 

If you are going to go down the Northern California Coast on Hwy 1, then a 1/2 Skunk train ride out of Fort Bragg is nice. It slowly goes into the redwoods for about 90 minutes, stops out in the Forest for about 30 minutes at Northspur, then returns to Fort Bragg. 4 hours total. Northspur is an open air lunch place/souvenir shop at a beautiful place out in the Redwoods.
The Skunk Train Fort Bragg and Willits California

If you will be going down Highway 101 in that area you can take the train from Willits but I would advise skipping the Willits train ride. Most of the ride from the Willits end is over not particularly attractive dry grass hills.

Highway 1 is also by far the more scenic route. Headed south it starts in Legget, CA which also has a drive through tree.

 

A couple of freebies. About 30 miles south of Eureka you can go to Ferndale, about 7 miles off 101 toward the Pacific. Ferndale is a quaint little victorian town with an original looking downtown area. The are several shops that you wife is bound to find something in, a couple small museums and a neat looking old main street. You need to see the Kinetic Sculpture Museum in Ferndale. Any children with you will like that one.

Not much further down Highway 101 and a bit south of Fortuna is the start of "The Avenue of the Giants". It parallels 101 for about 20 miles and goes through some beautiful redwood groves. They have very good park service visitor center. Avenue of the giants won't add 30 minutes driving time but I expect you will find reasons to stop and look.

 

Roaring Camp Railroads | Felton, California | Santa Cruz County

north of santa cruz

not cheap $8 parking $21/adult

 

If on the way from Washington to SoCal you pass by New England (hey, that's the kind of thing I would have done in my pre-GPS years. And not on purpose) stop by and say hi!

 

Geographically challenged, huh? You're not my ex, are you?

I'll tell a funny story on him: He (we) lived in Minnesota. He was driving down to Texas to see our son's graduation from Basic Training. He mentioned that he was considering stopping in Reno on his way back to MN. :huh:

I asked him just how much of a side trip he was planning on. He was totally convinced that it was just a minor side trip, less than a day, to get to Reno from the route from TX to MN.

He was a schmutz.