Trip Advice-- West coast

[drew231506]

Hello,

I am in the begining stages of planning our honeymoon 2-up trip to the west coast. I plan on shipping the fjr (i know i know) to Washington State...from there head down the coast to eventually end in Denver. The only places I KNOW I want to see are the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Big Sur, Vegas, Grand Canyon.

ANY advice on things to see...scenery, historical sites, interesting roads...etc. ALso what not to do...

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Barabus]

Hello,
I am in the begining stages of planning our honeymoon 2-up trip to the west coast. I plan on shipping the fjr (i know i know) to Washington State...from there head down the coast to eventually end in Denver. The only places I KNOW I want to see are the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Big Sur, Vegas, Grand Canyon.

ANY advice on things to see...scenery, historical sites, interesting roads...etc. ALso what not to do...

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mad Maps are what I would use. IF you are camping try LIme KIln camp ground in Big Sur and Montana d'Oro in Morro Bay. These are the best oif the best.

 

[twowheelnut]

First thing you wanna do is sign onto Pashnit, spring for the 20 bucks and hook into their 'Roads' section. Absolutely the best info on Cali roads and will prove invaluable to your planning. I'd say that once in California, stay on Hwy 1 (PCH) and you can hit most of the big attractions like the Goldengate, Monterey, those others that you mentioned. Also, some of the missions are pretty cool to check out. Santa Barbara's is called the 'Queen' of them all and SB would be a nice place to stay for a day or two... If you wanna splurge, check out El Encanto, The Biltmore or San Ysidro Ranch. All are $$$$, but what the feck it's your honeymoon, right?!

You could go right on south to San Diego, which for a big city, is pretty nice, IMO. From there, it's a straight shot up the 15 into Vegas, baby.

As you get along in your planning, feel free to PM me on particular locations that you are looking at. I'd be happy to make comment for you. My range would be from San Luis Obispo to LA. I'm sure others can cover you north, south and east of me.

Have fun!

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

What time of year? The roads close early and open late around Crater Lake........important to check out before you go.

 

[chickey191]

Hello,
I am in the begining stages of planning our honeymoon 2-up trip to the west coast. I plan on shipping the fjr (i know i know) to Washington State...from there head down the coast to eventually end in Denver. The only places I KNOW I want to see are the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Big Sur, Vegas, Grand Canyon.

ANY advice on things to see...scenery, historical sites, interesting roads...etc. ALso what not to do...

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

time of year?

how many days?

How much saddle time per day?

Lots of great Cal roads -

Lots of scenery

Lots of twisties or maximum mileage via super slab.

there are wonderful roads throughout all of Cal. There is some crap in the middle, but even there if you stay on the sides there are still nice roads. What do you want to see? Depending on time of year - I would perhaps do the Monterey, big sur thing, do some redwoods (multiple places) - whip into the Sierra's and come down throw Sequoia - or do the passes of Sonora or come down to San Diego and hit the hills on your way to vegas, but don't miss southern and se Utah - Zion, Bryce, Grand canyons - escalante Ridge and all the parks on the way to Colorado where you will run into many more fabulous roads.

If you take a 3 year honeymoon ride....

You wont be finished.

Oh - and pashsnit surely is a good resouce.

 

[snowmonkey]

ANY advice on things to see...scenery, historical sites, interesting roads...etc. ALso what not to do...

In Washington state I would suggest riding to Paradise Lodge on Mt Rainer and Windy Ridge south of Mt Rainer.

 

[Pjturbo]

When you have the date of arrival in Seattle post it here. Some of us can meet you and give you a marked up map of WA and some advice and concratulations.

Phil

Seattle

 

[drew231506]

Hellooooo-

Thanks for the suggestions!! I'll look it all up as I plan my route. Right now the date is to arrive June 15th...and we'll have two weeks to do what we want. I'd like to focus primarily on scenic roads and great stopping points maybe 100-300 miles per day. I'll post a very tentative route when I have some time...then maybe you can chime in with some more suggestions. I just got Streets and Trips today and plan on using it to do some planning. I'm thinking about getting a tiny laptop for the gps and doing some live updates with pics and text each night for friends and family...we'll see.

Thanks again

 

[UHOH]

Weather: latter part June is great time for the west. Just great.

(1) East of the cascade mts (OR & WA) and the coast range (CA) temps will be v. warm to hot. WA to NV to CO day temp highs will be 80/85 to 95/100. Low humidity. Can forget about rain gear; mesh jacket w/ liner country. Makes riding gear choice easier. B) If thunderstorm, stop for lunch and it’ll be gone in 1 hr.

(2) But, if west of these mtns., the pacific coastal area, it’s cool and damp and requires rain / warmer gear.

cautions:

*) packing for two/riding 2-up on the FJR for 2 weeks, i don't think i could carry the gear for these two different climates. (maybe i'm just a bad packer)

**) Your 100 – 300 miles/day is an enjoyable pace! probably won't get you to denver in 2 weeks, but is a better way to go, imho.

***) maybe shorten start trip in vegas or reno or phoenix (somewhere south) and end up in WA.

do the other destinations (g. canyon, denver) on the next trip.

fun time...