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Topic: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. (Read 13 times) previous topic - next topic
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Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Yahoo Message Number: 149818
Hi all,
 My wife and I are planning to take about 2 weeks to travel to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia from the San Francisco area and back in the middle of July. We'll be taking our black lab with us. (She's a seasoned traveler and and is used to spending hours on the road.)

Do you have any suggestions for the route to take (or to avoid) and things to see on the way?  Will this trip cover too much distance in too short a time?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

David

--

David Harris
2920 Taper Ave.

Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 206-8800
RV: 2002 MB
Toad: 2014 CR-V
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149820
David wrote:

Quote
My wife and I are planning to take about 2 weeks to travel to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia from the San Francisco area and back in the middle of July. ...

Will this trip cover too much distance in too short a time?
You won't get anything done but driving.
 We're in the same county you're in. We went to OR, WA, BC & Glacier Park in 2015, and the trip took 51 days. We skipped a lot of stuff we'd have liked to have seen, due to lack of time.

Jim O'Briant Gilroy, CA CEO & Administrator
www. OvernightRVParking.com
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149824
I would plan on taking a month at least, otherwise you will be driving past a lot of scenery and not seeing anything.
In Wa & BC, take the ferry from Anacortes through the San Juan Islands to Sydney on Vancouver Island, explore Victoria Buchart Gardens and points north. Then take the ferry from Sydney through the Gulf Islands to Tswassan, then up thru Vancouver to Lund, which is the northern end of highway 101.  Take the excursion passenger ferry over to Savory Island which is at the point that the currents around both ends of Vancouver Island meet so there is no current just the up and down of the tide. Because of this the water is quite warm and there are beautiful sandy beaches.
Enjoy! Ian & Jean "The Silver Fox" 27 MB, Seattle Wa.
2015 MB
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149825
We're still on the worker bee vacation schedule. Three summers ago we went from Albuquerque to northern California then up the coast and over to Seattle, over to Spokane, down through Yellowstone and home in 3 weeks. We only stayed at each campsite along the way for 1 or 2 nights. Sometime the sites were 10 miles apart, sometimes much more. Sometimes we stopped along the way and sometimes we went straight to the next site.
We had a blast. I would have loved to stay many nights at some of the spots but we just didn't have that much time. We had our lab cross and she was never an issue.
Since you are starting from San Francisco and have two weeks I would recommend Oregon and Washington only as a compromise. If the idea of the trip is to sample places you might want to return and spend longer, continuing to Canada might be reasonable. If you want to do something like explore Vancouver Island I'd save it for another trip.
Have fun! Lk in 87 tk
2018 24' Twin King (replacing 1987 22' TK)
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149826
I suppose you can take many weeks to do something, but a lot can be done with only two weeks.
 We took a trip from Prescott Arizona to Victoria and back which took two weeks and two days. And San Francisco is 775 miles north of us, so we had to travel another 1,500 miles further than if we lived in San Francisco. That would have given us another 4 days.
 Along the way we visited friends in three cities, and spent three days walking around Victoria B.C. We traveled north through Nevada, then Oregon, Washington, B.C., Washington again, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and back home. Every day we did something along the way. Not the trip the OP was planning, but just showing that you can do a lot in two weeks besides just driving.
 We stayed in Las Vegas (1 night), Reno (2 nights), Eugene OR (2 nights), Ferndale WA (1 night), Victoria B.C. (3 nights) Bellingham WA (1 night), Spokane (2 nights), Butte MT (1 night), Las Vegas (3 nights) and home. So you can see that we were doing more than just driving.
 As far as routes, I would take the 101 all the way to Astoria, then cut over to I-5 to get to B.C. There will be plenty for you to do along the Oregon coast, and in B.C. Be sure you take the ferry across to Victoria, and maybe stay there a couple of days. They have beautiful campgrounds. Don't forget Butchart Gardens. Be sure you take the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay ferry out of Vancouver. Our favorite campground on the Oregon coast is South Beach State Park south of Newport. While there you can visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Dick
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149831
In a word US 395.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_395

After hitting the Canada border go left to BC then back down I 5 till Seattle.  Then head over to Port Angeles .... Pick up US 101

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_101

Two weeks is not enough time to enjoy anything near enough.   I've lived in Oregon for almost 30 years and still have not seen and enjoyed all the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Enjoy and have a great time.

Glen
personal fine art photo stuff
TF Mack | Flickr
It's all good .......
2014 Twin King
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149833
I suggest leaving California quickly by hwy 5.  Once in southern Oregon, choose between coast or upland forest.  Good camps either way.

If coast, see Astoria and maybe visit Fort Clatsop. (The Corps of Discovery are my heroes.)  You can ferry from Port Angeles WA to Victoria.  Camping at West Bay with one-mile waterfront path to downtown Victoria is worth the price.  Must make reservation.

Remember there is a series of 3-day weekends in BC and AB sometime, maybe late July. People take some time off to camp in their mountains.
Last summer's visit got shortened because the local folks were using all their spaces.  Back to Montana on Thursday for us.

You'll want to go back.

John
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149834
You are going too early in the year to have decent weather on the coast if that concerns you.  Late August and September are much better on the Oregon coast.  I lived in Portland for 15 years and should know!

Glen
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149839
I forgot to say something very important about your plans to go to B.C. Don't forget your passports! You can't get back in the U. S. without them.

Dick
Re: Travels to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 149848
Hi all,
 Thanks for all the responses about our proposed trip (both on-line and off-line).  We've decided to see Oregon this trip. (We've limited time since we're both still working.) Maybe next year we'll go further north.

Thanks again,

David

Quote
Hi all,
 My wife and I are planning to take about 2 weeks to travel to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia from the San Francisco area and back in the middle of July. We'll be taking our black lab with us. (She's a seasoned traveler and and is used to spending hours on the road.)

Do you have any suggestions for the route to take (or to avoid) and things to see on the way?  Will this trip cover too much distance in too short a time?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

David
--

David Harris
2920 Taper Ave.

Santa Clara, CA 95051

(408) 206-8800
RV: 2002 MB
Toad: 2014 CR-V