60 replies to this topic

[hoyden]

How is Highway 1 north of the Bay Area?

Worth the trip?

Where to stay on that route? 

[nikonron]

I do 4 to 6 weeks every fall, have no problem with food supplies. You have a fridge?  Other than the dates of where you need to be, don't fret about a schedule too much, just go with the flow and relax. This years trip for me, pick up the wife on set date and drop her back off on a set date, that's the extent of my schedule. I despise a schedule of having to be here or there, no fun for me.   Ron

[hoyden]

nikonron - have little dorm fridge! 

 

I think I'm trying to fit in too much. I like having destinations, but the friends I want to see are in Berkeley, Oregon coast, and Washington State. Far. It's looking like if I do the trip I'm considering, I'll drive 3-6 hours a day but have mostly one night stands. Ha! 

I mean, one night campering nights. 

[shortbus4x4]

Oregon state campgrounds are among the best in the nation and all the ones I've stayed at have had free hot showers that were clean.

[hoyden]

I'm not sure I'm going to make it to the Left Coast this time. I've read a lot of accounts of full-time camper people saying that one thing they wished when they started out was to go slower and not try to see everything at once. This trip is supposed to be for me to get some life-perspective and re-learn how to relax and just be. Packing up to a tight schedule every day probably isn't that. 

Bother. 

[PaulT]

I keep the quarter roll in a Ziplock in the cabinet with the water heater winterizing valve so that it doesn't gel pilfered between trips. Don't trust myself to replenish it before the next trip.

 

Paul

[searching for nowhere]

One thing I've learned is that dealing with life's chores takes more time than I had anticipated.  Shopping for food, doing the laundry, shopping for some repair item, driving in from the boondocks to get gas, getting water, looking for a place to camp, etc.    The last item I have to work on.  I can spend way too much time looking for the best camping spot instead of stopping at a good camping spot.  And all the time I'm driving around looking, I'm not doing the thinks I enjoy. 

 

Have fun.  

[hoyden]

searching = my first few trips, I didn't plan my camping spots, and ended up with a lot of that frustrating searching. I think it'd be easier with a partner/navigator who could be looking while we drive, but what I have started to do, is get an idea of where I'll end up and pre-find camping spots within an hour of that area. That way, I have a multiple of choices and if I get tired sooner, have options too. It takes more pre-planning and I'm still not great at it, but it's defintiely gotten better this past year. 

 

I haven't had the experience of having to do laundry, or much for shopping on the road, but I did lose a night on the North Rim to go track down a new turnbuckle. That was something I could have avoided by having spares with me. Can't account for all possibilites, but that one was a small simple one I had considered before I left. Der. 

[allanb]

A ratchet strap is a good multipurpose tool to have along, that might have been a temp fix for the turnbuckle. Hard to carry spares for everything.
Hard to do I know. There is so much to see, and we want to do it all. But Maybe narrow your trip down some. Do you want mtns, desert or ocean? Than focus on a few places.

[Smokecreek1]

A word or two of wisdom to you from an old worry wort , who in retirement has  learned to slow down, follow my nose and smell the flowers. Take it easy-sit back, enjoy the trip and let the dog drive for a while-remember that's why you bought that pop-up for ! Set your self  some loooose goals and try to follow them, but number 1, don't over think things, and remember the name of this site "WTW" so use it to make thing easier!! Buy some neat maps-spread them on your living room floor and do a little planning! This is not the wild west anymore, there is a big world out there, lot's of things to see and do, people to meet and sunsets to see! HW 1, north of SF is one of the most enjoyable roads there is, lot's of beaches, CG's, especially after labor day during the week- stop and have a bowl of clam chowder and a beer at the Tides (the Birds) in Bodega Bay, smell the salt air and gum trees and redwoods!  Get a homemade sandwich at that little bodega at Elk for the trip north!

 

Take your time-see Fort Ross, enjoy the Mendoceno and Sonoma coasts, drive fast throu Fort Bragg-unless you need gas and food! and spend a night or two at Rockport State CG, maybe even take a run into the lost coast area and then head north up into Oregon-nice CG's and beaches and before you go pick up a BLM/FS map of the south coast area(in case you want to run away and hide for a day or two in the woods). You can't see it all during one trip-so don't worry about it. Unless I plan a long daily run-I start looking for a place to camp around 2-3 in the afternoon so I have time to enjoy the rest of the day; maybie even read those info signs someone posted and walk a trail or use that overlook! Enjoy!

 

Smoke

Edited by Smokecreek1, 21 September 2016 - 04:02 PM.