Road trip - Calgary to California and back
 

Hi All,

I’m planning to take a road trip with my wife from Calgary to California and back likely late summer or early fall. The route is indicated on the photo. I’m thinking of driving no more than 12 hours a day, other than the Portland to SFO segment, and staying at least a night in the following cities – Kelowna, Portland, San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Somewhere in Montana, and back home. According to google maps it’ll be roughly 3600 mi (5800 km) round trip. I’ll be staying in the LA area for a few days until we make the trek back home.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2hf7wg0.jpg


Just wondering if you guys had any general thoughts on this that can maybe help me research and plan a bit better. Also some random thoughts/questions:

• Since my wife has a beginner’s experience of driving a manual transmission, and to give me a break from driving I’d like her to drive on fairly flat and less windy roads. Are there any segments of the I-5, from Washington to California specifically, that are relatively easier or harder than other parts?
• Are there any must see stops along my route that we could check out? We’ve been to Seattle and Portland but the stretch from Portland to California we haven’t seen yet.
• A couple of places I want to see while I’m down there are the sequoia national forest and the Bonneville salt flats. Any of you all been here and is it worth it?
• From Salt Lake north, I’m not sure what route to take or whether there are spots worth seeing.

Thanks for your time!

Emmanuel

• Too many places to see/list, it's impossible to just put out a list
• Flat parts on the 5 usually are south of Mt. Shasta, and most of the central valley from roughly Stockton towards Grapevine
• Flat parts of the I-15 are past Victorville to Vegas, and Vegas up to Virgin River Gorge, and then from St. George UT all the way up into SLC.
• North of SLC, recommend you detour to see Jackson WY and swing by Yellowstone.

I have driven PCH from San Luis Obispo all the way up to the Oregon border. Highly recommend the stretch from OR down to SF if you can make it work.

As for what to expect, here's Jackson WY back to LA for reference:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKL7dvhPIFY"]Time lapse, Jackson WY to Los Angeles CA - YouTube[/ame]

My wife and I pretty much did about 80% of your planned route (both south and north bound legs), in two separate trips, about 2-3 weeks ea: CA to Victoria, BC and from CA to MT. How much time are you planning on allotting for the trip? There's just way too much stuff along the way. We kinda played it "loose" and just had 2-3 big "must visit" spots and just stopping at anything interesting along the way.

• Since my wife has a beginner’s experience of driving a manual transmission, and to give me a break from driving I’d like her to drive on fairly flat and less windy roads. Are there any segments of the I-5, from Washington to California specifically, that are relatively easier or harder than other parts?

I-5 from WA to CA is pretty much a flat straight shot, very little to "worry about". I think she might have to down shift in a few spots when you start climbing and descending into the CA valley and then back up in the Grapevine.

• Are there any must see stops along my route that we could check out? We’ve been to Seattle and Portland but the stretch from Portland to California we haven’t seen yet.

If you have time to spare, I would actually recommend taking 101 instead if you want to do stuff along the coast, plus Redwood Nation Park is right along the way. If you must take I-5, Crater lake in OR is pretty cool and a small detour off I-5, same way with Lassen Volcanic Nation Park off Redding. There's pretty much nothing along the CA central valley, but I would recommend you stop by Harris Ranch in Coalinga, CA for a steak (you'll smell it before you see it).

• A couple of places I want to see while I’m down there are the sequoia national forest and the Bonneville salt flats. Any of you all been here and is it worth it?

Yes on both and well worth it. You can actually drive on the salt flats if you want to, its a very cool and surreal experience, but I wouldn't recommend it in our cars unless the salt is super dry and hard (very easy to get stuck and you'll get salt EVERYWHERE)

• From Salt Lake north, I’m not sure what route to take or whether there are spots worth seeing.

If you have time, I would venture further east into WY and definitely spend a few days in Yellowstone National Park.


Good luck and have fun!

It seems you are driving on boring highways in US, go around a bit. Like when u reach Utah go south east & head in to grand canyon or go east & though Denver then drop by pikes peak. On the way south stop by Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe & back west for Grand canyon & Vegas.

As for Ocean states, instead of I5 take 101 along the coast, even if you don't take 101 the whole way at least drive through the Red wood forest by north cali :)

PS: Most US roads are pretty easy? But since she is new, watch out for wet/snow section of the roads.

That's soooo freeway. Nothing to see there. Really.
If you're going that far, stop by the ocean at least once.

Thanks all for the info. Lots to digest and continue my research. Much appreciated. Will consider the PCH and all the recommendations you've made. Will update when time comes nearer.

Go to San Diego. They have beautiful, clear, flat beaches that include sharks, sea lions, Garibaldi, etc. What I consider more beautiful, though, are the semi-private beaches and neighborhoods around where I live on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in the southern brim of Los Angeles County. Take Pacific Coast Highway. The Peninsula is right at the bottom of PCH where it begins to travel inland.

Don't pass up the chance to drive Highway 1 / PCH - especially The Big Sur coast !

1. Drive less distance and more interesting roads. 101 along the coast. Highway 395 along the Sierra. Highway 1 from SF to Big Sur.
2. Buy a travel guide and figure out what you want to do along the way. I like weird roadside attractions, museums, and vegetarian restaurants. What do you like? Figure out where the cool spots are and go there.
3. Pick a few fun roads to drive in your 86. Highway 33 over to Ojai is epic. A little bit of canyon time will increase your smile factor a lot!

Have fun!

Some suggestions for off-piste roads in the PNW

http://roadsnw.com/

I drove from LA to Oregon twice, i will never do that again. Honestly, i think it was boring and really waste of time because I don't get a chance to explorer local attraction much. If I were you, i would just fly to LA and rent a car to drive around. There are so much thing to see, to do, to eat.

Pretty much all of I-5 in California is straight and flat

God damn. Longest I've driven was 1500 miles in 3 days and that was plenty!

Just got back from this road trip spanning 13 days from Calgary to LA and back. Total of 7000 km (~4400 mi) driven. The route I took was from Calgary to Vancouver, to Seattle, to Portland, to San Fran, LA, and basically the same way back. The following are just my observations that others may find useful. If you'd like to see photos, I have posted some on my instagram account: 86smpg


Some observations:


- for the entire trip I had a full trunk and fairly full backseat, and at one leg of the trip I even had 2 other passengers (yes, she fit in the backseat) and I averaged about 7.1 L/100 km (33 mpg) for the entirety of the trip. That was about more than 80% highway driving. I drove around in the cities and there were a number of traffic jams on the highways in the US but overall it was smooth sailing
- further to that, I noticed my gas mileage was worse in the states. For example from the part from Calgary to Vancouver I averaged around 6.3 L/100km (37 mpg). I think this was because my car was compensating for denser air at lower elevations (Calgary is roughly 1000m above sea level) and partly because I was driving more aggressively in the states...
- my longest leg was between Portland and SF (roughly 10 hrs). With a couple stops for gas and to stretch, the car was pretty comfortable to ride in. My butt felt a little tender after that run but nothing serious
- noticed on the highways people like to camp out in the left lane and so you have to use the right lane to pass. I found this kind of backwards. What's worse is sometimes they would speed up to try and prevent you from passing...
- either than serious uphill sections the car is very capable on the highway and can safely pass in 6th depending on your rpm
- saw a few twins in other cities (Seattle, Portland, and a few in Cali) and gave a nod or wave as I passed. Most of them waved back. Maybe some of you are on here? I was a Dark grey BRZ with Alberta plates


Overall it was a pretty enjoyable trip. I would definitely do another road trip in the future with this car. It's not too practical if you have a lot of cargo to bring or if you have more than 1 other passenger but it was absolutely fun to drive. That's all for now. Any questions let me know. Again, for photos check out 86smpg on instagram. :)