Planning road trip to Seattle - LotusTalk

apkom · 05-22-2005, 09:30 PM

Greetings Elisetalk'ers!

My wife and I want to travel to Seattle the week after WCLM2005.
We'll leave Tahoe area morning of 6/6 make a stop at Mt. Shasta to meet a friend of ours and then head off to Pacific coast. We want to just proceed along the Pacific coast driving HWY101 up north. We'll stay somewhere on HWY101 overnight and plan to arrive to Seattlle late evening Tuesday.
Not sure how far we want/can/should drive along 101 as opposed to cutting short to 5 to get to Seattle before too late Tuesday.
We'll spend Wednesday and Thursday in Seattle and drive back on Friday/Saturday (this time taking quick route HWY5). Our friend in Seattle promised to take a sale boat in his club for a day wiith us if weather is ok (likely Thursday).

Any suggestions on good route, places to stay or visit or meets are welcome.

khamai · 05-22-2005, 09:55 PM

Alexander,

A fun drive would be to take Hwy 89 from Tahoe/Truckee all the way through the Feather River canyon, past Lake Almanor, through Lassen Nat'l Park to Weed. Then take I5 to Grants Pass OR. There's a small very twisty road just north of Grants Pass that goes out to the coast and hits 101 at Gold Beach.

The drive up the coast is awesome!

Stay on 101 into WA and then take Hwy 12 to Olympia WA and then hook up with I5 into Seattle.

The WCLM should end by 1 or 2pm on Sunday. You should be able to get up to Medford or Grants Pass OR by the evening. Then you can make to the coast and into WA on Monday. Astoria OR at the mouth of the Columbia River is a scenic place to stop for the evening.

Kiyoshi

P.S. Coming home on I5 from Seattle is about a 13 hr drive. Watch for cops in OR. Take your radar detector (illegal in OR).

apkom · 05-22-2005, 10:22 PM

Kiyoshi, thanks for tips. Like I said we have to make some stops to see some friends we met in our MR2 club outings. We'll spend rest of Sunday and night at our firends place in Sparks, NV (which is just 40 minute drive North down HWY80 from Truckee). Monday we depart Sparks for Mt. Shasta, CA driving 44 and 89 leaving Lassen Park on our left.
Our friend from Shasta suggested this MR2-friendly route west from 5 after passing Merlin along Merlin Road and Galice Road to BLM road 34-8-38. Looks like same exact you suggest and I'm sure it's just as much Eslie-friendly although my wife may think otherwise about taking too many curvy roads

I never had radar detector. Was thinking of borrowing one for this trip. But you say they're illegal in OR which is exactly where I should be watching for cops. So what's the point? I guess, I'll just stay withing limit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khamai

Alexander,

A fun drive would be to take Hwy 89 from Tahoe/Truckee all the way through the Feather River canyon, past Lake Almanor, through Lassen Nat'l Park to Weed. Then take I5 to Grants Pass OR. There's a small very twisty road just north of Grants Pass that goes out to the coast and hits 101 at Gold Beach.

The drive up the coast is awesome!

Stay on 101 into WA and then take Hwy 12 to Olympia WA and then hook up with I5 into Seattle.

P.S. Coming home on I5 from Seattle is about a 13 hr drive. Watch for cops in OR. Take your radar detector (illegal in OR).

andykeck · 05-23-2005, 07:28 AM

Radar detectors are not illegal in Oregon.

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/transportation/radar.htm

etypeiii · 05-23-2005, 04:52 PM

The speed limit is lower in Oregon on the Interstates (65 mph.)

I am guessing that taking the coastal route from Gold Beach to Astoria, if you do some sightseeing and stop a few times, would be about 8-10 hours. Driving on a weekday will help, traffic will be lighter.

Once on the Oregon coast, the road from a driving aspect is not particularly exceptional (unlike CA), so if you're not into scenery and sightseeing, it may not be worth the trouble. But as mentioned, the road getting to the coast, from Southern Oregon, are fun roads to drive on.

DLY

MattG · 05-23-2005, 05:20 PM

There are a lot of nice towns on the Oregon coast; you might want to budget more time for that leg of the trip. Depot Bay is worth a short stop (world's smallest natural harbor, has quite a harrowing entrance and it's fun to watch the ships navigate that). Lincoln City is another good one, nice beaches (for Oregon) and lots of kites. Newport and Seaside are also good ones to stop in.

In the past year I've encountered police using X band in Oregon (eastern OR only), so watch out. In general, my detector was not very useful as cops were not driving with their radar on. It's just not a great state to speed in, especially if you have CA license plates (though that attitude may have changed in recent times, I just remember the anti-CA attitude growing up there). Take your time and just enjoy the scenery. Or, find roads with enough corners that you can have FUN driving near the speed limit.

apkom · 05-23-2005, 05:55 PM

Thanks for suggestions. It looks like making it in two days from Reno to Seattle is going to be next to impossible if we are to make stops and do some sightseeing (which is kind of the point of taking 101 route).

apkom · 06-12-2005, 04:12 PM

Ok. We're back after 2300 miles in Elise.
We made a stop in Mt. Shasta to see our friend who we'd known from MR2 club. He suggested going taking Elise up the mountain on 13mile twisty road. Since I've never driven this road before and rain/snow was starting to fall I was using his input and drove accordingly. Still that was such a blast! My co-pilot happened to take his little camera along and took a video from inside the car.

Here is a link to 6 minute video (30Mb, MPEG4)

And couple pics: at the end of paved road to the top of Mt. Shasta (with snow falling) and going up the hill.

shay2nak · 06-13-2005, 01:43 PM

did anyone have problems viewing the video?

MattG · 06-13-2005, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shay2nak

did anyone have problems viewing the video?

Yeah. Darn Windows people.

It wouldn't play in quicktime, but opened in Mplayer just fine (I'm on OS X Tiger). Pretty crazy video (fast!) and a very beautiful road. I'll have to go try that one sometime.

apkom · 06-13-2005, 08:29 PM

I realized that many people can't see it because stock MS media player does not have proper video codec (XviD MPEG4). You can download it from here for example

Those, who have DivX codecs installed should also be able to see XviD encoded video.

What is preferred video format/codec to make windows/mac people happy?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shay2nak

did anyone have problems viewing the video?

apkom · 06-13-2005, 08:36 PM

That road was almost empty on Monday with rain/snow starting. The only two cars we caught up with pulled over and let us pass.
I made interesting oservation: after running through 3d gear I upshifted to 4th but apparently fell off the cams so the car would not accelerate any more with gas pedal floored. I don't have any practice upshifting past 3d gear in this car

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattG

Yeah. Darn Windows people.

It wouldn't play in quicktime, but opened in Mplayer just fine (I'm on OS X Tiger). Pretty crazy video (fast!) and a very beautiful road. I'll have to go try that one sometime.

WrongWD · 06-15-2005, 05:15 PM

looks like great fun, I'm sorry I wasn't in town when you came up... but the south bay sure had a rash of nice weather while you were gone!

apkom · 06-15-2005, 07:31 PM

We had fun and were busy with all the activities there. Thursday was nice day and our friend took us on a sale boat trip to Blake island

Quote:

Originally Posted by WrongWD

looks like great fun, I'm sorry I wasn't in town when you came up... but the south bay sure had a rash of nice weather while you were gone!

05-22-2005, 09:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
apkom Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA, USA Posts: 752	Planning road trip to Seattle Greetings Elisetalk'ers! My wife and I want to travel to Seattle the week after WCLM2005. We'll leave Tahoe area morning of 6/6 make a stop at Mt. Shasta to meet a friend of ours and then head off to Pacific coast. We want to just proceed along the Pacific coast driving HWY101 up north. We'll stay somewhere on HWY101 overnight and plan to arrive to Seattlle late evening Tuesday. Not sure how far we want/can/should drive along 101 as opposed to cutting short to 5 to get to Seattle before too late Tuesday. We'll spend Wednesday and Thursday in Seattle and drive back on Friday/Saturday (this time taking quick route HWY5). Our friend in Seattle promised to take a sale boat in his club for a day wiith us if weather is ok (likely Thursday). Any suggestions on good route, places to stay or visit or meets are welcome. __________________ Alexander Last edited by apkom; 05-22-2005 at 09:31 PM. Reason: syntax errors

05-22-2005, 09:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
khamai Plain ol' Lotus-nut Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Nor Cal Posts: 3,689	Alexander, A fun drive would be to take Hwy 89 from Tahoe/Truckee all the way through the Feather River canyon, past Lake Almanor, through Lassen Nat'l Park to Weed. Then take I5 to Grants Pass OR. There's a small very twisty road just north of Grants Pass that goes out to the coast and hits 101 at Gold Beach. The drive up the coast is awesome! Stay on 101 into WA and then take Hwy 12 to Olympia WA and then hook up with I5 into Seattle. The WCLM should end by 1 or 2pm on Sunday. You should be able to get up to Medford or Grants Pass OR by the evening. Then you can make to the coast and into WA on Monday. Astoria OR at the mouth of the Columbia River is a scenic place to stop for the evening. Kiyoshi P.S. Coming home on I5 from Seattle is about a 13 hr drive. Watch for cops in OR. Take your radar detector (illegal in OR). __________________ life is better behind the wheel of a Lotus...

05-23-2005, 05:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
MattG insert clever title here Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Living above the clouds in Colorado Posts: 7,686 Images: 11	There are a lot of nice towns on the Oregon coast; you might want to budget more time for that leg of the trip. Depot Bay is worth a short stop (world's smallest natural harbor, has quite a harrowing entrance and it's fun to watch the ships navigate that). Lincoln City is another good one, nice beaches (for Oregon) and lots of kites. Newport and Seaside are also good ones to stop in. In the past year I've encountered police using X band in Oregon (eastern OR only), so watch out. In general, my detector was not very useful as cops were not driving with their radar on. It's just not a great state to speed in, especially if you have CA license plates (though that attitude may have changed in recent times, I just remember the anti-CA attitude growing up there). Take your time and just enjoy the scenery. Or, find roads with enough corners that you can have FUN driving near the speed limit. __________________ '05 Elise, Magnetic Blue / Biscuit / Hardtop Radar detector mounting brackets for sale here

05-23-2005, 05:55 PM	#7 (permalink)
apkom Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA, USA Posts: 752	Thanks for suggestions. It looks like making it in two days from Reno to Seattle is going to be next to impossible if we are to make stops and do some sightseeing (which is kind of the point of taking 101 route). __________________ Alexander

06-12-2005, 04:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
apkom Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA, USA Posts: 752	Mt. Shasta hill climb Ok. We're back after 2300 miles in Elise. We made a stop in Mt. Shasta to see our friend who we'd known from MR2 club. He suggested going taking Elise up the mountain on 13mile twisty road. Since I've never driven this road before and rain/snow was starting to fall I was using his input and drove accordingly. Still that was such a blast! My co-pilot happened to take his little camera along and took a video from inside the car. Here is a link to 6 minute video (30Mb, MPEG4) And couple pics: at the end of paved road to the top of Mt. Shasta (with snow falling) and going up the hill. Attached Images __________________ Alexander Last edited by apkom; 06-12-2005 at 04:14 PM.

05-23-2005, 07:28 AM	#4 (permalink)
andykeck Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Seattle Posts: 4,978 Images: 1	Radar detectors are not illegal in Oregon. http://www.ncsl.org/programs/transportation/radar.htm

05-23-2005, 04:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
etypeiii Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 352	The speed limit is lower in Oregon on the Interstates (65 mph.) I am guessing that taking the coastal route from Gold Beach to Astoria, if you do some sightseeing and stop a few times, would be about 8-10 hours. Driving on a weekday will help, traffic will be lighter. Once on the Oregon coast, the road from a driving aspect is not particularly exceptional (unlike CA), so if you're not into scenery and sightseeing, it may not be worth the trouble. But as mentioned, the road getting to the coast, from Southern Oregon, are fun roads to drive on. DLY

06-13-2005, 01:43 PM	#9 (permalink)
shay2nak THUG LIFE Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Land of da 1000 Oaks, CA Posts: 16,444	did anyone have problems viewing the video? __________________ save ~10 lbs gain 1 hp EQ: Y=(190*X) / (1984-X) where Y is (HP) and X is (lbs) '07 Lotus Exige S310 WTC 2

06-15-2005, 05:15 PM	#13 (permalink)
WrongWD Want Pictures? Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 16	looks like great fun, I'm sorry I wasn't in town when you came up... but the south bay sure had a rash of nice weather while you were gone! __________________ Visual Rapture Photography Let me take pictures of your car!

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