SharkSkin

Later this year, Robin and I are planning to take a trip north and would appreciate any planning help from locals or others who know the route. To start with, I am considering the three routes below, subject to refinement of course.

Default route from Google, using just the zipcodes - 777 Mi. in 13:59(56mph Avg.). Where it veers off Hwy 5 is where I'm looking at unfamiliar territory. I zoomed in on a couple of spots and it looks like it's mostly two-lane, easy to get stuck behind a crowd.

Route through Olympia, 933 Mi. in 14:40(64mph Avg.). It's interesting that this is 156 miles longer, yet only estimated to take 41 minutes longer. That tells me that the speed limit must be lower on 97, or there's something wrong with the data that Google is using. Alternatively, it's just possible that they factored in getting stuck behind slowpokes.

Route through Yakima, 887 Mi. in 14:17(62mph Avg.). This one seems like a good compromise. It's only 110 miles longer and 18 more minutes, so this would seem to be a better route.

I'm making a lot of assumptions above, for example I believe that staying on 5 as long as possible will reduce the chances of getting delayed since AFAIK there are several lanes all the way through. OTOH, traffic will be a factor. If I believe Google Maps, Portland would be 10.5 hours out, plus an hour's worth of stops, with a 6am departure I'd be due to hit Portland at 5:30, probably peak rush hour. If I took the Olympia/Tacoma route I should miss rush hour there by a large margin. An even larger margin if rush hour in Portland is anything like it is here.

Anyway, we want to make it essentially nonstop, just meals and gas.

Oh, er... 928 content... we're taking the shark.

The only way to fly...

atb

Dave, if you just looking to make the best time possible, I think your Yakima route is going to be the fastest. When are you guys coming up? How long will you be in the area?

jcorenman

Dave,

When are you going? I-5 is mostly 4-lane freeway (2 each way), we've done bay area to Seattle too many times to count. Most of it is mind-numbingly boring, except north CA (north of Redding) to central OR where it gets bendy enough to be interesting (but not at the speed limit).

Of your three I would take your first choice: I-5 north to Weed then onto US-97 through Bend and north from there. US-97 is two lanes but good road and mostly straight with easy passing, and not too many revenue-collectors.

And before mid-Sept I agree with Adam , that I-5 to Portand then east on I-84 to 97 would be quickest.

However if this trip is after mid-September when traffic is lighter then we would try to avoid the freeway altogether, maybe I-80 from the bay area NE into the foothills then pick up CA 49 and find your way north to Susanville (avoid 395), then north on CA 139 (see picture) and OR 39 then meet up with US97 at Klamath Falls and follow that north to Ellensburg. There are also some good side roads if time permits (e.g. WA 821). It would be a two-day trip (Google says 20 hours) but great roads and a memorable trip. That was basically our route to SATL in June (when the picture was taken) and we loved it. But I wouldn't try it in July-Aug or early Sept.

Cheers, Jim

ddarnell

Dave,
Your write ups have been a mainstay of our 928 adventures. Avoid I-5 at all costs. Way too straight and not as fast as one might think. If you're going to Yakima, your first route is by far the best. Great scenery. If you do take I-5 and need a rest stop we're about 22 miles south of Portland and about 1 1/2 miles off I-5.
David

Nicole

Some time ago there was a radio commercial where they claimed that all the single socks lost in washing machines are stored in a warehoue in Yakima (don't remember what the commercial was about).

It might be worth stopping-by and reclaiming your lost ones...

Whichever route you chose: Have a fun and safe trip!!!

Ron_H

If you love left lane trains composed of SUV morons, take I-5 through Oregon and Washington. That road is punishment for some wrongdoing somewhere in everyone's past. And I remember when the basic speed law was the order of the day and I could fly up that road; no more. Nothing personal against Washingtonians, but I HATED I-5 the last time I came down from Whistler. I HATED it so much that I finally got off it in favor of surface streets all the way starting just past Seattle. ANYTHING but I-5 in Washington. Hitchhiking is better. The only worse place on Earth for driving is anywhere in the state of Hawaii.

What I-5 needs is one more lane in each direction, in all three states. But then what would the bears eat?

jcorenman

Ron, you are absolutely right-- but the sheep are just doing what they've been taught. If you regularly bust folks for being 3 mph over the posted speed, but never for failing to stay right or tailgating, then you teach folks to happily run the posted speed in the left lane with 3' separation.

In Calif the CHP actually drives on the road and watches traffic (what a concept!), in WA and OR they just hide and play "sniper" with their lasers and radars. That horse has been beaten up plenty, the good news is that the sheep-- and the state revenue patrol-- tend to stick to the freeways leaving the back roads relatively unmolested. That picture I posted above was an unretouched shot of 39 in NE Calif, 10AM on a weekday morning in mid-June. Most of the trip was like that.

Cheers, Jim

macreel

Dave... I vote for 'Default' route. K and I did the southbound
version a couple years ago through Bend/Klamath Falls/Crater Lake
and it was a breeze. Decent place to eat - Chewmult, OR, Big Mt. Cafe.

Two lane roads weren't that busy; a couple construction delays; no big
cities to fight. Wave to the Porsche dealer in Bend as you go by.

Time changes things, but probably not too much there.

G'luck

p.s. Watch out for 'revenoo generators' in Ellensburg, a
noted, local speed trap, 10 miles either side.

Alan

So Dave - Scouting trip for a relocation northwards...? time to bale out of the crazy real estate zone...? or just a long road trip...

Alan

ddarnell

Ron is right. OR and WA are the only states that I've been in recently where you can only get up to speed in the right lane. I was taught that passing on the right is verbotten, but it's the only way to get anywhere on I-5. My daily driver is a 740 and it's as comfortable at 90 as it is at 65.........no actually it's more comfortable at 90. We picked up our first 928 in Sacramento and flew north on I-5 at 95-100mph without so much as a glance from the law. 60 miles into OR my wife gets clocked at 79mph.......she had just slowed down. The "just bought the car, no dash lights, blah blah blah" story worked. No ticket but really no fun after that.
David

Richard S

Dave, I took the "default" route up a couple years ago in my 79 shark. Sacramento to Wallace Id. (past Coeur D'Alene) in about 14 hours solo. Not much traffic, but I did have to stop for quite some time due to roadwork near Maupin (but I needed to stretch my legs anyway).

If you go this way, be ready for TONS of bugs north of Klamath Falls along the lake. Just ask Nicole, I think she and Bill experienced the same bugs when they went to Mt. Hood. The front of your shark will be wearing a dead-bug bra after that.

Have fun!

Rich

rad_951

The first route through K.Falls, Bend, and Redmond is the most interesting of the three. The only high traffic spot is Bend and the average speed is higher than listed.

Bend is a "well to do" city, so there are services for your Porsche. In Madras is a Black Bear Diner, which is a good burger place. If you are not in a hurry, there are many sights to see out there.

Fogey1

If you have the time, drive up the coast and turn right. Great drive.

SharkSkin

First off, let me say thanks to all for the input. It's always good to have multiple viewpoints on any problem, and I appreciate yours.

I've intended to be a bit vague as to when exactly the trip is, it's a long-standing habit with me not to advertise when I plan to be away for an extended time. Doubly so over the internet. It will be before mid-September though.

Adam, which of the two routes through Yakima are you talking about? The one with the long stretch on 97, or the other one? We're planning to push and get all of the driving over with at once, hoping for something like 6am-10pm on the road, counting lunch and dinner. Next day is rest, with an evening event -- then back on the road for home in the morning.

Heh. nudge nudge, wink wink.

I know the stretch of 5 that you are referring to, and I think that's just the sort of road the 928 designers had in mind as they set pencil to paper. Unfortunately, as Ron points out, the revenoors know this all too well. Hmmm...

Are you saying it's enough quicker that even the left-lane hogs don't tip the scales the other way? Or are you assuming the trip would be at the speed limit most of the way? Or are you implying that having the extra lane would help keep a higher average?

I've run many of those roads and love them -- we just won't have a lot of time for sightseeing.

Thanks for the offer David, it's tempting but I think we'd have to be way ahead of schedule to be able to stop and yak. And from what I'm hearing it looks like we may be off of 5 well before Portland anyway. One of these days I ought to just take a week off and drive up to BC and back, stop and visit some old friends along the way and make some new ones.

Not sure I'll have the extra luggage room for that many socks! Thanks for the well-wishes.

So, sounds a lot like 5 South of here. Also sounds like my experience driving in Washington a few years back. Even though there were several lanes on 5 south of Seattle, traffic was like an impenetrable checkerboard of cars flying in formation at exactly 60MPH.

From what I've seen from zooming in on a few spots with Google Earth, most of 97 looks to be a wide stretch of two lane with a full paved shoulder and few double-yellows. In your experience, do people tend to move along at a good clip or will I spend half the trip on the wrong side of the road, passing people?
Thanks for the heads up... that town is in the itinerary. I'll be sure to wave at them bigbye:

Just a long road trip. A scheme in the real estate arena is brewing, but this trip is unrelated. With luck we'll be ready to strike when real estate hits bottom around here, give or take 6 months. The loan is pre-approved, from here on it's details and $.

Thanks Rich, that's good info. You sliced about an hour and a half off Google's calculation on mostly the same road(with a big delay -- what -- an hour?), which gives a basis for a SWAG that I might be able to do ~120 miles less in 12 hours driving.

I don't know when peak bug season is, but it will be a good test for the nearly year-old Rejex. I'll count on doing some scrubbing.

Hopefully I won't need services beyond food, plumbing and gas. Good news about average speed, this bears out what Rich said. I'd like to do a bit of sightseeing, but there won't be much time. Maybe this trip will give us ideas for a more leisurely trip in the future.

I've been up the whole coast to about even with Salem on different occasions. That's another beautiful drive on the to-do list -- without the right turn. Maybe as far as Anchorage one summer...

Again, I appreciate the input from all who have contributed. Thank You!

SharkSkin

Anyone have any ideas for good places to eat along the way? We're going to need to stop for eats ~5 hours out from SVL and about 5 hours short of Ellensburg. We've decided to take 97.