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Subscribed. This thread is giving me the push I needed to try and plan a drive up from LA along the coast through Northern Cal and into Oregon...been meaning to do it but keep coming up with excuses
Looking into this last night in depth I am thinking of a more concentrated area for shorter drives (avg 100 mi per day) plus I have to incorporate a fishing trip bc my wife is a fishing nut so do that in Vancouver Island. Plus I have been to California 100 times and lived in Manhattan Beach when I was in my 20's (recommended for all young men). So looking at this route
Portland
Mount Hood
Multnomah Falls/Columbia River Gorge
Cannon Beach/Haystack Rock
Mount Rainier
Victoria/Vancouver Island
Courtenay BC
Powell River BC
Vancouver
Seattle
Now my plan is to ship the car to Porsche of Beaverton for "service" (oil change) and then fly in and pick it up. Then I will leave the car at Porsche in Seattle for "service" again have a transport bring it back. Total transport costs are about $4k so cheaper then flying to Europe (business class). Scenery looks amazing all the way.
Right on the ocean and you can hike and fish.
Even a perfect day trip along west coast road
So many options.
Great suggestion. Per google it looks like the road from Port Renfrew to Lake Cowachan is a pretty nice road and fuel available which allows me to split the island up to Courtenay so not backtracking to Victoria.
Looking into this last night in depth I am thinking of a more concentrated area for shorter drives (avg 100 mi per day) plus I have to incorporate a fishing trip bc my wife is a fishing nut so do that in Vancouver Island. Plus I have been to California 100 times and lived in Manhattan Beach when I was in my 20's (recommended for all young men). So looking at this route
Portland
Mount Hood
Multnomah Falls/Columbia River Gorge
Cannon Beach/Haystack Rock
Mount Rainier
Victoria/Vancouver Island
Courtenay BC
Powell River BC
Vancouver
Seattle
Now my plan is to ship the car to Porsche of Beaverton for "service" (oil change) and then fly in and pick it up. Then I will leave the car at Porsche in Seattle for "service" again have a transport bring it back. Total transport costs are about $4k so cheaper then flying to Europe (business class). Scenery looks amazing all the way.
Porsche Beaverton is a fantastic facility. Great staff and AMAZING pricing. No affiliation, just lucky to have them close by!
Portland has tons of smaller great local restaurants, microbreweries.
What a fantastic road trip! I will add a few recommendations as a Portland native:
1. The 101 is beautiful but absolutely be prepared to drive 30mph behind RVs unless you are comfortable passing multiple cars at once.
2. If you like Oregon Pinot Noir take a side trip to wine country and stay a night at The Allison Inn.
3. Portland is worth a night or 2. There are tons of great restaurants and breweries to explore. Check out Eaterpdx.com for the top 38 places to eat. You can also see the Gorge and Mount Hood from there as day trips.
4. Agree that central Oregon is worth a visit. A drive over to bend is a blast. Bend has fabulous resorts and spas and fishing etc.
5. I need to do this drive to SF!
During the week, the drive up Hwy 1 from San Francisco to Leggett (where Hwy 1 ends and becomes Hwy 101) is a blast to drive. Once you get a little north of Jenner, you can really begin to have some fun, and the last section north of Ft. Brag to Leggett is challenging, with good pavement and too many twists and turns to count. Great fun for both sports cars and motorcycles.
That being said, on the weekends in the summer there will be too much traffic to really enjoy driving your Porsche on these roads.
Once north on 101, north of Leggett, I would also recommend taking the Avenue Of The Giants, which is a really cool cruise through the giant redwoods, and the road simply parallels Hwy 101, so it isn't really a detour, just a slower drive for as long as you decide to stay on the Avenue.
Ok I fully booked a trip and shipper arranged - yes its early but not really. Surprised how full the good spots to stay were already in Cali. I’ll report back on the trip. I plan on writing a short write up about shipping your car for a road trip vacation the logistics of it all etc. I am finding it takes some effort... Enjoy your cars!
Last edited by TexasPorschelover; 01-26-2019 at 05:44 PM.
Reason: Spelling error
Remember doing a similar drive in 2015 when I took my son's '05 VW GTI down from Portland to Phoenix as part of our move to AZ. Took the road west to from Portland directly to the coast since my son wanted to see the Pacific Ocean (as did I) and then we headed straight down the coastal for California via I think Hwy 101 to Hwy 1 ending in Malibu. Great scenery and great times with my 16 y/o who had recently gotten his license 3 mos earlier after a year of practice (aka learners permit). Awesome drive especially the redwoods and scenery..made a stop in Nappa valley too and tons of places to stay and gas. Definitely do it..enjoyable for all different reasons and memories. Seaside VW's by the Pacific Son and Pacific Costal California
I've made this trip a few times now... Stay on the coast as much as you can and avoid I-5 like the plague. North of SF you can scoot inland and drive through some of the parks (e.g. avenue of the giants) - but then get back to the coast before leaving CA into OR. Finding decent places to stay overnight is hit and miss, especially once you get to Northern CA and into Oregon. Sometimes you have to hunt around and find a Best Western or La Quinta or something that has rooms available at the last minute. Here's a handful of decent places where I've stayed for a night that I recommend you reserve in advance:
I’ve driven this route many, many times under various conditions, all all seasons, and within a variety of time constraints. Outside of winter and with no constraints on time (and the flexibility to stop rather than drive on some of the more challenging passages at night) I would take Highway 1 all the way to Leggett, then 101 as afar as somewhere around Florence, cutting over to I-5 at Eugene. You’ll want to get to 5 before Portland.
Lots of good ideas. I'll add a few of mine without recapping..
If you start in LA do visit the Porsche experience center and book (in advance) a couple of rides with a pro in a GT3 or TurboS - it's pretty cheap and quite memorable. Eat there, too, in the 917 restuarant watching people spin on the skid pad while enjoying pretty good food at a surprisingly fair price, along with 911-shaped butter, come on !!!
Aside from the obvious LA stuff, from santa barbara hugging the coast, cut thru the mountain to Los olivos. Not only is this a phenomenal windy road, but los olivos area is LA's napa valley, lots of good wineries and a fantastic restaurant there - "the bear and star" - their breakfast huevos rancheros are to die for.
Then San luis obispo and Paso robles - more pretty wineries, houses/cities...
The obvious 17 mi drive in carmel, cliché but super pretty...
Shadowbrook in Capitola, cute little town, great dining (restaurant with it's own cable car)
SFO area, do reserve Alcatraz ahead of time if interested, and also reserve Muir woods parking (very cool, sequoia forest). Once there, another superb drive down to muir beach and the pelican Inn (brit pub by the beach).
I'd then leave the coast and check oout sonoma and rejoin the coast after... Around St helena if memory serves, the Culinary institute of america is another gotcha and a lot less busy than the french laundry... Those are my few to-dos. Mostly around food ;-)
01-25-2019, 02:53 AM
