Driving from the Bay Area to Oregon
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Driving from the Bay Area to Oregon
April 2006
Our family of four (w/ two kids 2.5 & 5.5) are driving from the
Bay Area to my family reunion in Hillsboro, Oregon this summer.
Instead of flying, we decided to take a leisurely (is their such
a thing w/ a 2 & 5 yr old?) drive up the coast and camp along
the way in our tent trailer &/or in cabins. We will be on the
road from Wed. June 28 until Saturday July 1st. Any
recommendations on nice, clean, scenic campgrounds or cabins
between here & Oregon? We are going to be hotelling it on the
way home-- any recommendations for a family friendly hotel near
the CA/OR border or in Northern tip of CA?
Margie
We love Patrick's Point campground. It's on the coast, just below the
Oregon border. In the redwoods, you camp above a little protected agate
beach, and there are *giant* banana slugs. You didn't say how far you are
planning to go per day, but if you want a nice short drive your first
day, to accomodate all that last-minute stuff that at least in our family
always creates a later departure than we were intending, there's a nice
campground called Salt Point that's only about an hour-and-a-half out
from here (about 10 miles from Jenner) that might suit. Flat
hiking/walking trails along the cliff, and a bunch of seals that hang out
close enough to the beach to be interesting to watch. Salt Point you can
reserve in advance, Patrick's Point I don't remember offhand whether you
can or not.
I have done that drives countless times, both up the coast and the I-5
route. I am usually going between S.F. and Seattle, so the drive is a
little longer. We like to stay at the Best Western in Ashland. The town
is wonderful, tons of great places to eat and a fun town to walk through.
The Best Western is nothing special, but is nice with kids. It has a
pool, which is a nice way to get all that pent up energy out after a long
day in the car. Ashland is full of B&B's, that can be expensive and
probably not great with kids, which is why we go for the chain. The
other places we tend to stop for the night are Redding and Dunsmuir. The
Hilton (which is a just like any of the other roadside motel/hotels) in
Redding has room service at night. The food is not that great, but it is
a nice convience if you get in late at night and haven't had dinner. As
far as camping on the coast goes the biggest tip I can give you is make
reservations. There are beautiful campgrounds all the way up the CA and
OR coasts, but summertime is busy! Some names off the top of my head:
Sunset S.P. near Coos Bay, OR; Cape Blanco S.P. around Port Orford, OR;
Patrick Pt S.P., north of Eureka, CA; and there are a handful of great
ones between Florence and Waldport, OR. You also may want to think about
cutting over to I-5 south of Portland. The chunk of coast west of
Portland can be a nightmare to drive in the summer and the hwy (I think
it is 26, but am not sure) that basically goes straight from Portland to
the coast can be really slow. I would just pick your stops based on the
amount of time you want to spend in the car each day. Then find the
closet campground, where you can make reservations.
Hope that helps.
mary
Lake Siskiyou near Mt Shasta is wonderful-there is a big private,
very nice campground, and the lake is beautiful and perfect for
swimming.
May 2005
We'd like to do a 1 week to 10 day car trip with a 5 year old
and 8 mos old up to Oregon. I'd love suggestions as to
good budget minded places to stay with kids as well as
places we should visit on the way up & in Oregon.
Thanks!
Tracey
The Oregon State Park system (www.oregonstateparks.org) is
great, they have heated yurts and cabins to rent as well as
tent-sites. Very kid friendly (some even have swings/climbing
structures), hot showers, laundry etc. If I recall correctly,
the yurts (off-season)were something like $27/night...way
cheaper than a hotel, and adventures right from your doorway!
We stayed in several Oregon parks in October where we ate our
way through the very last of the summer's blackberries...if you
time it right you may be able to hit the peak harvest this
summer! Have fun.
anon
There's a wonderful inn along the coast in Newport, Oregon,
called The Sylvia Beach House. It's named after the founder of
a terrific independent book store, and each room in the inn is
patterned after a different author's works. For kids, there's
a Dr. Seuss room, but there's also an Agatha Christie room
(with clues), a Mark Twain room w/ rope swing, etc. The rooms
are really over the top. We stayed in the Edgar Allan Poe room
which had a raven and a pendulum over the bed. Dinner at the
Tables of Content restaurant is included, and upstairs there's
a library with books and games for lounging. One can walk
along the wide beach, or visit the local aquarium.
Stacey
If you go up 97 (east of the cascades), and you get as far north
as Bend, then there is a wonderful indoor and outdoor museum
with live animals and other cool stuff called the High Desert
Museum. See their web page.
Also, on your way to Oregon if you go through Redding, Calif.,
there is a new museum and garden complex, and butterfly display
called Turtle Bay. If you google for the Redding web page you
can find info. You can also find info on Redding's new public
swimming pool that looks tempting (I haven't seen it in person).
another traveling parent
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