Pacific Coast Driving Trip (Part 1)

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. This week we're excited to share this really special trip, which is a Pacific Coast road trip. We are going to take you from Seattle all the way down to San Diego and all the stops in between.

Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and specialist in family travel.

Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always All Things Travel. 

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Transcript

Julie: 0:00

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. This week I'm excited to share this really special trip, which is a Pacific Coast road trip. This is a trip a lot of you may be considering, especially if you're not from the West Coast. So we are going to take you from Seattle all the way down to San Diego and all the stops in between. Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And she is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel. I mean,

Ryan: 0:49

Julie do you like road

Julie: 0:51

like they sound interesting. I can't say that I've done one and I can't say it's on my must do list. Right now. I think that there is the right clientele for road trips.

Ryan: 1:01

I grew up doing road trips. Flying just wasn't something that my family did and so spring break or summer trips were all

Julie: 1:08

But were you in the Midwest when you grew up? So I feel like that's like a little more common there than what it is on the East Coast where I grew

Ryan: 1:16

Yeah, so I remember road trips out to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I remember driving down to Ford every year for spring break. I remember taking a drive, up into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and around Lake Superior back through Minnesota. So there were a couple biggies. It's not something that my immediate family has done much with my kids, although a little bit, but, you know, to be honest, as I'm thinking about upcoming travel, there's just kind of something cool about a road trip. I, I'm kind of getting that itch, for some different types of trips to see places in the United States that

Julie: 1:56

And I think for the right destination, the road trip is the right choice. And it fits this trip perfectly. So in full disclosure, this is a trip that my in laws took that I planned for them. They traveled last September. I booked the trip through one of our preferred partners, which is American Tours International. And my father in law had a lot of guidance about the cities that he wanted to visit with his paperback tour books that he had. So there was a lot of planning that went into it. It was a retirement celebration for both of them. And it was also a trip that they had both been talking about for years. Years and years and years. So it was just a really special trip to be a part of and to plan. And I'm really excited to share it because I do think that of road trips, this is something a lot of people consider doing.

Ryan: 2:46

Some listeners may remember that we have talked about American Tours International before. In fact oh, last year or the year before, Shane and I talked specifically about American Tours International and then looked at the Route 66 trip and broke that down. I'm going to reintroduce American Tours International, but if this really sounds like the type of trip that you want to do go to our site and search for Route 66. So, American Tours International offers road trips and escorted tour options. Basically you can customize the destination, the routes, the hotels. They give you options and then you choose from that and then basically they book it for you. So everything is taken care of. It's great for the national parks, which to be honest I think is how I'm going to end up using ATI. When I head out west and they have an option for a standard or an upgraded hotel. I think we're going to hear at least about several of those in different categories today. I'm going to talk about this itinerary and Julie's going to chime in with ideas from her mother in law and kind of their experiences. To start the trip, they flew into Seattle, they were there for two nights they stayed at the beautiful Mayflower Park Hotel. So Julie, just to clarify before we start this, so they flew into Seattle, rented a car in Seattle,

Julie: 4:07

they did not drive to Seattle. They flew to Seattle. Absolutely.

Ryan: 4:13

So obviously you have to factor that into the price of the vacation.

Julie: 4:18

Starting in Seattle and Washington and Oregon wasn't the main driver. Their main driver was the Pacific Coast. But this was an easy way to kind of get there. was to fly into Seattle. So all of this was kind of bonus and you'll see as we go. It was a really awesome way to start the trip. If you ever have heard of the Mayflower Park Hotel, it is like the place to stay in Seattle. It is absolutely beautiful. It's really easy to walk everywhere. Seattle, where they were staying is very pedestrian friendly, where you can walk around a lot. The big thing here that they said you have to do is go to Pike Place Market, of course. Now, what they said was not a lot of people were like buying stuff specifically at the market. You were kind of there to, to see the site, to watch the fish show.

Ryan: 5:06

Everybody's kind of, I remember from my trip, everybody's

Julie: 5:08

did that. They, they went to a couple delis across the street, a couple delis around town. You'll see their style is very laid back. They don't like crowds. They don't really love big touristy things. So a lot of their things were off the beaten path. You know, like, for example, they just went across the street to the Old Stove Brewery, which they loved, and just kind of relaxed there. They did go to the oldest Starbucks, the original burned down. So. Kind of the original, kind of not the original. But they had a really lovely time. It was a great way to start the trip because that hotel was just beautiful. And so next we go to Olympic National Park.

Ryan: 5:48

So they started the morning in Seattle and then made their way. So Julie,

Julie: 5:51

from Seattle down to Olympic or over to Olympic National Park, really, they stopped at Coffeeworks, which, you think you want to go to Starbucks, but they were more kind of find a little more local options, a little more off the beaten path. They ate at this place called Ivers. They said this is the place to go to for clam chowder and salmon chowder. It was one of the best things they had on their trip. So if you're heading out to that area right down Ivers, that's the place to go. There was a couple things you could do. Some shopping, a little excursion you could take where you would boat around Elliott Bay and Puget Sound to see some seals. Again, We can't do anything like that over here on the east coast. So very very cool It's also mopop the modern pop museum. They did have to drive there But it wasn't super far and they did say it was really cool You could see their nirvana exhibit a hip hop exhibit a jimi hendrix exhibit. So if you're in Yeah, they are very, they, they do like music. My mother in law is a big, big Tom Petty fan. So they were definitely into going to those type of places and they went to a couple others along the way. They also went to Cary Park and they said here you'll feel like you're in San Francisco. You kind of go up to the old part of Seattle and it overlooks. But, You just get a, different sort of vibe there. And if you're there on a clear day, you can go and see Mount Rainier and they'll say it like the mountain is out today, if you can see it. And when. this episode comes out, I'll post some pictures from the trip and you can kind of see the mountain peeking out. They said, you kind of think about going out there to get salmon, but the halibut was actually really good and they tended to prefer that. So if you're looking for what kind of foods to get, that's a great option. So that was like everything they did to finish up in Seattle. So then you get to Olympic National Park, because remember you're driving two and a half hours to get there. And a lot of stops we picked based on the driving distance, they didn't really want to be driving more. Than three hours.

Ryan: 7:42

We think of a road trip as, let's drive as long as we can and get there, where with this type of trip,

Julie: 7:47

Absolutely.

Ryan: 7:49

is the

Julie: 7:49

So a couple of really great things that they did in Olympic National Park was they went up to Edmonds Pulley Up Ferry that took you from Edmonds Washington to Kingston Washington. They said they had the best breakfast sandwiches. It was a 40 minute ride, very relaxed. So just a really cool thing to do if you just want a lazy kind of morning. They did drive over to Olympic National Park. There was a great farmer's market there. They went to the whole rainforest. There was a ton of walking trails. They did the hall of Mosses Trail, which wasn't as intense as the others, but you could still see the redwoods. And this was a really great place to go if you did want to see the redwoods because it's not as crowded as, when you get down to the National Parks in California, where people think that's where to go to see the redwoods. When you're seeing them up in this area in the Olympic National Park, it's not as crowded there's not a lot of hotels. It's not as touristy. It's a great place to go see them. They had actually bought a lifetime national park pass so that they could visit all the national parks along the way. So that's a great thing to do if you have plans to continue to do

Ryan: 8:52

That's a great idea.

Julie: 8:54

They walked around the waterfront. They did say they went to Forks. They said next time they would not go to Forks. They said it was pretty boring, but Forks is known for the

Ryan: 9:04

known

Julie: 9:04

Twilight being filmed there and they were just like, it was, it was fine. I wouldn't go there again.

Ryan: 9:10

They moved on to Astoria, Oregon driving four hours and 20 minutes They stayed at the comfort inn and suites for one night So here julie, we're seeing the breakdown of they're staying

Julie: 9:20

And a lot of that is because of what's available in the area. Like I said, Olympic National Park, when you're around that area, there are not. A lot of options. It's very as she described rustic in the accommodation options. So there's just not a lot of options, but that did allow us to in the bigger cities, get these really nice hotels and you'll see more of them as we keep going. As they then, drove from Port Angeles and Olympic national park over to Astoria, they stopped at Crescent Lake. They said that was really beautiful. It was great to be able to go in and talk to rangers at all these different parks that they stopped at. Because they would just have a lot of good inside information that you wouldn't know from reading your tour book.

Ryan: 10:00

Well, and especially you're talking about two people who are not from this part of the country and the Pacific Northwest is so unique that, you know,

Julie: 10:09

Right. And just kind of getting immersed in what's there. They went to a couple beaches. The specific one they went to was called Ruby Beach, but there are other options. But you do have to be aware and go that when the tide is low, otherwise you can't really get to it. It's not as safe. And the beaches. They're in Washington and Oregon are very different. It's very woody and rocks and very different than what I think of on the east coast as a beach. So for them, they were like, it was cool to see that difference. They did make a stop at in Aberdeen, Washington to go to Kurt Cobain's park. That's kind of where he was born. There's a little memorial there. You can walk around in the house he grew up. So again, a little more of a music flair sitting in there. If you wanted a restaurant recommendation, go to the Silver Salmon Grill in Astoria. And they also mentioned that seals were just like everywhere. There was a lot of shacks, you could go fishing, you could just sit out and listen to seals and just relax.

Ryan: 11:06

So the next stop was Portland, Oregon, and they stayed two nights in Portland. They stayed at the Benson Portland Hotel, which is a curio collection by Hilton. An elevated Hilton brand. They drove an hour and 44 minutes to get there,

Julie: 11:21

there's actually a ton to do on the way from Astoria. to Portland and this happens a lot throughout the trip. I'm gonna throw off a couple of the really big ones that you want to stop at. The Lewis and Clark Museum. Cannon Beach is well known to go over there. Tillamook Creamery, if you like cheese. I mean, like, who doesn't? They did say it was really busy, so if you wanted to avoid the crowds, you could just go get some samples and then sit outside and eat your ice cream, your cheese, whatever it was. They didn't really feel like the guided tour was necessary. You could just go in, walk around, and get a feel for the place. If you are into movies, the Goonies house is in that area. Also along the drive, they stopped there. There's a couple bakeries and the Astoria Co op they went to along the way. They did make a stop in Seaside, Oregon, and they said this was such a cool town to go to that if you're doing this drive, make this stop. They said that Seaside, Oregon. Was what the beach felt like in the 1950s. There was like an old cement wall along a cement boardwalk. It felt like a very old time Seaside town it was really well kept nothing was modern and you could stay there There were hotels to stay there and it was just like a really great vibe. There's also a Lewis and Clark statue there You know, very celebrated out there. My mother in law's very into reading and books. So, of course, there's a lot of bookstores along the way here. But she did say that there's a famous bookstore called Powell Books that's featured in the show, Portlandia. I haven't seen it, but it sounds like maybe you know what that is. A note about the Benson Hotel. Like I talked about with the Mayflower, if you are in Portland, the Benson Hotel is like the place to stay. And they got super lucky when they arrived. They got upgraded to the penthouse and they just loved it. They said it was just so beautiful. I do want to mention, because sometimes people think about going to Portland and they get worried about They hear it might be uncomfortable with homeless encampments and just kind of like the vibe in Portland might be a little different than what you're used to in your hometown. They said, those things were going on, but it wasn't anything that interrupted their trip or made them feel unsafe. in any way. So I just wanted to mention that. So while they were in Portland, they also went over to Mount Hood. They said you could drive there, you could hike there you could go to the Columbia River Gorge and see the waterfalls. You could hike down into them. They had a couple specific falls that they went to. They did say it gets really crowded. go early, plan your time wisely, try to avoid the crowds.

Ryan: 13:59

Then they spent one night in Florence, Oregon at the Best Western, they drove from Portland for three hours and spent their night in Florence

Julie: 14:10

again, this isn't like the stop where you're like, I need to go to Florence. But, it's along the way to Couste Bay.

Ryan: 14:16

I love finding little towns like that though It's like yeah, we get it. You're going to seattle. You're going to san diego You're going to portland, but let's stop at these little

Julie: 14:26

breaks up that drive. Like you said, it was three hours to get here. So, If we would have kept going, that would have been just way too long. They had breakfast at a place called the Spunky Monkey. So if you're looking for a good place to stop, that sounds like a great place.

Ryan: 14:40

Can't go wrong

Julie: 14:41

they went over to Pacific City where they went to Dory Beach Park and that's a historic park. Dory's were a type of boats that they used to have. There's a big farm. You could stop at a hazelnut stand. They were all about like really immersing in what these little towns were like. They went to this really cool. place called the Devil's Punchbowl, which was like a churning hole of water. They said it was almost like you were looking down over these rocks into the water. It was such a cool, like, natural phenomenon, almost, to see. They did a lot of stopping along the road and getting out and looking, but the water along the beaches there was super rough. So this is very different than the other towns they had been in. Once they did get into Florence, they spent a lot of time in the downtown area. They said it's just a really cute town to walk around. There's a boardwalk, there's a marina. So all these towns that you may not have heard of, they're still going to have some nice history. They're still going to have great restaurants for you to go to. The place that they went had a really long wait. They said so if you're looking for a good restaurant, go to 1285 Resto Bar. I guess that's the place to be when you're in Florence.

Ryan: 15:48

I do have a question about that, Julie. How much planning did they do with where they were going to eat in each place? Did they

Julie: 15:55

They did a,

Ryan: 15:56

of show up and

Julie: 15:56

they did a lot of asking the

Ryan: 15:58

where should we eat?

Julie: 15:59

What would you recommend? Things like that. They did a lot of that. That was not something that we specifically planned out. in advance, except for maybe one or two options. I will also mention that ATI, the company American Tours International, they did offer an app that my in laws had downloaded. And so as you're driving from Florence to Coos Bay, it would tell you about your route, places to stop, so if they didn't have a recommendation from the hotel, potentially they were getting recommendations from that app as well. There's a couple of restaurants I'm mentioning here, and these were ones that were really good, but they did a lot of stopping at co ops, stopping at markets, and getting bread and things to just kind of make sandwiches and have picnics along the way a lot.

Ryan: 16:48

This is so my trip. Seriously,

Julie: 16:51

should have gotten in the car.

Ryan: 16:52

I want to do

Julie: 16:52

You, you should have just met them there. Hello,

Ryan: 16:57

You're getting pictures and you're like, why, why

Julie: 16:59

name is Ryan

Ryan: 16:59

all of your, all of your

Julie: 17:00

tour guide for the Pacific Coast trip. Let's get started.

Ryan: 17:06

you know what? After the initial shock it wouldn't have surprised you at all Well, of course ryan showed up at my in law's

Julie: 17:13

right.

Ryan: 17:14

So after that they spent one night in coos bay oregon staying at the best western holiday hotel there And again, what I like about this is it's only an hour drive they're making their way But the the focus is on yes, we're driving but let's stop and spend the time

Julie: 17:32

they did here was they did a dune buggy, like an ATV ride. Out on the dunes for like an hour, which I never would have guessed that they did that, but they said it was so cool. You could easily just stop off along the side of the road and do it. It wasn't super crowded.

Ryan: 17:48

You can, as you're building these trips, add in tours, excursions, things just like any normal trip. So, they're not having to plan all of this spur of the moment if they don't want to. It's really as flexible or planned

Julie: 18:04

And that's the great part about it. And this trip was very flexible. The only things we for sure booked in advance were the hotels which was the vibe that they wanted. They rode their ATVs out along the dunes. Very cool. They said in Coos Bay, there is a national park that was directly across from the hotel they stayed at. They had that Lifetime National Park Pass so they could go in, hike a couple of the trails, go see some more redwoods. They said it was so impressive. It was like you couldn't get enough of them. You kind of just stood there in awe. But the nice thing was, there were a lot of rangers there, a lot of people to help direct you on what trail would be appropriate for the experience that you wanted to have, and all the trees and areas were just well marked that you knew. Not to embark on a very difficult path if you didn't want to. A couple other scenic overlooks they stopped at around the area. And, It really sounded like wherever their hotels were, they were in the center of the action for that city, and they could walk places easily, get places easily.

Ryan: 19:05

So leaving Oregon. They had a two and a half hour drive that got them to Crescent City, California, staying at the Best Western Northwoods Inn. And it sounds like they did a lot of things at Redwood State Park, Julie.

Julie: 19:19

As they drove from Coos Bay down to Crescent City, they did a lot of pull offs and saw a lot of sand dollars and put their toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. They went to a couple different overlooks, ate lunch along the way. So if you're looking for places to stop, they recommend Lagoon Creek, the Klamath River, which is a really big river in the area. It was up really high. They actually saw a wedding going on on the riverbank. There's a World War II radar station. They said it was like driving all the way up The top of a cliff. It was just, just so, so unique to that area. They did have a funny note that there's an area called the Trees of Mystery, and don't go there. It's a tourist trap. Go to the free museum instead that's nearby.

Ryan: 20:04

The, the, the 100 billboards on the way there kind of gave it away that it was a tourist trap. So they had an hour and a half drive to Eureka, California,

Julie: 20:14

On the way to Eureka, they took Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway on the way there. So if you're driving, take that parkway and then you pull off to see, quote unquote, the big tree. And this was like a good thing to stop off and see.

Ryan: 20:27

And my guess is their ATI app would tell them, take this way instead of

Julie: 20:33

So this tree, to give you an idea of how big it is, is 286 feet tall, 23 feet in diameter, 74 feet circumference, and 1, 500 years old. They said the cool thing is the trees there are labeled so that you can, you can see that information and learn about them. So now we are in Eureka. When they got there, they actually continued to drive south to Ferndale because they had heard it was a really lovely historic town. Historic houses and shops. They have a couple big mansions there that you want to go see. Some of the popular ones are called the Carson Mansion, which is now the Ingramore Club, and the Pink Lady House is across the street. They're very beautiful, ornate houses that you don't get to see everywhere. When you're driving here, you're driving all the way along the river, you're along the waterfront, so it is really worth driving through that area and making some stops along the way.

Ryan: 21:28

The next stop on the trip was Fort Bragg, California, so that total trip that Julie was just talking about was just a little under three hours.

Julie: 21:37

There were so many spots to stop on the way to Fort Bragg. It was hard to pick a spot to stop and a spot to not stop because you just kept wanting to stop and see the water. The big thing to do in Fort Bragg, Fort Bragg is Glass Beach. It's not like you've seen in pictures where there's glass everywhere because it's been taken. And they said, actually, the history of it is that it used to be a dumping ground for bottles. And now it's all washed up as glass on the beach. There's not really like big pieces, but it is like something you hear about and that's what it's known for. It's a really small town. It's easy to walk through. There's a lot of great food trucks authentic food in the area that you can stop and get. There's a beachside area you can stop and you can rent some bikes, a couple brewing companies that you can stop at if you just want a quick meal, and something that they mentioned was everywhere they went, they wanted to try to stop to see the sunset and one note for some good ice cream is to go to Cowlick's Ice Cream Place.

Ryan: 22:36

And then julie after a three hour and 20 minute drive They are at their next large city, which is san francisco, california Where they stayed two nights but i'll tell you what I i'm tired just from hearing about the first half of this trip. It sounds amazing And I love that they got to go at their own pace These people know how to travel and see things. So I think we should break this

Julie: 23:02

Great idea.

Ryan: 23:03

two different episodes. How does that sound so if you are getting excited about a trip like this because ATI offers driving trips all over the United States, you can reach out to Julie or I, we're going to record the second half of this episode and it will be available in a couple weeks. But make sure to tune in next week on All Things Travel when we talk about my recent trip to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.