Expert: Jason Curodeau - 12/28/2011

Question
My wife and I want to celebrate our 5 year anniversary by road tripping the scenic California coast. We plan to rent a convertible car. We have about 7 days, visiting May 12-19. We will start in San Diego to drop off the kids with family, and must return to SD to pick them up to fly back. Our "Must Do" list includes: Napa Valley, Redwoods, Big Sur, Route 1 or equivalent scenic route, seafood on the wharf in San Francisco. Nice to haves would be distinctive, memorable lodging along the way and maybe shopping with a little adventure. And if possible, reach Oregon to say we've been there. Suggestions?

Answer
Tony & Jen
     Happy Anniversary. It is possible to do everything that you would like to do. The BIG question is the size of your budget. Lodging can get very expensive along the coast, up to 150 dollars a night depending. The other thing to take into consideration is how far you are willing to drive per day.
     My suggestion would be to race up Interstate 5 north from San Diego to San Francisco and Napa Valley area. This can be done in a day if you leave bright and early, like 5a.m. , depending on the day of the week there will be there will either be horrible traffic or there will be murderous un Godly traffic. Sorry  but welcome to Southern California. Fortunately, once you get north of Los Angeles and over the grapevine pass it gets much better.
     You should make it into the San Francisco area by early evening (if you leave at 5a.m.) it is a long day but this will enable to take your time a little the rest of the trip. Napa valley is north of San Francisco so you could take a day trip and return to your hotel or just continue further north. If you want to go as far as Oregon I would suggest hwy 101. 101 meets the coast of California at Eureka which is about 50 miles south of Redwood National Park. From there you will be about another 60 miles from the California Oregon border.
    There are a number of reasons I would shoot north and meander back. The main reason is that returning south along the coast you won't have to look across traffic and the road to see the water, this can save you from a lot of dangerous situations. Everyone on this stretch of highway cannot help from constantly rubber necking and looking everywhere except for the road in front of them. Another reason is that you MUST drive the coast, I think everyone should do it at least once in their lives preferably from Washington state to Mexico.
     If you take three or four days up and give yourself at least three coming back you'll have plenty of time. I recently rode my motorcycle from Gaulala which is 114 miles north of San Francisco all the way to Huntington beach in one day. I goofed around and took photos in the city and stopped at least every 90 miles for gas. So 3-4 days is plenty of time.
     One warning! Make sure to have at least 120 miles worth of gas in your tank before you leave the Monterey area. There are only 2 gas stations between Monterey and San Simeon. There prices are generally a dollar or more higher than state average. I have run out myself once it is not fun. Big Sur is more enjoyable when you can explore without the fear of running dry.
     I know that I am writing a novel here but I need to suggest just one more thing. Get a map or google the coast and spend some time gazing at it for things you might be interested in as well as hotel accommodations that fit your budget. I try and call ahead to the places I plan to be near just to see if they require reservations.

     I hope that this has been of some help. If you have any further questions I will do my best to help you with them. I hope you have a wonderful trip and a happy anniversary

P.S. If you plan to visit more than one National Park go online and check the admission cost. It may be more cost effective to purchase an annual pass, they are good throughout the country.

Jason Curodeau