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Take rain gear.

My favorite is the Avenue of the Giants in N. CA. It's impossible to guess what else because there's just so much but a slow ride past San Simeon on your way up toward Big Sur is always nice. Lots to love about Carmel and Monterey. Half Moon Bay is pretty fine, too. Nothing better than planning to cross the Golden Gate after dark so you can soak in the city lights.

Coastal Oregon is like another world, rugged and fabulous, take your time and you'll see unbelievable beauty. A stop at the Lewis and Clark monument before you cross the mighty Columbia is pretty cool.

If you have time, a ride out onto the Olympic peninsula to the Dungeness Spit is fascinating and Port Townsend is pretty neat too.


Stay in Garberville at the southern tip of Avenue of the Giants. Surprisingly little traffic. I was at Canon Beach, OR, the final stop for Lewis and Clark just last month. DO NOT waste your time on the few miles that make up the "Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway". The Gorge is beautiful but all the "historic Highway" consisted of was bumper to bumper RVs with people parking along the road to see waterfalls the look like any others along the Pacific Coast. Five miles, or so, took about an hour. I liked Aptos, CA. For me, the most appealing part of California is from Monterey north. SoCal is all about crowds and traffic. Mt. Hood and the drive up through Sandy is pretty cool. If it works into your trip take US 12 through Idaho..