Road Trip!

[pahecko]

May 24th a friend an I will be heading out on a 23 day road trip to the west coast, then south to Cali and through tornado ally back to Toronto, mostly camping along the way.

Plan is to pretty much drive right through Ontario (On is for long weekends :D) so we can have more time in our other provinces. We'll be staying at least a day in each province for sight seeing, activities etc. The main places we'll be staying is the Vancouver area and San Fran. Coming back we'll pass through the Grand Canyon and any other cool sites along the way (still researching.)

I'm curious if anyone has actually done this and open to any suggestions you might have including any cool/must see places along or around this route. (http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=9198146738098994286,49.875710,-97.375370%3B13206083336284188489,50.396850,-105.401370%3B9572614956454046142,51.161030,-114.780310&saddr=Toronto,+On&daddr=Thunder+Bay,+On+to:HWY-1%2FPortage+Ave%2FTrans+Canada+Hwy%2FYellowhead+Hw y+%4049.875710,+-97.375370+to:HWY-1+W%2FTrans+Canada+Hwy+W+%4050.396850,+-105.401370+to:HWY-1+W%2FTrans+Canada+Hwy+W+%4051.161030,+-114.780310+to:Vancouver,+BC,+Canada+to:San+Francis co,+CA,+USA+to:36.844461,-114.213867+to:Toronto,+ON&mra=dpe&mrcr=6&mrsp=7&sz=5&via=7&sll=38.23818,-110.039062&sspn=22.545957,38.056641&ie=UTF8&z=5)

Also, we thought it would be cool to have people list songs for the road trip. We will play every song you list.

I'll be armed with my laptop and xti so hopefully I can post pics as we trek along, some camp sites actually have wi-fi, go figure.

[CanadaGTO]

Sounds awesome :)

I've done a cross Canada trip, and seperately a California/Nevada/Arizona trip, but not all at once.

1) When going down the west coast, use the Pacific Coast Highway not the inland road. it's completely awesome.
2) Near Santa Barbara, look up Painted Cave Road, it's this little road that goes up a mountain right near the Pacific. Short but awesome.
3) From Vegas, go around the south side of the Grand Canyon and check it out. It a spectacular trip/drive and you shouldn't miss it being that close.
4) Careful in Saskatchewan. There's only one hill there and there's a cop on the other side of it :)
5) In Arizona, be sure to spend at least a little time on the Historic Route 66 :)
6) If you like this type of thing, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
7) Also check out the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
7) Check out Alcatraz in San Francisco. But be aware you have to book in advance, usually a week or so otherwise you wont be able to go. http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/
8) Take lots of pics and keep a web journal

[Skarbro]

I've driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles over a week. It's an awesome drive.

+1 on Patriques suggestions for Montery Bay Aquariam (incredible facility). I wasn't a big fan of Alcatraz though.

And if you love driving (and I know you do), then definitely try to drive down Route 1 along Big Sur. It's something like 90 miles of incredible scenery (mountains on one side, ocean on the other) and nothing but twisty highway roads. Truly a fun drive.

http://geography.berkeley.edu/programcourses/2003_Field_Pictures/SouthCoast/0312_BigSurHighway.jpg

[sauga_kid]

Definitely do Monterey Bay, very nice place! If you have time, shoot up to Sonoma/Nappa Valley and check out the wine region if that's your thing. When there, check out V. Sattui, wonderful vineyard. Enjoy and keep us posted. Are you taking the 3?

[pahecko]

Awesome! Thanks for the notes. I was thinking of using the pacific highway, now I know i'm going to use it :D

I will be taking my beloved 3. I need to get that stuttering issue out of the way and get everything checked out, primarily the front end since it takes a beating.

I need new tires for the trip. I also was planning to get new rims, 18s. should I get rubber for the 17s even though I'm going to get 18s this summer?

edit: Historic 66 is the I-40? And have any of you actually visited any ghost tows? One must for me :d

[oni]

make sure you take pics and post it here...also include some cali ladies!

[SpeedBaby]

4) Careful in Saskatchewan. There's only one hill there and there's a cop on the other side of it :)


LMAO!!!!!!!!

[ZeroChalk]

Funny ... how many people that I know are going to the westcoast this summer. I'll be doing a similar trip but flying to LA and then renting a car. Driving a long the entire pacific coast line and ending up in Vancouver. Looking forward to people tip's and must see's...

[Thunder 3]

I've driven between Toronto and Winnipeg a million times since I'm from Thunder Bay...there is pretty nice scenery between Sault Ste Marie and TBay. If you drive a standard you'll have fun going through the hills. Watch out though...even in the middle of nowhere in Northwestern Ontario cops will pull you over for going 15 - 20 over the limit. Also, watch out for moose!

Usually takes me about 14 hours from Barrie to Thunder Bay and 8 from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg.

[3GFX]

OMG what I wouldn't give to just take a week off and do a trip like that. Just twisty roads and scenery!

[JiNuWiNe]

DAMN! I thought you were going to ask if anyone wanted to come along! :bang

hahah. jokes aside. It's going to be one hell of a trip for you man, I wish I had the opportunity to do a road trip like that! I can't help much but I guess I can list some songs for you. On a second thought, I can't help with that too.


Epic fail.

[pahecko]

DAMN! I thought you were going to ask if anyone wanted to come along! :bang

hahah. jokes aside. It's going to be one hell of a trip for you man, I wish I had the opportunity to do a road trip like that! I can't help much but I guess I can list some songs for you. On a second thought, I can't help with that too.


Epic fail.

By all means, if anyone can take the time off and wants to tag along, the more the merrier! A line of mazda3's road tripping across north america would be quite a site. Either way I've got 2 seats up for grabs :chuckle

[JiNuWiNe]

By all means, if anyone can take the time off and wants to tag along, the more the merrier! A line of mazda3's road tripping across north america would be quite a site. Either way I've got 2 seats up for grabs :chuckle

Wow, what a nice guy! I'll let you know soon if I can really participate. :chuckle

[super_vixen]

They make you book in advance for Alcatraz now? I went 7 years ago and I just bought a ticket the day of at Pier 39, hopped on the ferry and went across and did the self guided tour.

On another note:

Have a great trip! I'm jealous of you getting to do such a thing!

[pahecko]

They make you book in advance for Alcatraz now? I went 7 years ago and I just bought a ticket the day of at Pier 39, hopped on the ferry and went across and did the self guided tour.

On another note:

Have a great trip! I'm jealous of you getting to do such a thing!



only one problem about alcatraz: I can't drive there! :chuckle

[Skarbro]

They make you book in advance for Alcatraz now? I went 7 years ago and I just bought a ticket the day of at Pier 39, hopped on the ferry and went across and did the self guided tour.

On another note:

Have a great trip! I'm jealous of you getting to do such a thing!
Yeah, when we went we booked our Alcatraz tickets a month in advance. It's highly recommended because they sell out so quickly.

[Flagrum_3]

Here's a few other points of interest or must sees; take the ferry across to Vancouver Island visit Victoria-beautiful place, when in Washington State zip-over and check out Mt.St Ellens-awesome drive up and down the mountain, scary too...When in Norhern California drive thru The Redwood National forest, magnificent scenery and nice roads.

Have a great trip!!


_3


.

[x_o_k_x]

I always wanted to do the same trip, but also that would kill the mileage on the car.. It would be like trip of a lifetime for sure

[b.rabbit]

I've driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles over a week. It's an awesome drive.

+1 on Patriques suggestions for Montery Bay Aquariam (incredible facility). I wasn't a big fan of Alcatraz though.

And if you love driving (and I know you do), then definitely try to drive down Route 1 along Big Sur. It's something like 90 miles of incredible scenery (mountains on one side, ocean on the other) and nothing but twisty highway roads. Truly a fun drive.

http://geography.berkeley.edu/programcourses/2003_Field_Pictures/SouthCoast/0312_BigSurHighway.jpg

that looks amazing!

[mazda lover]

I've driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles over a week. It's an awesome drive.

+1 on Patriques suggestions for Montery Bay Aquariam (incredible facility). I wasn't a big fan of Alcatraz though.

And if you love driving (and I know you do), then definitely try to drive down Route 1 along Big Sur. It's something like 90 miles of incredible scenery (mountains on one side, ocean on the other) and nothing but twisty highway roads. Truly a fun drive.

http://geography.berkeley.edu/programcourses/2003_Field_Pictures/SouthCoast/0312_BigSurHighway.jpg


where are the guard rails?

[bhrm]

where are the guard rails?

guard rails are for beginners. cliffs are what defines a man from a boy.

[x_o_k_x]

these roads were made for zoom zoom only

for speed3s it is recommended an extra 40mhp more:chuckle

[super_vixen]

Yeah, when we went we booked our Alcatraz tickets a month in advance. It's highly recommended because they sell out so quickly.

Glad I got to do the tour before it got that busy.

[Slipstream]

holy crap this sounds like one hell of a summer trip! im dam sure gonna do this this year have fun and drive safe!

[agm_ultimatex]

OMG what I wouldn't give to just take a week off and do a trip like that. Just twisty roads and scenery!

+1, that does look fun :)