KarenInFla

We will be in Calistoga for a wedding the last week of October and have extended our trip to include seeing Northern California. We check out of our Calistoga lodging on a Sunday and need to be in Los Angeles the following Friday evening so we will have five days available to take in the sights (Friday will be a driving day to LA) and we'll have a car to get around. Our interests are nature, sight seeing, outdoor activities (hiking, biking, walking, etc), off-the-beaten-path places, good beer and wine, fresh seafood - not looking for fancy, just quality and fun! So, I'm in need of itinerary advice. We will have Friday and most of Saturday BEFORE the wedding to explore Napa valley/Calistoga - winery, eats or scenic drive suggestions? AFTER the wedding, my thinking is to semi-backtrack to Point Reyes to begin exploring there and then head north as far as at least Eureka (have to stop there to visit someone). We've seen SF area, Muir Woods and Yosemite so heading north seemed like the logical new territory to explore. We've even considered driving all the way to Portland and then flying down to LA (is it worth it or do we even have time for that?). What points of interest, do-not-miss, gotta-go/eat/drink/stay-there places should we consider? And, should we go totally crazy and just wing it - finding places to stay as we go or is it best to plan and book ahead (I'm a planner so the spontaneous thing freaks me out a bit). Please send this Florida couple your words of wisdom! Thanks for helping out.

Michael

In the Sonoma valley: Jack London State Historical Park, Benziger winery next to the park, the center of the town of Sonoma.

The Anderson valley has well-considered wineries. Mendocino is worth a visit.

Jean

I can't tell if you have any interest in driving the coast on your way to Los Angeles or, alternatively, whether you'd keep to the coast all the way to Portland.

And did you want to go to Portland at all, or were you thinking it was the closest airport option from Eureka? FYI Medford, OR, is closer. For that matter, if you're not interested in the coastal drive, San Francisco and Oakland are closer to Eureka than Portland is.

How many hours are you interested in driving each day? Depending on where you're starting from, you may need/want more than a day to drive to Los Angeles.

KarenInFla

Thanks, Michael, will check out your suggestions.

Jean, to clarify - we want to stay along the coast heading north.

No, Portland is not a must. It was just another place we thought we could visit but at this point I'm thinking it's too far and too much to squeeze in on this trip (and it's probably better to have more time in better weather in Portland at a later date). So we'd head north as far as it made sense (depending on scenery and points of interest) but definitely want to at least get to Eureka for a brief family visit. We're fine with driving several hours a day but would want there to be something to see/do along the way.

My thought is to take in as much as possible from Sunday morning (leaving Calistoga) to Thursday night and hit the road down to LA Friday morning (10 - 12 hours driving on that day is fine) via the quickest route. We've traveled along the coast from SF to LA so it's not necessary for us to do that again. We are locked into flying into Oakland upon arrival and flying out of LA upon departure.

jamie99

The quickest route would be the boring I-5, personally I would prefer the 101 but you will need a really early start or drive almost nonstop, since we go off Daylight Time Nov. 6 and it will be starting to get dark a lot earlier in late October.

sf7307

Barbecued oysters at The Marshall Store.

http://www.themarshallstore.com/home.html

Jean

I agree with jamie99. The inland drive to L.A. south of the Bay Area is really, really boring. Why not drive to Santa Rosa, drop the car, and fly Alaska Airlines to LAX. There are seats on Nov. 4th for as low as $109. Departures at 1:30p and 7:30p.

Or drive to Oakland, drop the car, and fly Southwest to LAX. Seats on Nov. 4th for as low as $74 at several departure times.

KarenInFla

Good point about the short days, jamie99. Jean, thanks for checking on flights. After looking at distance and time, flying into LAX seems to be a better option (DH, who will be doing most of the driving, likes this suggestion). sf7307, I looked up their menu - wow and yum! We'll have to make a point of stopping there for oysters.

Does anyone have an idea of how much time we might need to enjoy Point Reyes?