We are planning a trip in early October to fly into San Francisco and drive up to Seattle and fly home from there. We are interested in hitting Napa/Sonoma and Hwy 1 (does Hwy 1 go all the way from SF to Seattle???). Our timeframe is about 8 days - is this enough? We would like to spend a couple of days in each SF and Seattle - but where should we stop along the way besides Napa/Sonoma. Anyone have any good B&B's they have been to in Oregon area?

Here are my favorite stops along Hwy. 1 between San Francisco and Seattle:

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA -- stay at Dancing Coyote Beach in Inverness or at the Point Reyes Seashore Lodge in Olema.

Fort Ross, CA -- a restored, authentic fort built by the the Russians when they were fur-trading in those parts in the previous century.

Mendocino, CA -- lots of places to stay

Lake Benbow, CA -- just a few miles south of Garberville, stay at the Benbow Inn. Actually, this is where you have to go inland at the 'lost coast' section because the coastal highway gets interrupted.

Gold Beach , OR -- stay at Tu'Tu'Tun Lodge

Be prepared for amazement! I've only made the drive as far north as Newport OR and the coastal scenery is the most spectacular I've seen anywhere - very rugged and mostly undeveloped.
I was there with a sleeping bag and a pauper's budget, thus unable to suggest B&B's or dining. I do suggest that you take a detour to visit the coastal area (don't know the name) in OR that is a "desert on the ocean". There is an area, a few miles wide and many in length, that is covered by sand unes and surrounded by forest. Truly an anomaly of nature that must be seen to be appreciated..

What a wonderful experience you will have!!

The area that Owen is talking about, I believe, is a park (state? national?) just north of Coos Bay, OR. It is a MUST SEE!! Thank you for reminding me of a great memory, Owen.

Be sure to take the west route around the Olympic Nat'l Forest and stop (for at least a couple of hours, more if you can) at the Olympic Rainforest in WA.

Take a small detour to visit Ferndale, CA. It's a wonderful Victorian town just off the coast road near (south of, I believe) Eureka in northern CA.

When I made this trip, I didn't have as much time as you but I drove from SF to Vancouver, BC and back in 10 days and I saw a LOT and enjoyed every minute of it.

In Seattle there are so many things to see and do. Just a couple would be a *Show Me Seattle* tour, excellent half day tour on a 14 passenger mini bus, and of course, Pike's Market. Be sure to allot enough time for this. It is very large, very interesting, a MUST SEE.

Enjoy!

Cannon Beach in Northern Oregon is great -one hour south of Portland. I don't know a place to stay-but I prefer the end of town near haystack rock-you will see what I mean when you get there.

The highway 101 is great-most scenic in southern part of Oregon-it is sometimes a bit slow-but well worth the trip. Be aware that 101 in WA puts you on the Olympic pennisula and pretty far West of Seattle, so you will have to get back East a bit to Seattle either driving or by ferryboat.

The area the people above were speaking of is called Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The area runs beside 47 miles of highway 101 between Florence and North Bend. It is a great area. BTW the state has announced it will be spending multiple millions to bulldoze all the dunes over the next 10 years or so. The European beach grass that was stupidly imported into the dunes near the turn of the century is destroying the natural habitat. Nothing else has worked so now the bulldozers have arrived.

Unless your are devoted oenophiles.. .suggest you not be taken in by the Napa Sonoma hype....it's flat grape land and overpriced B*B's and restaurants...Not to bother with when you can be experiencing that phenomenal seacoast, etc. Do do some of the Redwood forest (north from Fort Bragg, Ca...is great). And work in Mt. Ranier (near Seattle)...if it's showing thru the fog -- it was THE highlight of my W. Coast trip last spring!