If you fly in and out of Sacramento make sure you reserve a room by the airport, especially if you have an early flight. The airport is not close to the city center. I have a friend who is a flight attendant & flies to Oakland often. Delta has them stay 45 minutes from the airport.

Check out the town of Woodland on a map. There are some hotels right off the freeway (I-5) that would be very convenient for getting to SMF for an early morning flight.

"<i>If you fly in and out of Sacramento make sure you reserve a room by the airport, </i>"

There are no rooms 'by' the airport at SMF - The on site hotel was demolished :)

But there are many hotels/motels w/i 10-20 minutes. All the usual suspects. Probably 25 properties from Hyatt to Sheraton to Embassy Suite to Coutryard, down to Super 8/Motel 6/Day's Inn - every price range. And all except the posh-ish ones downtown have free parking.

And another 7 or 8 along I-5 in Woodland about the same distance from SMF.

TAW - We are likely going to stay in Arcata. We will have the entire day to spend Monday exploring any area we choose. Do you recommend driving all the way to Crescent City, stopping at many places along the way, including Jedediah Smith park?

Only if you have time...I thought you were going up into Oregon so would go right by it.

You'll love Arcata. It's a nice combination of college town and art colony, with a sprinkling of homeless people to keep it real. If you're stocking up, go to the North Coast Co-Op, either in Arcata or Eureka, for some very fine food and drink options. I'd recommend Brio bread, either from the cafe on the town square or at the Co-Op.

We aren't planning to go into Oregon. We will have the entire day to spend on Monday going north from Arcata to where ever we choose. Any suggestions how far north to go and where to stop?

Wellvis-thanks for the info about the North Coast Co-op. Can anyone shop there? We love bread so we will add Brio bread to our list. We will buy a cooler and then pick up food for picnic lunches.

When leaving Arcata on Tuesday we are headed south to Fort Bragg. We are planning to turn off at Leggett and pick up Highway 1 South. Someone recommended Mac Kerricker state park north of Fort Bragg. Any other must sees in the area? We have all of Wednesday to spend doing whatever we want before heading toward Napa or Sonoma to spend the next 2 nights.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

We love to stay in the Harbor Lite Lodge in Ft Bragg. The rooms on the second level towards the east away from the bridge have a view right down on the harbor; rates are very reasonable for this area. I highly recommend visiting the Botanical Gardens in Ft Bragg. The walk through the formally landscaped lawns and gardents out to the forest and on to the ocean is magical.

The Menodcino Botanical Gardens (on Highway 1 between Fort Bragg and Mendocino) is one of my favorites. I'd consider it a "must do." Take one of the trails all the way to the cliff above the ocean.

If your time in the Redwood National Park is limited, I'd recommend spending time between the Visitor Center (just south of Orick) and Klamath to the north. There is much to see and do in this area. I have some detailed info on some of the trails/drives/sites in a trip report. Click on my name for the TR and details.

To see some amazing Coast Redwoods, stop for 2-3 hours at "The Trees of Mystery" With your paid admission you get a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain. If the weather is clear, you can even see the ocean from the top.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I have checked out the Trees of Mystery and the Medocino Botanical Gardens. Both look like great places to visit. I have added them to our list.

DD wants to see one of the drive thru trees. While I realize the are tourist traps, she feels that as tourists, this is one of the things we must do in northern CA. Any suggestions as to which one to visit, or are they all basically the same?

Thanks again for all of your great suggestions.

This thread has inspired me! I think we are going to do a similar trip when school gets out in early June. Please post how the trip went mlm59.