Flying into SFO in September

Thurs/Fri - Pier/Chinatown/trolley (we have been here before)
Sat. - Drive to Sonoma/Healdsburg area to visit wineries. Any ideas to visit a winnery that offers tour of vineyards and allows you to see the wine making process/history? Also something else small scale for tasting?
Sun - drive to Mendocino, spend some time and then head to Redwoods.
Mon. - drive halfway up the Oregan coast and sightsee along the way.
Tues - drive to Cannon Beach and spend the night.
Wed - drive to Mt Helens/Renier Spend the night close to Seattle
Thurs - Pike Market, Space Needle, Where is the city under the city and worth seeing?
Fri - Port Townsend
Sat - Hurricane Ridge/Hoh Rainforest
Sun - fly home Seatac

I know we have a lot planned, but can this be driven within this timeframe? Don't really want to get into the specifics until I know this is doable. Thanks for your help.

You're really moving a lot. Not how I prefer to travel, but not my vacation.

My comments...you can easily drive from Mendocino to Cannon Beach in one day, forgoing the extra stop on the Oregon coast. Unless you are planning on golfing in which case Bandon Dunes is a terrific spot to stop.

Wineries, we recently did the tasting tour at Cakebread. However, they have a 2 hour indepth tour. No cost, and tasting is included. Very nice smaller winery with a family feel.

Seattle Underground Tour is a lot of fun. I live in Seattle and have been on the tour at least 4 or 5 times. It's fairly short and humorous, and definitely interesting.

If it were me, I might save the Olympic Penninsula for anothe rtrip. You could certainly use more than 1 day in Seattle.

I've done the SF/Seattle drive (both 101 and I-5) a number of times. It's an easy drive. Although on 101, watch out for the speed traps.

Thanks lovesadventure. My husband and I do a fast moving trip like this every other year with sister/husband and our mom. On our seperate vacations we can then revisit a particular area for longer.

I read that it takes 10-12 hrs to drive the Oregan Coast without stops so if we could actually drive from Mendocino to Cannon Beach in a day we would certainly do this and save the extra day for Seattle.

Where is Cakebread located and do you need reservations?

Where do you go for the undercity tour?

Would love to make even a short trip to Olympic P. by way of Pt Townsend and stay at Cresent Lodge. Could we see Hurricane Ridge and rainforest in a day and if so would it be best to drive west around 101 to be close to Seatac (very early flight out)or drive back east on 101?

I have many more questions about best routes, stay on 101 or cut off from time to time but I don't have my map with me.

Thanks for your help as I post more questions over the next two weeks.

I don't know that I'd agree you can "easily" drive from Mendocino to Cannon Beach in a day...that's over 600 miles and there are many places on Rt. 101 where you can't go 60 mph...plus there are so many places to stop! So I would stick with your plan of taking 2 days to do the drive.

Wed will be a LONG day if you're trying to do both Mt. St. Helens AND Rainier, so if you're determined to do both, you might want to stay in Ashford (near Mt. Rainier) since you'd still have a 2+ hour drive from there to the Seattle area. Actually, I'd consider turning your trip around a bit...continue up Rt. 101 from Cannon Beach to the Olympic Peninsula and staying one night out there (if you can get into Lake Crescent, great), then stopping in PT on your way into Seattle, then visiting Rainier/Mt. St. Helens after Seattle (you could leave Seattle in the morning, go to Mt. St. Helens, then backtrack to Mt. Rainier and then go on to Seatac for your last night since your flight is so early)--although I'd probably choose one or the other--both makes for a very long day.

Correction--it's closer to 550 miles between Mendocino and Cannon Beach on Rt. 101 but obviously that's still quite a drive (I wasn't sure of the mileage although I knew it was a long drive so I did a quick check on Mapquest and it came back as 628 miles, but for some reason they send you over to I-5 and back, so that adds miles!)

NW Wander - do you know the drive time from Cannon Beach to Cresent Lodge area? I like your idea of turning the trip around. Still debating the Oregon Coast drive days. Thanks.

Mendocino to Cannon Beach would be a hellacious drive. Don't try it in one day (even 2 days is pushing it if you want to see anything/eat along the way)

You original plan is doable but very rushed. - but I guess you already knew that.

It's about 4-5 hours without stops, but you'll want to take the whole day to stop at places like the Long Beach peninsula (esp if you're at all interested in Lewis & Clark history), Lk Quinault, the Hoh Rainforest, and maybe a beach or two.

We just returned from a similiar trip San Francisco to Seattle. The roads into and out of Mendocino are very slow with constant twists, turns, and switchbacks. If you are prone to motion sickness, I would skip Mendocino. It is a nice little scenic town that you can see in a couple of hours at the most. The Oregon coast is a much easier and nicer drive. I would spend 2 days driving the coast so you can see all the scenery, make stops etc. Along the Oregon coast I would recommend Harris Beach State Park just north of Brookings,OR, the section of US 101 from Brookings to Port Orford has many scenic overlooks, Myers Creek Beach, Heceta Head Lighthouse just north of Florence,OR and Haystack Rock and Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach,OR. Cannon Beach is a good town to stay overnight. Personally I would spend 3 days in Seattle. It is a beautiful city with lots to see and do. Otherwise your plan is doable.

I saw the entrance to that tour under the city near Pioneer square.Paul

I really agree with "janij" and 'NWWanderer"
Mendocino is beautiful but getting there and then back to 101 can be difficult..In comparison, there are MANY places along the Oregon Coast that are just as beautiful : Bandon, Florence, Yahats, Cape Perpetua, Newport, Depoe Bay just to name a few.. the miles involved can be misleading as in some area 35-40 MPH would be average....
I am very fond of the Oregon Coast so my opinions are biased...
Also Seattle---I would trade Olympic area for extra day in Seattle...
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help and input.

We will do the Oregon coast in two days and take our time to stop along the way.

Still undecided about trying to work in one day for Olympic Penninsula or save for another trip and devote 3 days to Seattle. Would it be worth taking ferry to PT for one day and returning to Seattle the same day? Seems like a ferry ride is part of the NW experience.

sharonanne,

A daytrip to Port Townsend is very easy (although I personally would recommend an overnight stay in PT to enjoy that area). As a daytrip, you could catch the Bainbridge ferry (a 30-minute trip); from there it is about an hour's drive to Port Townsend, assuming no problems with the Hood Canal Bridge. Don't try to catch the ferry during morning commute hours if it is a weekday; the lines are long. After 9 am should be OK. On the return, you could take the Kingston-Edmonds ferry for a different way back, but be sure and check the lighted board on the east end of the Hood Canal Bridge---it gives the wait times for each ferry. The Edmonds ferry is smaller and often gets backed up late in the day on weekends.

I agree with NWWanderer that trying to see both Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens in a day's drive from Cannon Beach to Seattle is way too much---you won't have time to do either one justice. On a clear day, you can "see" both of them from I-5, but that is not the same experience as actually driving up into the mountain area and walking around---that would take a minimum of 2 or 4 hours for each peak. Choose one or the other and spend some time.

Also---I just did that Mendocino coast to Oregon drive 2 days ago. We intended to stay on the coast the whole way, but ran out of time and cut over to I-5 after Crescent City, Calif. Even then, it was 13 hours to Portland(11.5 hours of actual driving, plus short stops for meals and gas). The Mendocino coast is lovely and I wish we'd had more time to stop along the way. The road is very twisty, with many 15- or 20-mph curves, and many long stretches stuck behind an RV with no chance to pass. So it's slow driving until you get to Leggett, where you join with Hwy 101 and start into the redwoods. Watch out for elk there!

If you can stand having a bunch of one night stays in a row, I'd vote for continuing up the coast from Cannon Beach and seeing the western part of the Olympic Peninsula on Wed, overnighting somewhere in the Lk Crescent/Port Angeles area, then seeing Hurricane Ridge and Port Townsend on your way into Seattle on Thursday (plan to get to Seattle late). Spending Thursday, Friday and Sat nights in Seattle (so two full days here) will give you enough time to get a good overview of the city, IMO.

Doing a day trip out to PT from Seattle will just really scratch the surface and not get you out into the most scenic areas of the Peninsula IMO (unless your primary interest in PT is its Victorian architecture and you're not really going out there to see scenery). Besides, you'd be taking that day away from seeing Seattle anyway if you did the day trip, so I'd do the drive around.

Thanks again for input. It is really difficult to make decisions when traveling to a new state/states. We may just have to wing it a little and wait until we arrive to see what we have time for. I would hate to feel we have to move on to the next place just to keep to a schedule.