West coast with mother.
 

Does anyone have suggestion on the best places to take my mother on a weeklong trip. She just retired so we were trying to plan a mother/ daughter vacation in August.

Have you asked her? This sounds like that old Henny Youngman joke, "take my wife...please".

Bad jokes aside, there are so many possibilities you must gives us some hints, what you both like to do, city or country, museums, shopping, beach, wine, main sights or off the grid?

She said she doesn't care, just wants to see the west coast.

Fly into San Francisco, spend a couple of days, then either head north and visit Muir Woods, and Point Reyes NP, or head south and do the coast hwy through Big Sur to with stops in Monterey, and maybe at Hurst Castle, then back to SF through wine country.

Heading south from SF to Carmel/Monterrey and on through Big Sur if you get the gist of driving on the "other" side - would be my vote. You can also take day trips from
SF to Napa - combined with a ferry ride across the bay. Just google away.

I'm a native Californian...
I like the suggestion of flying into San Francisco, experience the Cable Car ride, Shop Union Square, Nieman Marcus, Macy's, IMagnin or just have lunch there, walk around Fisherman's Wharf in the evening and eat at Scoma's, or Fisherman's Grotto No.9. Next day drive across the Golden Gate, walk around Muir Woods, have lunch in Sausalito, then circle around through Napa Valley going in from Calistoga to Napa. Stop and taste at a winery or two. Then head to Santa Cruz, enjoy the surfing... then on to Monterey wharf. Taste Clam chowders and enjoy a dinner there. Follow the coast rd from Monterey, through Pacific Grove and take the 17 mile drive to Carmel, stopping as you wish. This is part of Calif best coastline. Overnight in Carmel a couple nights and visit the beach and views... take time to walk the streets, enjoy the galleries and shops. Relax and have tea or coffee. If it was me, I'be spend a few days in this area. If you take your time and do all of that, you will take a whole week.
If you wanted to add another week, drive on down to Santa Barbara and enjoy the south. It's more beaches and palm trees, but more congestion with Los Angeles. My favorite places to visit are Carmel/Monterey and Santa Barbara/Ventura.

When was the last time you were in Union Square? I Magnin's closed down in 1994.

Didn't Macy's take over the I. Magnin space?

RamonaH: Do you happen to be related to tomsd?? (Inside joke >) )

irishbelle: You tagged this for all three coastal states and we need to narrow things down a bit. Even saying she doesn't really care, does your mom have <i>any</i> preferences at all?

Beaches, art, fine dining, wineries, historic sites, shopping, scenery, etc?

Janisj - twins :$

Good one, Janisj :)

Ditto what bbqboy said.

All she said is she wants to see the Pacific Ocean, thecrestbis up to me. I am interested in scenery.

OK - that helps (a little :) )

A San Francisco, Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur would make a great 1-week trip.

Are you flying in long distance? I'd maybe spend the first 3 or 4 days in San Francisco and then the last 3 days in the Carmel vicinity. You could fly into SFO and out of San Jose (or any combination of these two airports.)

From a base in Carmel you can visit beaches, tide pools, a mission, Big Sur, redwoods, Monterey/Cannery Row, wineries, great restaurants - just a lovely area. W/ an extra day you could also visit San Simeon.

What sort of hotel budget are we talking?

You'd need a car for the Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur bits but not in San Francisco.

I like the idea of SF for 3 days, then Monterey or Carmel or Pacific Grove (they are very close together) then down to Cambria for maybe wine tasting or Hearst Castle then take 101 back to SF.

I may not be of much help but I took my parents last summer to see the West Coast. It was my Dad's dream to put his feet in the Pacific Ocean and he did. We flew into SFO, picked up our rental car and headed to Yosemite for a few days. We then came back to SF where we kept the car rental for another day and took a day trip to Muir Woods and then up to Pt. Reyes. For me, Pt. Reyes was my favorite part of the trip. It was just so beautiful and the drive was amazing. We would like to go back someday and continue more north or go down south. I found this link if you decide to go south http://travel.nationalgeographic.com...ast-road-trip/

Thanks for all the advice, but are there places outside of California that are worthwhile to visit?

Yes, there are plenty of places in Oregon you should see if you have the time. From SF or Napa, head up I-5 though Medford to get to Crater Lake. From Crater Lake head west to Reedsport via 138-I5-138-38. About 5 miles before Reesport on Rt. 38 you will pass the Deans Creek Elk viewing area. From Reedsport head south to Crescent City CA through the Redwood NP.

sure... you can fly to Portland, stay there for two or three days and then head over to the coast and spend three or four days in Cannon Beach (or Seaside or Astoria or Manzanita).
or, you can fly to Seattle, spend two or three days in the city and then take three or four days to drive the Olympic National Park loop or go to the San Juan Islands.
or, you can fly to LA and spend a week driving to Seattle with multiple stops along the way and fly out of Seattle.

But without more information on interests, budgets, time of year etc it is hard to give you guidance as to one trip over another. Most people love SF and Carmel so it is a good all around choice. It hits many highlights - museums, scenery, wine and food, outdoor activities, shopping, architecture, history. Then again, so do the other suggestions. But each have a slightly different emphasis - ONC is a little more rugged nature with national park lodges and hikes, long rocky beaches with driftwood; the Islands can give you a different adventure perspective whale watching and kayaking, wine tasting and dining; Carmel is a little more upscale with great shopping and fine dining, with a cool Aquarium and main street area in Monterey; the Oregon coast can be rugged sand dunes and windswept vistas or art galleries and artisanal dining or both depending on where you stay; and the road trip is obviously more driving and overnight stays, but covering more ground and changing scenery. But, these are gross over generalizations. With a little more research you can see what calls out to you and your mom.