california

a few buddies and i are plannin a bit of a road trip down to cali before school starts up. i've been down there many many times(with family or school), but never really for a road trip. it'll be about an 11 day trip.

what are some good places to check out along the coast?

any cost estimates? i figure just one hotel on the way down there.

are passports necessary to take the ferry from victoria to seattle? or will they be come august?

theres no concrete plans for it, which is kinda nice, but if anyone had some good experiences in a certain place or something we should consider doing it would be rad to hear some stories.

its my first trip out of the country that isnt with school or family, so im pretty stoked for august to come. i dont wanna overthink the trip, but a general knowledge of things we should or shouldn't take into consideration would be a good thing.

hit up the dune buggying in Oregon. super fun.

I think you can still get across with a birth certificate but getting a passport is always a bright idea (though its a bit of a pain).

If you are driving up the coast of Cali, stop at Hearst Castle just outside SF in San Simeon. http://www.hearstcastle.com/.

Built buy one of the railroad barons it's freaking impressive. You have to pay to do it but IMHO it's well worth it. The amount of work that went into it will blow your mind.

Pity that W.R. Hearst died shortly after it was completed (or maybe it was shortly before, can't remember for sure).

The dunes in Florence is a lot of fun, and a great place to camp and meet people. Expensive to rent a quad but worth it for an hour or two.

When in CA, if you have your pass port, it's just a quick hop over the border into Mexico. Keep your wallet close by but at least you can say you were there, and you can drink.

Tim

Don't overlook Oakland - its actually a pretty fun town.

Blondies Bar and No Grill - Mission District in San Fran - loads of fun - very good place to get completely blotto

Take your bike - a hardtail will do well - lots and lots of places to ride.

I worked there for a year or so and spent lots of time all over Norcal - there are wicked trails tucked in all over the place.

Tamarancho Boy Scout Camp in Marin County (only place I have seen signs that say "Mountain bikes MUST stay on the singletrack")

Redwood and Joaquin Miller parks in Oakland

Annadel in Santa Rosa

You can check out the Repack, Mt. Tamalpais and the Hoo-Koo-Eee-Koo trail (where modern mountain biking was supposedly born - Ritchey, Fisher et al)

Definately drive out along the Coast highway - its pretty sick

Carmel Really nice, very classy. There are no chains stores or restaurants or street vendors, which gives a unique feel to the town. Do the 17 Mile Drive, it takes past a bunch of high-class golf courses including Pebble Beach, and there are some oceanside views that are not to be missed.

San Francisco is also a great city too, the lineups for the cable cars are pretty long though.

santa cruz
french laundry
napa

How old are you? Is the purpose of the trip primarily riding or just having fun partying, meeting girls, etc? Keep in mind that the legal drinking age is 21.

I'm a Bay Area native but moved up here last year mainly because the trails are way better than the trails around the bay. There are a lot of good trails but they are far apart. My top five would be Skeggs, Soquel demo forest, Auburn trails, Downieville, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Look em up on mtbr.com

Definitely gotta spend some time in San Francisco. Blondie's is good but the best thing about it is that it's in the Mission district which has tons of small restuarants and bars so you can barhop all night. Well, only til 2 am.

Alcohol is dirt cheap compared to BC prices. Explains why I drink so much less up here.

Some of the other places are worth checking out but think about if you really care to end up in a tourist trap (fisherman's wharf, cablecars) or a haven for old people like Carmel. Carmel is beautiful but holy fuck it's boring after sunset. Go to Santa Cruz. Camp out on Manresa beach.

your goin goin back back to cali cali?

santa cruz
french laundry
napa

reservations taken two months prior to the date. phones open at 10, good luck getting through. reservations full by 10:15. $550 check for two people (if you order from the bottom of the wine list).

Best dining experience of your life though.

your goin goin back back to cali cali?

strictly for the weather, women, and the weed?

i'll be 20 by summer. i bmx as well as a couple others that are going so we will probably bring a few bikes. definately looking to just get out of here and have some fun in some rad places. maybe ride some kids bikes, meet some girls, spend a lot of money.

i've been to mexico 5 times, and i really enjoy it. chances are we'll be close enough to hop on over, so thats an option. its worth it just for the tacos and mulitas. i dunno about watching my wallet, but hubcaps tend to go missing there pretty quick.

not too worried about the drinking age in the states, im not a huge drinker. either way im sure we'll find a way if we find ourselves in need of some alcoholic beverages to quench our thirst.

most of us are going back to school in september, so its kinda just the last bit of fun before we start going to lame college parties.

If you want to get to Cali fast, don't go the coast. Go I-5. If you go the coast, the dunes are incredible. I have this pipe dream of fast tracking down there with frend(s?) [HTML_REMOVED] riding dirt bikes all week. They are nearly endless. Especially at the Jesse P. Honeyman state campground area.

I went down there for spring break. Drove over to Arizona too. I think I did 6200 kilometres in 8 days.

I've liked the Bay area the best, but on this trip I went to San Diego for the first time and I'd say it's as good a place to go (except for Sonoma/Napa). Plus, it's about 20km from the Mexican border, so you can head there for some tequila, hookers, and blow. The beaches are great, they have some nice attractions.

It took 22 hours of travel time (driving, stopping for gas, stopping for quick eats) to get to San Diego. Goin down the I5, or if you go inland, I99, is WAY faster than going up the coast.

Try not to hit Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, SF, or LA during rush hour otherwise you'll add quite a bit of time to your driving.