[Cascade]

I am travelling in USA and Canada for five weeks from November 4th to December 9th.

The only dates I have fixed in this time are:

November 9th - 15th at Surrey Regional, British Columbia - I have partners organized for most days (I think only not Sunday at this point)

November 26th - December 6th at San Diego Nationals, California.

I am possibly going to attempt to play one of Oakland Sectional, Sun City Section on the weekend of the 20-22 November. I have nothing set in concrete at this time but I have a couple of possibilities in terms of partners.

I am driving from LA to Vancouver starting late on Wednesday 4th November probably mainly on a coastal route although I will probably visit some non-coastal places on the way particularly around and inland from San Francisco - Davis and Sacramento (I visited these places in my only previous trip to the USA in 1983).

On the return I am thinking of going inland through Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada. Missoula, Montana is a sister city of Palmerston North, New Zealand where I live so I am hoping to go there and I have a cousin who lives in Las Vegas who I will try and catch up with him if I travel that way.

I would consider taking a passenger - or passengers but I will only have a small car - for parts of this journey if anyone was looking for a ride North or South around these times.

[Phil]

See you in SD Wayne. A bunch of us will be there.

I'm from Montana and it sucks in November. I went to school in Missoula.

Please hit Zion and Bryce National Parks in Utah, as well as Yellowstone. It will be the highlight of that drive.

[matmat]

you could probably meet up with jdonn in Nevada!

[Elianna]

I don't know if you were looking for advice or not, but if you are:

• If you are renting a car, make sure that you are allowed to take it to Canada. Some rental agreements forbid even crossing state lines
  
• Traffic leaving LA heading North will not be fun before, say, 8pm. 7pm would be pushing it.
  
• My sister drove basically straight from Seattle to LA, taking 3 days. She alternated driving with her boyfriend, and only stopped due to eating, sleeping, or traffic
  
• The 101 will take much longer

I'm just saying that you may want to tighten your plans if you leave Nov. 4 at night, and expect to be playing Nov. 9.

[y66]

Sounds like a pretty amazing trip shaping up. Will expect a post or two along the way.

[jjbrr]

I'm looking forward to the trip report at the end. Sounds like a fantastic trip.

[kfay]

Yosemite, imo. I went there on a family vacation in '03. We drove into the valley at night, couldn't see much of anything. In the morning we woke up, went outside and it was like 'HOLY @!#$!' maybe the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

[kenberg]

Have a good trip. If there is anyway at all to get started a couple of days earlier to give you more time going up the coastal highway I most strongly recommend it. I live on the East Coast and don't get out there that often but I think much of the Pacific Coast is terrific. The first time I tried taking the coastal hwy from SF to LA it was December, the weather was terrible, part of the road was closed, but (!) this meant there were cancellations at the Big Sur lodge and I stayed there. It was great, weather and all. We have been back and will be back again this January. You can easily spend a day nosing around between Big Sur and SF. There is a butterfly museum in Pacific Grove, near Monterrey. As I recall, a heavy fine is imposed on anyone who molests a butterfly within city limits. Quirky. In Monterrey I was (mildly) attacked by a stork who made it clear that the portion of the pier that I was on was his.

It's of course true that you can save time by skipping the coastal hwy but it's a shame if you have to. I have never driven the full coast but I have been at a great spot south of Portland for a few days, and then I once took my bike on the plane to Seattle and went island hopping (ferries between islands, bike on the islands) in the Sound. To each his own, but this all beats any bridge hand I have ever held.

Enjoy it all.

Jeez. Maybe I should ask myself just why I am living on the East Coast. It has its goodies (mainly family) but... I am retired, after all.

[nickf]

kfay, on Oct 24 2009, 01:35 AM, said:

Yosemite, imo. I went there on a family vacation in '03. We drove into the valley at night, couldn't see much of anything. In the morning we woke up, went outside and it was like 'HOLY @!#$!' maybe the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

That reminds of when I visited the Grand Canyon - I was on a bus tour and as we entered the park, the driver told us to close our eyes - when we reached the perimeter of the park, he led us out of the bus still eyes closed and lined us all up along the barrier to the canyon.

Then "open your eyes" - the sight in front of us was mind blowing.

nickf
sydney