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2010 Summer Travel Idea: The One Way Road Trip
May 3 2010 by Casey Bower
Comments (39)
It's time to break out the sunscreen, do a few crunches and get ready for a summer vacation, but where will you go? Do you have a summer travel plan yet? I do.
This summer, Sara and I are going to hit the road for a "one way" road trip. This is a cool idea that I have been hearing about lately, and I am excited to give it a try! Here's how it works, you rent a car, drive as far as you want, drop the car off at the airport, and fly home. This way, you get to enjoy the benefits of sightseeing, exploring many destinations, and hitting the open road but don't have to sacrifice added time on the road or extra driving for the return trip!
Our plan is to travel up the coast of California, explore Oregon, and finally, end up in Vancouver Washington. We figure that we can make this trip happen in 6 days and see all that we want to see. Although we have outlined an itinerary, the beauty of this trip is the freedom. This is a road trip, and anything can happen... as long as we make it to Vancouver by the date on our plane tickets.
Here's the plan:
Day 1- Fly into San Francisco and pick up the rental car. We picked San Fran because it is the farthest north either of us has been. We figure this way, the whole trip is new to us. So day one will consist of a quick trip down to Fisherman's Dwarf, a couple of pictures by the bridge, and then we hit the road for a short drive over to Napa Valley. This will leave the afternoon for a wine tasting bike tour! Although we won't make it very far for day 1, this is something that has been on our to-do list for quite a while.
Day 2 - Meandering along the Pacific Coast Highway. We have pretty much dedicated this day to slow driving and sightseeing along the PCH and the Redwood Highway, and ultimately ending up at Redwood National Park. This is a day of driving, but from what we understand, the drive is quite amazing, and we plan to take our time and enjoy. When we get to the park, the plan is to hike around and maybe see the world's tallest tree and hopefully a sunset on one of the many desolate beaches and then on to the beautiful Best Western Bayshore Inn for some much needed sleep and pampering.
Day 3 and 4- Head inland to Bend, Oregon. I had to make a pretty strong case to get Sara to agree to leave the coastal highways and head to Bend, and I did have an ulterior motive (rock climbing at Smith Rock), but once she saw pictures and heard rumors of what a dog friendly city it is coupled with the fact that we would be meeting friends there, she was on board.
Day 5 and 6- Straight shot north, a quick ferry ride, and then park it in Vancouver. Everyone I have talked to has said that we have to take the ferries. It is such a change from how we get from point A to point B in Arizona that I can't help but be curious. Even if we have to go out of our way to do so, we will pull that rental car out on to a ferry and cross a channel just for the experience. Once we are in Vancouver, we each have our own agendas. Sara wants to see some more wine country, and I want to do some kayaking... maybe we can compromise and do both? Once we are done, we end by parking the rental at the airport and jumping on the plane back to AZ.
So, that's our summer travel agenda, we leave in mid June, if you have taken this trip, have suggestions, comments, I would love to hear them. Leave a comment below and let me know if I'm missing any stops I'm going to regret.
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what a great article. I recently started a travel blog called Traveling for the Young, Fabulous and broke, if you have a chance, check it out! www.traveling4yfb.com