West coast traveling

[afd51]

Part of our cross country trip next summer will be to travel from mid - Oregon south to San Diego. I am an experienced big rig driver, having spent my entire life driving fire engines and ladder trucks, but am new to driving an RV. Now have a 41' DP and will be towing an SUV on a dolly. I read a great many comments on here regarding PCH and Rte 1 vs. 101 discussion. The coach has an engine brake. Any feedback back regarding which sections to avoid would be appreciated. I'd like to stay as close to the scenery as possible, but don't want to cause a panic attack for the family.

[Ford Idaho]

26 into Newport IMO is going to be the better route.

[mike2wheels]

I consider highway 1 in California (from Fort Bragg south along the coast) to be to tight for a large RV; it's narrow with lots of tight corners. It's an excellent road for motorcycles. My suggestion to take 101 south in the RV and take day trips to 1 in your toad.

You can take the Golden Gate Bridge (expensive toll) into San Francisco if you follow the signs for Hwy 1 and 19th Street (stay in the middle lane). From Hwy 1 take 280 south on the Peninsula. To San Jose, this is a much nicer drive than 101. If you stay on 101 after the bridge you'll end up going through downtown San Fran, which isn't fun.

If you want to avoid the toll, you can take 580 (north of the Golden Gate Bridge) to 880 and down the east side of the bay. But, like many roads in CA, 880 is in bad shape and suffers from very heavy traffic.

[dj3spots]

I wouldn't use Rt. 1 either. I also agree that taking day trips is an excellent idea. If you going into SF, across the Golden Gate, it's a toll road with no toll takers. You have to go online to a website to pay tolls by credit card. You will be fined and I'm sure you can figure out how I know this. We stayed a week in the Petaluma/San Fransisco KOA. Excellent park.


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