Seeking suggestions

[grampachet]

We are planning our first retired trip. Our proposed plans are to travel slowly down the west coast on 101, leaving Portland the middle of March arriving at Disneyland first week in April to meet grandkids for a week with Mickey and Minnie, then drifting around till end of May or middle of June. We are looking for suggestions. Thank you.

[HamRad]

Chet and Verna,
Since you're going to be "in the neighborhood" why not visit Arizona and meet a bunch of your fellow travelers? The Annual North American MOC Spring Rally is being held this year in Camp Verde, AZ. The dates for the Rally are April 16th thru the 26th. This is sort of a good central point from which to see many of the finest features of Arizona. And I'm almost certain that your fellow MOCers will have plenty of "suggestions" as to where you can or should visit.

The Spring Rally is a bit more laid back than the Fall Rally. The Spring Rally is more social in nature allowing for a lot of interchange between MOC members. If nothing else it gets you close to the Grand Canyon. Of course Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona are nearby. The Mongolian Rim area is visible and easily accessible. The old mining town of Jerome (now an artist village) hangs on the side of a mountain and is worth a visit.

If you can't make the Spring National Rally then perhaps you could make the Western Regional Rally held in Canyonville, OR. The dates for that Rally are June 6th thru June 12th.

Anyway these are a few suggestions. If any of these suggestions work for you then great and if not we'll hope to see you somewhere on down the road. Happy Trails, Dennis.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

If you take HamRad's suggestion, next on the trip, excellent timing weather wise (or was in 2011), after the Rally:

Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
Moab (Arches and Canyonland and MORE)
Bryce (can get Zion from there via truck day trip) and Capital Reef and Grande Escalante. Don't miss Capital Reef!
We then spent month in Salt Lake City (genealogy research mecca)
Yellowstone
Custer South Dakota

Depending on weather, then hit Glacier, etc. We ran outta time and Glacier still had 90 foot drifts, so we headed east and home to the stick built, it was time for grandtwin time!

Lots of photos of this on my blog (see sig line), I am still writing about it, I am in Custer now on the blog! By the way, there is a little search box on the blog, right hand column.

Enjoy! Don't rush!

[Backroads]

We stayed at Bullards Beach State Park (oregon) in Bandon. Real nice place and sites are plenty large enough. We liked it so well, that we plan to go back next year for a couple of weeks. Most state parks now require you to reserve on line or phone prior to arriving. Good thing is the cost.. only $20 for full hook-ups.

[Capt Kidd]

If you have time a great side trip would be to Yosemite National Park. Stay outside the park in Groveland and do a day trip to the park. If you have never been to Yosemite it will be well worth your while.

[grampachet]

I appreciate these tips. Sitting here planning is maybe half?? of the fun for me. Watching it trying to snow here in Portland makes me anxious to go. Not much definite on plans yet but Oregon coast to Coos Bay, to Eureka, to Santa Rosa.... ending at Disneyland with grandkids. Then ??

[Art-n-Marge]

There's also a bunch of things to see on the way down to Disneyland if you are leaving mid-March and not getting the D-land until early April.

Someone already mentioned Yosemite. This is one of my favorite places and do take the advice about staying in Groveland. It is about 10 miles to the Entrance from there and another 15 or so miles to Yosemite Valley. The rest of the park will probably be closed to snow, but it is beautiful (and cold) that time of year.

Then if you head back to the coast of CA, there's PCH, San Simeon, Pismo Beach, wineries from there to Santa Barbara.

You don't mention what route you want to take (coast, central, something else) but there's lots to see and do in between.

Hamrad mentioned the AZ rally. But this would depend on how much time you spend around the Disneyland area.

I like Mrs. CountryGuy's list because it includes some of my wishlist and that area of the country can easily fill your timeframe.

I like planning too, but if you're like me if you plan for too long, you plan too much, so ya gotta be careful.

May your maiden "retirement voyage" be more than you expect! Don't forget to allow some time to enjoy your home on wheels.

[grampachet]

Thanks Art for the info. Our route plans are the 101 from central Oregon to Disneyland. I did this trip while in Navy in 1957 Hillman (slow), and again in a 1955 Chev (fast) then others in various cars. This will be my first trip down bringing our home with us and hope to see and enjoy the time. I know this is the best forum to find real honest trip information.