Texas to Washington State
Hello, I'm an RV newbie and have been living in my RV for the past month. I had planned stay in Texas for the winter, but my situation changed and now I'm moving to the coast of Washington State. I'm...
Forum Discussion
MerryLynn wrote:
Thanks Islandman! Do you recommend taking 5 from Bakersfield to Sacramento? From Port Townsend, I plan to take the ferry to Whidbey, which is my new home. Do you know anything about that ferry?
When you first mentioned the coast we probably assumed you meant the outer coast. Whidbey is in the inner waters, with a different access route.
There are 3 ways on to the island - the PT-Coupeville ferry from the west, Mukleteo-Clinton from the south and Deception Pass bridge from the north.
The PT boat recommends reservations, since it is smaller and runs less frequently. But you don't need to rush to leave PT.
https://www.wsdot.com/ferries/schedule/ScheduleDetailByRoute.aspx?schedrouteid=1861
The south ferry is busier, especially with commuter traffic. Access from the south via I405 and WA525 is straight forward, but daytime traffic can be heavy. WSDOT has good traffic information; Google Maps is also good at giving routes and times through Seattle.
The north route is cheapest - no ferry cost - but also involves the Seattle traffic.
For PT you could do US101 along the coast and around the top of the Olympics. That's lots of forest driving, with limited views of the ocean. Olympic Nat Park is also doing road work along the shores of Lake Crescent with some 4hr delays.
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/lake-crescent-highway-101-rehabilitation-2017-19.htm
I5 to Olympia and US101 north along the Hood Canal is a more direct route. That Hood Canal stretch is level, but somewhat curvy.
You could also go up Kitsap Peninsula, either leaving 101 to 3 at Shelton, or taking the bridge from I5 in Tacoma. That has some urban freeway driving around Silverdale, but nothing like Seattle.
US97 up the east side the Cascades, and WA20 over the North Cascades directly to the Island avoids all the urban freeway, but might be iffy in November. That pass usually closes due to snow sometime in November.
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/travel/highways-bridges/passes/north-cascades-highway/home
