California Coastal Route

[crandle]

We are planing on heading south on Coastal Highway 101 from Washington to California in our 31 foot Class C towing a car. Combined length is 50 feet. We eventually want to get back over to I-5 far enough down into CA to avoid the mountain passes on I-5.

My options seem to be SR 36 and SR 20 as I have been on the end of SR 1 where it goes into San Francisco and would like to avoid that experience. I am used to narrow, steep roads as we have used this rig in Mexico for many years so I have a high fear threshold. 🙂

I am just looking for some advice of the best route to take from 101 east to I-5 somewhere north of San Francisco. Thanks.

[crandle]

Safe and sound in Central California, weather is warming up and we are headed in the right direction (South). Thanks for all the help folks you are welcome to follow along in the Blog: http://croftsmexico.blogspot.ca/

[JohnG3]

CA Traveler wrote:

JohnG3 wrote:

Take the Richmond/Rafael bridge to Oakland then follow the GPS back to 101 south of San Jose. No driving through the City.

This brings Richmond, Berkley, Oakland, E Bay and San Jose traffic into play. Not my favorite route.

My preferred routes in order.

1. 101, SF 19th Ave - DO NOT take 101, 280, 85, 101. There are several crossovers to 101 before SJ if desired but I prefer 280/85. Yes 19th Ave is about 6 miles long.

2. 37, 80, 780, 680, 101 - now south of downtown SJ. With a 680/580 option to 5

Did it a couple times mid day with little to no issues. Favorite route (except the Richmond/Rafael bridge)going from 101 to 80 to 505 to 5 either direction.

3. 580, 80, 880, 101. The above quoted route.

Generally mid day traffic won't be horrible on any of the above. Generally - :@ But like any big city area - :S

[BoonHauler]

Thanks for the update.

Well, I guess you get your olives now 😃

[crandle]

The Siskiyou has moderate snow today (Wednesday) but is clear tomorrow so that is when we are doing it. We have gone this route many times in the past, we were just looking for a change of scenery but the RV problems kept us on I-5. Another time.

[ppine]

The coast road is windy and up and down the whole way. Route 20 is easier driving to get to I-5. There is really only one pass on Interstate 5 Siskiyou Summit and it is no big deal unless the weather is really cold.

[crandle]

The job is done and we have a new spindle! The job cost $380 and took four hours labour. We are pleased with the work that Trailer and RV Parts Warehouse of Medford, OR did for us.

I told the welder before he started that Master Tow says their spindles are not replaceable. He just grinned and said, "there is always a way" and there was!

There is snow forecast for the Siskiyou Pass tomorrow so we sill sit here in Medford until Thursday. Life is Good!

http://croftsmexico.blogspot.ca/2016/11/done.html

[BoonHauler]

crandle wrote:
We are having a series of RV problems that are keeping us on I-5 where there are service shops. So far we have had 1) 6 volt RV batteries that had to be replaced, 2) a converter that had to be replaced, 3) a leaking fresh water tank that does dry in three days, 4) a bad spindle on the car dolly wheel that is keeping us stuck in Medford, OR until at least Monday.

Major bummer, sorry to hear the bad news.

I was just in Medford, LOVE the State of Jefferson!

Could be worse, always could be worse.

Let us know how it goes.

[CA_Traveler]

If you have to tow the dolly then do so w/o the car. Maybe the problem started with the brake problem or maybe it started last week, no one really knows.

If you do spend more time in Medford then I recommend Rogue River SP about 10 miles to the north, one of our favorites.

[crandle]

My intention is to have the old spindle cut off and a new one welded on. There appears to be only one shop in Medford that does this sort of thing. We will try them first thing Monday morning. If they can't/won't do it they might be able to send me in the right direction. It is very badly worn but was only caught by chance during a tire change. I have driven thousands of miles on that axle since the damage in 2012.

[CA_Traveler]

crandle wrote:
We are having a series of RV problems that are keeping us on I-5 where there are service shops. So far we have had 1) 6 volt RV batteries that had to be replaced, 2) a converter that had to be replaced, 3) a leaking fresh water tank that does dry in three days, 4) a bad spindle on the car dolly wheel that is keeping us stuck in Medford, OR until at least Monday.

Read your blog. Hope that spindle/bearing makes it to a repair shop!

[CA_Traveler]

JohnG3 wrote:

Take the Richmond/Rafael bridge to Oakland then follow the GPS back to 101 south of San Jose. No driving through the City.

This brings Richmond, Berkley, Oakland, E Bay and San Jose traffic into play. Not my favorite route.

My preferred routes in order.

1. 101, SF 19th Ave - DO NOT take 101, 280, 85, 101. There are several crossovers to 101 before SJ if desired but I prefer 280/85. Yes 19th Ave is about 6 miles long.

2. 37, 80, 780, 680, 101 - now south of downtown SJ. With a 680/580 option to 5

3. 580, 80, 880, 101. The above quoted route.

Generally mid day traffic won't be horrible on any of the above. Generally - :@ But like any big city area - :S

[crandle]

We are having a series of RV problems that are keeping us on I-5 where there are service shops. So far we have had 1) 6 volt RV batteries that had to be replaced, 2) a converter that had to be replaced, 3) a leaking fresh water tank that does dry in three days, 4) a bad spindle on the car dolly wheel that is keeping us stuck in Medford, OR until at least Monday.

[CA_Traveler]

BoonHauler wrote:

crandle wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
Then how about just staying on 101? I can give you a heads up on the SF transient. You could take 101 down to 405 in LA, then 5 to SD and 8 to Yuma.

I am looking at a slight variation of that where we get off 101 just north of SF, tour the Napa Valley and then over to I-5 to Bakersfield. No olives this way but we have to make some small sacrifices!

I'd stay off 29 if I were you.

I went through there last month and it was road construction from Calistoga to Napa! The traffic SUCKED!

Then from Napa to Hwy 80 the traffic was bumper to bumper as well, what a mistake that was!

The Healdsburg/Dry Creek area has many excellent wineries right along 101 and we prefer this area to Napa.

[bass_n_bob]

Just did 101 last month from Washington state through the San Francisco area. There is a tunnel that the GPS said was only 11 feet clearance but that was wrong there was plenty of clearance for my Class A. A second caution is there are 2 places where part of the road was washed out and under construction. Traffic was signal controlled to only allow one lane at a time. I think this was in Cal. The view in some areas was spectacular but the driver can only enjoy it if you take some of the pull outs. This is drivers eyes on the road or say hello to the Pacific Ocean.