My sister and I are flying into LA on Friday (short notice trip) to look at a VW Eos with the 99% chance of her buying it. If not buying it, then probably going to rent a car and blast up to Seattle. Hey, we were planning on driving anyway, so why not rent instead of fly? Anyway, the dealership is in Downey, and we would likely need at least one meal in the area, and then we drive... North? What route options do we need to consider or otherwise strongly avoid? Just tough it out on I5, or go another route? What about tolls and etc getting out of LA and traveling up the state? Let me know your lunch recommendations near Downey, and then how we get the hell out of LA without committing some crime (it's CA, everything's a crime...).
If you are trying to highball it, there is only one route. If you have time, 395 through Bishop-Reno-John Day-Tri Cities-Yakima is spectacular.
I'd go Reno/ Susanville/ Klamath Falls/ Crater Lake/ Cascade Lakes Hwy/Madras/ Mt Hood/Timberline/Carson/ Windy Ridge/ Eatonville Call it the Cascades tour
No moto. Probably no time for a relaxing tour. We are siblings, not besties. As we have the same genetic makeup there is only so much either of us can tolerate of the other. Time is of the essence.
You could do 101 from LA to San Jose, then take the 680 --->the 80 ---> the 505 ---> the 5 just north of Sacramento. You may want to map out where the current fires are in California, as that could alter your route.
Then you know the route. There are currently no fire closures on 5 and none of the existing complexes pose a threat to it. Its remotely possible the Canyon complex (west of Patterson) could come east, but there is mostly orchard and grazed rangeland abutting the freeway in that section. The idea of doing 80/505 has fire issues at Vacaville.
The quickest way (without traffic) is obviously taking the 5. If it was me, I'd fly to LA early in the morning, and try to close the deal by 12-1400 hrs. If you leave by 2PM, you will miss most of the LA traffic. The total trip is about 18 hours with no traffic. To make it bearable, I suggest stopping overnight. You should be able to make it to Sacramento in 6-7 hrs. Spend the night there, then finish the remaining 10 hours of driving the next day. Remember, you day flying down will start at o-dark thirty, and both of you will be exhausted later that day. If you do spend the night in Sac, find out if Murder Burger is still around. I once ate lunch there after flying into SMF, headed towards Laguna Seca. I hope it is not a convertible. A terrible type of car if your only desire is to get to your destination asap. Good luck!
No longer around, and was not in Sacto (was in Davis). Its a pretty solid 12 hours to Seattle from here. Zoran's route from Reno using 58 over the Cascades is also good (that's where the train route follows), but I am partial to Eastern Oregon.
Do what Sapsis said, 395 out of LA and to Reno. That is about 7hr trip and you don't deal with all bs on I-5. From Reno to Seattle is about 11hr the route I am taking. Not much different than I-5 all the way but lot nicer. If you come through Reno you welcome to stop by and stay overnight.
Why not just take the bullet train if you're in a hurry? Also have to get titos tacos in culver city on your way out
This. Done it many times. Fuck the I5 route, Although out of Reno I prefer Susanville, Adin, Klamath Falls, Bend, Grass Valley in OR to Goldendale, WA, over Satus Pass to Yakima and then Ellensburg, Seattle.
I am strongly leaning the Reno route as it only adds a couple of hours, depending on when/where we intersect I5. I would love to do 101, but not this trip. Flights leave SEA 6:00, arrive LAX 8:30-ish. I asked my sis to negotiate a ride from the airport to the dealership as the test drive, then we can either sign papers or determine how to get home without that car. Target departure by car is noon-ish. Good suggestion regarding crashing on the way up. Even 3-4 hours of sleep will help. We bombed back from the Mystery School to Seattle non-stop once, right after (I won) the main event. That was a tough drive as our third person didn't offer to drive. At all. It also appears that Rick is a fan of INOB. Not gonna lie, the only experience I had there was underwhelming, but I'm willing to try again, but I'll need specific instructions for ordering because they didn't understand that I was ordering off the written menu and jacked it up.