toomanybooks

Try to get some beer from Russian River Brewery.

Change your life.

www.ratebeer.com's top beer list is a good one to consult.

billinghamn

Thanks for the suggestion - looks like Russian River Brewery is based in Santa Rosa - we will be heading that way in the not too distant future.

mkjr

your welcome.

unfortunately my experience in that area ends at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course and it's famous floating par three green... ;-)

we would typically ventured via Spokane on our trips down from where my parents grew up, just north of the 49th in the kootneys...so mostly information i have is on the various routes from Grand Forks, BC south via the many routes you can take back around through WA and OR back up to YVR.


The good thing about that area is that if you are looking for some decent level of seclusion, you have it since on the east coast, things are a little more dense from city to city so you have more cars.

jcm9000

Duplicate, aarrgghhh iphone!!

jcm9000

There is a quality brewery i. Anderson valley as well - the section of highway one from leggett via fort bragg down to santa rosa is stunning, i prefer it to big sur. i drove a mustang from san diego to leggett, with one stage from carmel to leggett up route 1 and back to the fairmont in santa rosa for new year in one day. Took 15 hours and that was really chucking the mustang around, but wow what a drive! If you have time on way to santa rosa try to hit that section of route 1 and even pass through anderson valley. Make sure to stop at roederer estate, great bubbles, and some cracking wineries up there! Ps i love sonoma and the russian river area. BA had a russian river pinot noir to/from yyz and it was brilliant. I dont usually go for pinot noir but my it was good.

AeroWesty

One can find the most bizarre things on the interwebs these days:

Spokane, WA to Kalispell, MT in 97 seconds

billinghamn

Yes I found that as well. It really is bizarre isn't it, since you have absolutely no idea which route they took, or anything - it's just a series of photos which don't really help in anyway - it could be any route! It made me smile (I think) in the same way as you!

mkjr

was it merry edwards? i seem to recall having it on our flight in May.

billinghamn

PCH is fab isn't it - sounds like you had a scream on your 15 hour drive. We always ask for a Mustang, but they are ten a penny now on the PCH aren't they? We have only seen about 4 in 2 days driving heading inland, which I guess isn't surprising.

We did Santa Rosa a couple of years ago - this time we are heading to Napa and will be staying over a couple of nights, so should be fun. I'll check out our route later to see whether we can fit a diversion in.

jcm9000

Eh, i cant remember to be honest, i read the bottle a few times while 'elpin me self at the 'kitchen' but the name would not stick. So i went back to drinking it...

Anyway, best of luck with the driving, i found the new mustang to be a great cruiser, and was still comfortable after 15 winding road hours at the wheel! Ps if you are thinking of doing a tour there is a chap i swear by over there that does in a group minibus or private tours and is properly licensed unlike many of them. Pm me and ill send over his company if interested. Oh and search out tulocay by bill cadman. Great guy, wine tasting in his kitchen while his wife watches tv! Take your own food, lovely wines to boot.

billinghamn

So quick update - we have now arrived in Kalispell having a fairly uneventful drive, but we both thought that the scenery at times was stunning. We've been through Idaho and Montana today - both new US states for us.

However the one thing that did stand out was the number of sign posts pointing to overlooks or view points when there was no real view whatsoever! Very misleading, but no one to complain to!

AeroWesty

It did, indeed!

BTW, since you're out in the middle of nowhere, the Perseids Meteor Shower is expected to peak tonight. You should have a good view of it if you're interested in stuff like that, and awake in the middle of the night.

bobbob1976

I can't believe you went so close to Seattle without visiting the "Original" Starbucks

I'm really enjoying the trip so far. I wish it wasn't 6 months until my Austin, Denver, Aspen and Seattle trip :-(

billinghamn

We've done Seattle a couple of times in the past - we did consider spending a second night in the centre of Seattle - we really wanted to have dinner at Wild Ginger where we had a fabulous meal on our last trip. Unfortunately we needed the second night to help us fit in a trip to Glacier NP. So we've got the photos of the original Starbucks store, and in fact we saw a guy nick some mugs from the store last time. It didn't seem to cause too much drama though - it was a regular occurrence at the store apparently.

billinghamn

I really fancy staying up to watch the meter shower but I suspect we won't last that long. You never know though. Thanks for the suggestion.