Born and raised in Vancouver. What bugged me most were the damn freeways. Driving along at 75mph with a stream of cars passing you on both sides is a bit unnerving. I felt like I was at Daytona Speedway.
Have you ever driven to California?
- Thread starter dumpthemonarchy
- Start date
Born and raised in Vancouver. What bugged me most were the damn freeways. Driving along at 75mph with a stream of cars passing you on both sides is a bit unnerving. I felt like I was at Daytona Speedway.
If you are in a hurry you will miss much of California - that's not driving at all... just blind speeding through places you'll never see.
Going the coastal routes through the little towns and seaports is the only way to enjoy not only California but Oregon and Washington as well - there you see what is hidden by the commercial routes - which will get you A to B but that's not much of a restful trip and why bother?
I love it when people fire up and down the freeways never seeing anything but off ramps and fast food joints and immediately declare California as not interesting. HA! The place is so filled with interesting places it would take a lifetime to visit all of them and the history of California is fascinating....
I used to travel the route twice a year for ten years or more - sometimes on I-5 and other times (if I had time) through the little towns and poke along until I arrived at my destination.
There are five different climates in California - so you can visit Mediterranean and end up in Desert the next day .... or Coastal..... or Mountain .... or ... I forget the other
Going the coastal routes through the little towns and seaports is the only way to enjoy not only California but Oregon and Washington as well - there you see what is hidden by the commercial routes - which will get you A to B but that's not much of a restful trip and why bother?
I love it when people fire up and down the freeways never seeing anything but off ramps and fast food joints and immediately declare California as not interesting. HA! The place is so filled with interesting places it would take a lifetime to visit all of them and the history of California is fascinating....
I used to travel the route twice a year for ten years or more - sometimes on I-5 and other times (if I had time) through the little towns and poke along until I arrived at my destination.
There are five different climates in California - so you can visit Mediterranean and end up in Desert the next day .... or Coastal..... or Mountain .... or ... I forget the other
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Son ... (asumption on my part but placed for dramatic effect) ... when the road is in your blood, looking at the world through a windshield is great pleasure. You see the continent - pants up, pants down - and you get paid for it.
I'm retired to the bush near Sudbury now.
Great results so far. Need a few more.
But I have to say I am not completely sure where you are from Petros. It seems like BC though.
But I have to say I am not completely sure where you are from Petros. It seems like BC though.
Yep many, many times, on the I-5 and on Highway 97 (connects to the I-5 at Weed, I believe)
WE came back one time along the Oregon Coast, cut across from Redding to Eureka and then north all the way to Aberdeen Wa.
I have driven in all the lower 48 States. There is NOTHING in the world that could compare with the American Interstate Highway system. The Autobahn in Germany is chuck full of speeding idiots. The Trans-Canada Highways is totally MMM. In the States I can drive from Bangor to San Diego, from Bellingham to Miami without the irritation of one single traffic light.
Yes, I drove in California. On Interstate Highways (I5, I10, I8, I15 and I80) and State Roads, including the second most scenic highway in the world, #1 (second only to the Banff-Jasper highway) from Crescent City to Santa Barbara. Would (will) do it again in a heartbeat.
Yes, I drove in California. On Interstate Highways (I5, I10, I8, I15 and I80) and State Roads, including the second most scenic highway in the world, #1 (second only to the Banff-Jasper highway) from Crescent City to Santa Barbara. Would (will) do it again in a heartbeat.
I too have derived a lot of pleasure from driving in the U.S. one very scenic highway is the north-south connector through Idaho.
Thank you for sharing your positive experience and I loved your comparison to the banff-Jasper route - which stands alone in its beauty.
I don't understand why people criticize I-5 when it is more pleasant for the average driver than a railroad track, airport or small country road which would take at least eight days to navigate the total length between nations. It is a service route - a commercial route - and as such wasn't intended for the sightseers but transportation.
To base an opinion on California driving via I-5 - those people are looking for derogatory remarks to lay out as important knowledge. Best stay home or travel across Canada which is beautiful in itself.
How much scenery can one appreciate anyway when they are going 10miles (or more) over the speed limit?
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JLM, I took that highway, too, from visiting one brother-in-law in Edmonton to visiting another who usually winters in Green Valley, Arizona.
Coming to the fork on I15, where it was Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon, I chose the latter. Seeing the Grand Canyon I felt I was truly in the presence of God.
Some years later I visited Las Vegas (my daughter married the love of her life there), but give me the Grand Canyon over Lost Wages, anytime.
By the way, visit Simi Valley in California. And if you care, drop in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library there.
Coming to the fork on I15, where it was Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon, I chose the latter. Seeing the Grand Canyon I felt I was truly in the presence of God.
Some years later I visited Las Vegas (my daughter married the love of her life there), but give me the Grand Canyon over Lost Wages, anytime.
By the way, visit Simi Valley in California. And if you care, drop in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library there.
I've driven the I-5 a lot and I've never had a problem with it. Actually it is generally quite a pleasant highway with nice rest stops every 50 miles or so where you can get coffee and snacks.
"You don't drive those highways, they drive you."
I lived in Burlington, Ontario, when my daughter worked in Vancouver.
Each time I went to visit her, I drove through the States. A trip that would have taken four days through Canada, took only two days through the States, due to their excellent, traffic-light-free highways and their reasonable speed limits.
If you don't feel comfortable on freeways, don't drive on them.
I lived in Burlington, Ontario, when my daughter worked in Vancouver.
Each time I went to visit her, I drove through the States. A trip that would have taken four days through Canada, took only two days through the States, due to their excellent, traffic-light-free highways and their reasonable speed limits.
If you don't feel comfortable on freeways, don't drive on them.
Curiosity, your post (#29) was well appreciated. If your avatar is REALLY you, you captured the heart of this old cadger, for life.
Those who claim that highway speed and scenery appreciatioon are mutually exclusive, obviously have never driven on I90 thru Montana, Idaho and Washington States. Or I 35 in Kansas. Or I40 thru Tennesse and the Carolinas. Or I8 or I10 in Arizona and California.
Just because one drives fast, it does not mean that one is blind.
Those who claim that highway speed and scenery appreciatioon are mutually exclusive, obviously have never driven on I90 thru Montana, Idaho and Washington States. Or I 35 in Kansas. Or I40 thru Tennesse and the Carolinas. Or I8 or I10 in Arizona and California.
Just because one drives fast, it does not mean that one is blind.
If one drives fast, one had better be paying more attention to the road....
That being said ... I saw much world from an interstate - but to really experience it, backroading is the way to go. Slow down and smell the flowers.
That being said ... I saw much world from an interstate - but to really experience it, backroading is the way to go. Slow down and smell the flowers.
You sound like my dad:lol: I make him sit in the backseat when he visits. My daily commute to work includes the I-5. My mom always comments on how she can't believe I feel ok driving here after growing up in Kamloops:lol: which isn't exactly a buzzing metropolis.