Taking the 66 Valiant on a Road Trip Soon CA to WA

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Super Sleeper

Super Sleeper

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Location
Sequim, WA
As we plan to move from Southern California to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state this fall I am faced with moving my meager car collection. I have a friend in WA who has allowed me to park my cars there. I already drove my 69 TR6 up Hwy 101 a couple of weeks ago. I plan to drive the Valiant within the next few weeks up old Hwy 99. I figure to take two days with the Valiant. Gladly, it doesn't have the drag racing gears in it anymore and will cruise at 75 no problem.

I hope I don't have any problems along the way, the Valiant runs well, but you never know. But I figured if you all know about my progress and have a problem I might be able to call on some help.

Here's some pics of the TR6 road trip.
50169265713_9b1c20a0c7_z.jpg
20200716_144453 by Jim Harris, on Flickr
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20200714_125247 by Jim Harris, on Flickr
 
99 isn't a whole lot more exciting than the 5.....but it'll get you there. I drove from OC to Tracy on the 99 to pick up a K-member. I didn't realize it was North of San Jose! Summer road trip in Central CA...Hot! But coming from Lancaster (?) you know that...Enjoy Washington, just take your CA plates off as soon as you get there...
 
My uncle has a 68 triumph tr250. That thing is always breaking down! LOL I remember one day the wheel fell off or the actual slide out or something when he's almost got home. I guess my point is if that triump will make the trip the valiant can do it with its eyes closed...
Good Lord another California transplant we're going to be up to our ears in electric cars and bicycles before we know it... LOL...:poke:...
Just busting your seeds, have a safe trip...
 
pishta said:
99 isn't a whole lot more exciting than the 5.....but it'll get you there. I drove from OC to Tracy on the 99 to pick up a K-member. I didn't realize it was North of San Jose! Summer road trip in Central CA...Hot! But coming from Lancaster (?) you know that...Enjoy Washington, just take your CA plates off as soon as you get there...
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I know, the 99 is nothing to get excited over, but it was, at one time the US route and it goes all the way with a few interruptions. I've driven several truckloads up the 5 (also with no A/C), any change of pace is a good thing! I'm going to take my last car, 2018 Mustang GT, up the 395. Now that will be different!

Black plates and blue plates, it will be a shame not having them on my cars! But people up in Olypen are pretty accepting anyway.

Thanks - Jim
 
I like the 1 and then the 101 myself. But it has been several years since we took that route and I know there has been a rock slide on the 1 and no idea how it would work now.

Really enjoyed our trip (from WA down to CA, so opposite), always wanted to go back and do it again in something with a soul instead of the rented Kia we had.

If (when) I get to do it again, 2 things I plan to change (beside the vehicle). 1. Make the legs shorter so we can spend more time stopping and less time trying to cannonball to our next location and always getting there late at night. 2. Not go into SF and spend an entire day trying to get back to the coast, what a mess that was.

My wife and I love road trips and so far that trip has been one of my favorites.
 
Super Sleeper said:
I'm going to take my last car, 2018 Mustang GT, up the 395. Now that will be different!
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Take 395 all the way up to highway 2 and then across. Not the fastest way, but then you would drive past my place and you could stop and have a burger or something. :thumbsup:
 
DionR said:
Take 395 all the way up to highway 2 and then across. Not the fastest way, but then you would drive past my place and you could stop and have a burger or something. :thumbsup:
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Wow, all the way to Spokane? The Mustang would eat up the miles. I was planning on cutting across OR, through Bend, on that trip. A burger is a nice offer, though...
 
Super Sleeper said:
Wow, all the way to Spokane? The Mustang would eat up the miles. I was planning on cutting across OR, through Bend, on that trip. A burger is a nice offer, though...
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I'm actually west of Spokane, but with regards to timeline and miles, functionally the same.

Certainly not the route to take if you are trying to minimize miles or time. :)

No idea what 395 looks like south of Pendelton, but north of it, it is really just ho-hum. Highway 2 has some nice parts, and you go through the orchard part of WA and could stop for cherries, apples and such. Plus you drive through Leavenworth, so you could stop for lunch and wander the town. After that it is mountains before you start hitting the outskirts of Everett and stop lights.

Or you could take the Cascade Highway into northern "Seattle".

Highway 2 would drop you into Everett which is close to Mukilteo where one of the ferries are.

Another thought would be to hit Pendelton and then set your GPS to avoid highways. The wife and I went to Baker City one time using that option and it was great, even avoid the big pass just east of Pendelton.

Not sure what your plans are, but if I had time (and money), I would take a scenic route. Heck, I would actually do Route 66 to Chicago and then head west from there. :lol:
 
The thought just occurred to me that if you were going to the peninsula and wanted to avoid about as much of Seattle as possible, the ferry to Mukilteo and Highway 2 might be about the best solution. I90 and I5 are huge and the towns around them are crowded. Not sure it matters, but it just might be the "cleanest" way there.

An even better option would be the Cascade highway and the ferry to Port Townsend. The Cascade Highway has even fewer towns on it coming into Burlington and get's less crowded as you leave for the Islands and towards the ferry. Plus you drive through Deception Pass State Park.

At the same time, no idea how much ferry costs, but I think they can be a little expensive.
 
Thanks, Dion, I appreciate the suggestions! One driving factor for me is that I have a friend in Tumwater, so for me it makes sense to come in from that angle. Avoids Seattle entirely! Although I like Seattle, our son used to live there!
 
I'm outside of Vancouver (WA not BC) if you run into road trouble...
 
Heck, I could even bring my 66 Valiant to say howdy to your 66 Valiant. It could be epic, not too many of them running around.
 
That's what heaters are for! I presume his car has that.......if not, he's in for a cold winter in WA!
 
Taking 1 from LA to SF is like a 2 day venture. We drove back from SF to LA on the 1, and found it was going to take us 17 hours so we cut across a tiny crack on the map Google Maps south of Lucia that was the only 2 lane road from 1 to 101 to the 5 for about a hundred miles. We finally made it to the 5 and high tailed it home. Took us from 7PM to 7AM to get from SF to Orange County!
 
Whoa! It would be great to do some meet ups along the way! I chose not to do Hwy 1 with the Valiant because it's really not the right car for the job. I've been up and down Hwy 1 many times in sports cars, motorcycles, and bicycles but never the 99 past Sac. Santa Maria still fogged in? That's my home town, I was there last week with the TR. No heater in my Valiant, just a big hole blowing in outside air. I will have to change that!
Pishta - you took Nacimiento - Ferguson road? That's cool! I had to spend all day on that road, on the PCH end, telling people couldn't go through because we were shooting off missiles over at Hunter-Liggett. Fun day. Turned away about a dozen cars.
 
pishta said:
Taking 1 from LA to SF is like a 2 day venture. We drove back from SF to LA on the 1, and found it was going to take us 17 hours so we cut across a tiny crack on the map Google Maps south of Lucia that was the only 2 lane road from 1 to 101 to the 5 for about a hundred miles. We finally made it to the 5 and high tailed it home. Took us from 7PM to 7AM to get from SF to Orange County!
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When you leave LA, head out on 101. Then either turn off at Buellton and go through Lompoc over to Hwy 1, or you can do the same thing at San Luis Obispo or Morro Bay.
 
Super Sleeper said:
Pishta - you took Nacimiento - Ferguson road? That's cool! I had to spend all day on that road, on the PCH end, telling people couldn't go through because we were shooting off missiles over at Hunter-Liggett. Fun day. Turned away about a dozen cars.
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2nd guy in the world who remembers than name! I was getting low on gas and I didn't know where this road led (paper AAA maps back then) kinda stressing we were gonna run out of gas on some mountain road to nowhere. 12 cars in a day? That's 11 more than I saw. Found the first gas station by some lake and came in under a gallon. It didn't look that windy on the map so I thought the fuel range a non issue.
 
If you decide to come across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, look me up. I live a couple minutes off of HWY 16 in Gig Harbor.
 
It looks like I should depart SoCal this Friday, so I expect to be in WA by Saturday and Olypen by Sunday. If things go well I should be stopping in southern OR the first night.
 
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