We left Yuma, AZ the 10th day of April and should leave AK late August.

We headed over to Ca Highway 1 to make the trip North. Up thru Santa Barbara (old mission), the Hearst Castle and now in Monterey.

Took us 8 days to get this far. A major change for me. My wife didn't think I could do it as I have always been a destination driver.

Anyway our route will get us to the redwood forests on the northern CA coast next week, the the Coast of Oregon and then later we will ferry out of washington to Vancover Island.

We are taking the ferry up to AK and driving back.

The Odesey has started.

Wow!....I'm dripping with envy!

I think North-to-Alaska and the Copper Canyon RV train are the ULTIMATE trips......

Hope you'll post progress reports enroute....

I researched a similar trip awhile back....For me, the one-way ferry cost for my Barth, Vancouver-to-Skagway, would have represented about 40% of its street value...

Then again, I just got a very personal e-mail from a Nigerian Prince, with an offer you wouldn't believe, so maybe I'll get to AK yet...

Godspeed......

Unlike most nieghbors and relatives at the family reunion, there are many here who genuinely care about and wish to see pictures of a journey like this. Good luck and keep us posted whenever possible.

I would be most interested in pictures and descriptions of your trip.

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I bet you'll want to go inland for a while north of Frisco.. I got shaky doing that leg with a minivan.

California's wonderful 1 is one of America's greatest scenic drives, though a white-knuckler for those unfamiliar with mountains. I've done it several times, but in nothing larger than a van conversion.

One memorable trip, too long ago to contemplate, had us driving to San Fran for a conference. I took a few days leave for a mini-vacation, & my bride sat beside me in our Cadillac. A few miles down from Leggett, it was plain we'd have to drive at unreasonable, though not irrational speeds to keep our schedule.

We came up behind a Porsche ragtop holding a very California couple, he with poplin driving cap, & open-back driving gloves, she with a scarf & dark sunglasses. They were enjoying a nice drive in the April sun, but we were in a hurry.

They looked at each other, & gave me a sneery, "oh that's just another one of those Cadillacs," looks. I tailgated. He got nervous, grinned at his partner with a, "I'll show him," kind of look, and put his foot in it. I tailgated. My wife gave a kind of sharp intake of breath, like I'd heard on past similar occasions, & as the P-car accelerated, I tailgated.

Surprised and delighted I could keep up, I stayed on him, now at irrational speeds. My dearly beloved's knuckles where white, as were the P driver's, but I was having fun.

Finally, he pulled over, & waved me by with a one-finger salute. Never thought the old Caddy could accelerate & hang in the turns that way, but it did. I bet the Porsche guy never told his friends.

Roy, I believe we are cut from the same cloth.

As an avid water skier, I always had a big Olds 98 as a tow car. For safety, I had the brakes and suspension beefed up pretty well. For climbing, the engines were either larger or more powerful or both.

When going snow skiing in the mountains, I always came up on a BMW or Porsche with the permanently attached ski racks, which seem to be de rigeur in so cal in the winter. Invariably, they would accelerate in order to show who was hot and who was not. I never passed them, for safety reasons, but took great pleasure is staying on their tail. Many of them found either the limits of their driving abilities or their cars handling capabilities.

BTW, Roy, what year cad was it?

One of my idols used to be Briggs Cunningham. He made good showings at Le Mans with cads. http://www.carguidemagazine.com/archive/classics/images...ns-Coup-De-Ville.jpg

American sportsman and independent race car builder Briggs Cunningham, put Cadillac back on the map in Europe when he entered two Cadillacs in the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both were 50-61 models with Coupe DeVille bodies. One was left in stock form while the other was given a bizarre "aerodynamic" body, with help from the Grumman Aircraft Corporation, which was quickly dubbed "Le Monstre" by the French press. The stock-bodied Cadillac, nick-named "Petit Pataud" (Clumsy Puppy), driven by Sam and Miles Collier, came home in a very creditable tenth place. Briggs Cunningham and Phil Walters brought home "Le Monstre" in eleventh place. A higher place would have been assured if Cunningham hadn't driven off the road into a sand pit on the second lap and spent thirty minutes digging it out with his bare hands. In the same race, a Cadillac-engined Allard J-2 took third place overall behind two race-bred Talbot-Lagos. I believe very few millionaires have spent 30 minutes at any kind of manual labor, particularly digging with their bare hands.

The Cad was a '65, 7 years old at the time, box stock except better tires & H.D. shocks. The big surprise was how it kind of hunkered down & stayed in line when I pushed it through the curves. The P-driver was only a little more scared than I was. Maybe he quit because he was afraid I'd kill myself.

Cunningham went on to build a "C" series of purpose-built sports racers. The C-1, also Cad powered, was IMHO the best looking of the lot. The rest, up through the C-5R had Chrysler hemis. Each one was a little lighter, & more sophisticated than the last. The last one, the C-6R was slated for a Ferrari V-12, but ended up with a 4 cyl. Offy which didn't do the job. They all had drum brakes, discs were pooh-poohed by Americans at the time, the NIH factor. Most of the LeMans competition had discs. The Cunninghams were faster in the straights, but the Jags out-braked them, and the extra weight of the early Cunninghams exacerbated the weak-brakes problem.

Those were the days.

Gary,

You are trailblazing a trip that we do intend to take next summer. I have my road atlas turned to northern Claifornia as we begin the planning. The coast highway 1 we have done several times from LA to Carmel and north. Please continue to share stories and photos when possible.

Safe travels.

Gary, where are you this week? I missed your post and we are very close to Hwy 1 ansd could meet up with you, (we are in Half Moon Bay right now as I write this) Good luck on your journeys and for sure keep the posts coming.

Would be fun to meet up with folks along the way. Currently we are planning on being in Redwood NP in the Cresent City area. Plan on hanging here a few days and the entering Oregon this comming weekend.

On the way here we got off 101 and followed the avenue of the giants. All we can say is WOW.

Gary, I just re-read your original post, & note you plan to ferry to Vancouver Island. That probably means you plan to go from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, B.C. Port Angeles is 15 miles West of us. If you get close, e-mail, or call. If our schedules coincide maybe we can get together.

Hi Gary, sounds like you have already past us, we are in the SF Bay area. We were at Half Moon Bay for the last day and will be home later today/tomorrow.

Maybe on your return we can get together, I will be running a lot into the NV desert for road racing activity but will stay tuned to Barthmobile.com