[Inspectorette]

Dittos! Please keep up the good work, Grampa.

Grampa, we will be heading up the I-5 from the Central Coast two weeks from today (family wedding in Vancouver, WA). We always stay in beautiful Grants Pass, about 10 hours north of us, on the way up, then it's only about 5 hours to Vancouver.

We're already considering the possibility of having to head coastward to the 101 if we have to, and maybe staying over in Gold Beach. What would be the best route for us from the I-5 to the 101 (either through Northern California or after we cross the border into Oregon)?

[jimtorr]

""maybe staying over in Gold Beach. What would be the best route for us from the I-5 to the 101 (either through Northern California or after we cross the border into Oregon)?""

Hmmm, it's almost a "you can't get there from here" scenario once you cross the Oregon border. There isn't a decent route west until Oregon hwy 42, almost to Roseburg. That takes you to Coos Bay, far north of Gold Beach.

You'd be better off crossing to 101 in CA, either hwy 20 from Williams or hwy 299 from Redding. That would be my recommendation. Much more scenic through the mountains before you reach Arcata, just north of Eureka.

Of course, if you're more interested in speed, you'd probably be best going through the SF Bay area.

[Grampa Dave]

I would check the fire status and smoke status before you leave. You can log on the NOAA sites and check out their images for that area before you leave.

Driving up or down I5 with a lot of smoke is not fun and it is dangerous. You have people barreling through from Portland and Kali, and the smoke can be like our fogs.

If it is still smokey in Oregon, I would drive right up 101 and spend the night in Gold Beach or Brookings. Then you can check which cross roads to take that morning.

Maybe Blackie can give you his phone # or call you for an update that morning when you plan to cross over if you go up 101.

Route 38 east or the Drain route from Reedsport is about the best route from the coast to I 5. You should be above most of the fire, but that depends on what's happening two weeks from now.

AuntB can inform you what I5 is like from the Medford area.

[B Knotts]

Normally, you'd take U.S. 199 from Crescent City to Grants Pass (actually, I usually bypass the first few miles of 199 via Calif.-197).

However, right now, you've got quite a conflagration in the Illinois Valley.

If I were you, and wanted to avoid any smoky areas, I'd stick to the coast as far as Newport, and then cross over to I-5 via U.S. 20 through Corvallis. Ore.-34 is a bit shorter out of Waldport, but the road is not as good.

Ore.-18 from Lincoln City is a faster, more direct route, but on weekends, the traffic is very heavy, and you have to go through congested suburbs to get to the freeway.

[EBUCK]

Take hwy 34 out of Corvallis to I-5 instead of taking 20 all the way to Albany. Mush faster....per B. Knotts

EBUCK

[Sir_Ed]

I live in Eagle Point, near medford, and my girlfirend lives in Grants Pass, and believe me...you have nothing to worry about.

The air IS smokey as all get-out, but other than that, everything's fine...

Ed