Darling family. I'm not plugged into the places others here are, so didn't know who he was. Everything I know is on this thread.
There are several ways to get to Gold Beach from Portland. They could have driven west from Portland and picked up 101 or they could have driven south on I/5 and taken 2 or 3 different routes to the coast. Those roads are two lane and cross the Coast Range mountains.
I suspect they got a very late start and the last call was from a land line as Cell sites a almost non-existent in those regions...
...They're searching roads that are not well-traveled and that have been snowed in" from a weekend storm, Inspector Kim Lewis of the San Francisco Police Department's Missing Persons Unit said. Lewis said police are currently conducting a land search but that helicopters will be dispatched later Friday.
CNET's James Kim and family missing -- have you seen them?
engadget.com story
Update 2: According to Crave, officials investigating the case have narrowed their search to a stretch of Oregon's Highway 38, which is on the route that the family would most likely have taken to get to the Gold Beach motel where they had reservations.