New SMB, trip from Fresno to WA, looking for recommendations!

[Jack K]

All are great places to visit.

The only thing I would add would be to video record the orientation that Nick G. will give on your vehicle when you pick it up at the factory. It depends on what you have installed, but we spent ~4 hrs. going over the various systems when we got ours, very thorough, and my wife recorded it on her iPhone. It's been quite useful to refer to the clips on occasion, a good supplement to the manual you will also get. You may have been planning to do this anyway, but my two cents.

Congratulations on your new wheels!

[ccw3432]

From Fresno go directly east on Hwy 180 until the road ends in Cedar Grove. BEAUTIFUL area. It's quiet there this time of year. Campgrounds that are not busy. Plenty of hikes and sightseeing. 2 hours east of Fresno. You go back through Fresno on the way out in case you have any issues to get resolved at Sportsmobile. You'll pass by the Grant Grove area of giant sequoias at about the half way point. Plan on checking out the big trees. The drive down to Cedar Grove through the Kings Canyon is world class. Take my advice on this one.

[Scalf77]

Sounds like your out of state? If so have they discussed about how not to pay California State Sales Tax? When I purchased my new SMB in 2004, they had to have a driver drive the van to Oregon, where we completed the transfer of ownership. I am not sure if they still do this, but I can't imagine that the state of Cali has made it easier on them. I know many out of state purchasers take ownership in Nevada.


-greg

[AndrewInSeattle]

The Olympic Peninsula is where we first ran across a GTRV rigged up with solar, and started this whole obsession in the first place!

Spend some time on the wild Pacific coast (Kalaloch and north), it's a completely different "beach experience" than I've had anywhere else. Don't expect to go swimming, you'll freeze, then get pummeled by a rogue log Long Beach and Ocean Shores are tourist traps, skip them unless you really want to do some beach driving. Cape Flattery / Neah Bay, in the Makah Reservation, is worth a side trip if you're not rushed for time. Everything in the Park is great (beaches, rainforests, and mountains, oh my!) and worth a side trip, except for Sol Duc Hot Springs, which has been over-developed to the point of just being a smelly kiddie pool.

I don't know much about dispersed camping (yet!), but it's not allowed in the Park proper, and campgrounds in the Park can be tough without reservations... less so this time of year, but still a challenge on weekends, and most are uncomfortably dense.

The Olympic National Forest does allow boondocking; I'm not sure about the various Indian Reservations, it's worth asking. Please record the lat/lngs of any good spots you find and send them to me!

[sweetThursday]

thanks all, so much helpful and detailed advice, I really appreciate it! I think the plan is coming together now, at least I have the route mapped out at the high level.

that's a good point about sales tax, but unfortunately sales tax in WA is even higher than in CA, so I'm stuck paying that.

Andrew, I actually live on Olympic peninsula, and I am super excited to take my new SMB to all these places you mentioned, for long weekends once I'm home. this place is the best.