choward_ab Loc: Alberta, Canada

If you have a stop over in Las Vegas the Valley of Fire is a nice loop from Vegas that doesn't take a lot of time and has some spetacular scenary and rock formations

btbg

The air museum has moved from Tillamook to Madras.

As far as the Oregon coast goes I would choose Coos Bay south over the northern coast any day. Better weather, fewer people, and more rugged. The redwoods in northern California are great photographically.

Driving down the coast from Crescent City to San Fransisco is a challenge because not all of the road is paved and there are gaps in the road, but the part that can be driven is spectacular.

If you like waterfalls there are several near the coast in Southern Oregon and you always have the option of taking the old Columbia River Highway in Oregon to see the waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge.

In Washington Rainer National Park and Olympic National Park are also great.

The thing is you will never be able to see everything that is possibly available on your trip.

From Colorado to Washington you can easily go to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, or you can choose to drive through Utah and see the national parks there and the northern rim of the Grand Canyon.

I love Zion, but it's a hiking park, so you need time and a lot of work to be able to really see it.

Since you are going back on the southern route that also gives you the option of going to Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and any or all of the native American ruins in the southwest.

My advice would be to choose your basic route each direction and then look for attractions that appeal to you that are on or near your route, because no matter where you go you are going to see some amazing scenery.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

btbg, where did you get the information that the Tillamook Air Museum had moved? Their web site still indicates it is in the old blimp hangar at the Tillamook Airport. There is another site at Madras (the Erickson Aircraft Collection) but there is no indication that it is connected to the Tillamook Air Museum. My first duty station in the Air Force was on Mt. Hebo located nearby and I'm in contact with a number of former folks who were stationed there--several of them are working with that Tillamook Air Museum to put displays about the old radar station in place and I'd think they would have mentioned something if that museum had been moved.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

Most of the airplanes moved from Tillamook to the Erickson Collection in Madras OR about three years ago. If you like airplanes and are near Madras, it is worth the stop. Also, all of the airplanes are flyable and do so regularly. The two best airplane museums in the northwest (IMHO) are the Seattle Museum of Flight and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum (with the Spruce Goose) in McMinnville near Portland. McMinnville is also a nice little town and is in the Oregon wine country. If I were to choose one museum, it would probably be Evergreen. Also, watch your speed on both the Oregon and Washington coasts; I ended up with a speeding ticket in Washington and almost a second one a couple of hours later near Cannon Beach.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

We live about 3 1/2 hours from Yosemite and spent the afternoon there last Saturday; it's better than you can imagine. However, I second the thought of avoiding the valley in the summer. Go to Tunnel View where you can see the valley and Bridal Veil Falls, then head for Tuolumne Meadows (about 9,000 feet) where it is a different experience and won't be nearly as crowded. I love Tuolumne Meadows; I feel like I'm in an outdoor cathedral. Also, it's close to Mono Lake. With all of the snow this year, it may not be accessible until late, perhaps mid-June. Check the park's website for road conditions and what you can get to.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

I think it's reasonable if you like to drive and sounds like a great trip. We've done some long road trips, though not quite that long. A memorable one was from the Bay Area to Cedar City UT, Vail, Colorado Springs, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Tetons and back to the Bay Area in 11 days and a little over 4,000 miles. You might want to consider going north to Banff AB, drive the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, then head to Seattle and down the coast. On the Oregon Coast, do not miss the Heceta Head Lighthouse. The lightkeeper's house is now a B&B and is really nice. I've read that it is the most photographed lighthouse in the country. There are other lighthouses on the Oregon coast also. My go-to books for trip planning (but not the only ones) are "The Most Scenic Drives in America..." from Readers Digest and "Scenic Highways & Byways" by National Geographic. I also mount a Garmin Virb camera on a suction cup mount near the rear view mirror and set it to time lapse mode so you can review the drive later. Mine fits between the rear view mirror and the windshield so it doesn't block my vision. I just run a USB cable from the car power outlet to the camera and don't have to worry about the battery.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

I've been in all 50 states and all of the Canadian provinces from Quebec west. The Icefields Parkway in Alberta, mentioned above, is the most beautiful mountain scenery I've ever seen. There are many beautiful places in British Columbia also, both coastal and mountain.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

I've been to 42 states, BC and AB and it's the most beautiful mountain scenery I've seen in North America, which is why I mentioned it. I suspect we are not alone in this assessment.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

Note that CA Highway 1 is closed to through traffic until September 30th. A bridge was damaged in the January rains and is being replaced. It has been demolished and the only way to see Big Sur is to drive south from Carmel on CA 1 see the northern part of the coast and then turn around and go back to Carmel and over to US 101 through Monterey to Salinas and continue south to Paso Robles and then over to CA 1 on CA 46 and north to the south side of the failed bridge to see the rest of Big Sur and the central coast. It may not be worth it.

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

Looking at a map, I would pick out the most obvious stops you want to visit, then work from there. My choices, after Colorado, and bearing in mind each merits more than one day! would be #1 Grand Tetons NP (2 days); #2 Yellowstone NP (4-5days) EXITING out the northeast entrance (Beartooth Mts)!; #3 Glacier NP (2 days minimum with very little hiking); #4 Canada Waterton NP (1 day) #5 Canadian Rockies Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho, as well as the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks (Several days with some hiking!); #6 Back down to Spokane and the Palouse region; #7 Spokane/Seattle/North Cascades NP (3 days); Olympic NP, Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens (1-2 days); #8 Oregon Columbia River Gorge; Mt. Hood, Silver Falls State Park (3 days); #9 as much of the coast as possible (3 days), Crater Lake NP (1 day) #10 Redwoods NP (1 day); from here it's???? And the suggested # of day's WILL be highly variable, and drive times between are not included... Take your time and enjoy each place, at least a little! and all the 'little places' in between. You are going to need MUCH more than 4 weeks, lol. My favorites are #2, #3, #5, #6, (#8, #9 they are along the way), #10.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

If I were doing the route immediately above from the Alberta Rockies I would cross British Columbia, go over the coast mountains through Whistler to the coast, take the ferries up the "sunshine coast" to Powell River, ferry across to Vancouver Island (all this ferry riding takes only a few hours), drive south on Vancouver Island (consider a side trip to the Pacific Coast if time allows), visit Victoria if interested in interesting, attractive cities, take the ferry from Sidney to Anacortes, drive south down Whidbey Island across Deception Pass (a bridge across a very scenic channel, not a mountain pass), ferry from Whidbey to Port Townsend, then Olympic National Park and the Washinton and Oregon coasts south. I've done all of this more than once but never all of it in one trip. As anyone can guess, I really enjoy riding those Pacific NW ferries.

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

I thought of the route Teton Viewer mentioned above. It is an excellent one, also. I liked the bridge across Deception Pass, when we went across it 3 years ago. One way or the other, you will miss (and see) some beautiful scenery! Or any other...

gjeff Loc: Chicago Metro Area

Might want to drive through Yosemite and Death Valley on the way to Vegas. From there hit Grand Canyon, then east to Zion an Bryce canyons. Then north to Moab, farther north you can cross over into Co and hit Grand Junction - Co National monument there, it's beautiful.

As to time, depends on if you want to stay in an area or just see a few sites. My father and I ran an 8000+ mi tour in less than two weeks back in '78. Saw more in that one trip than most see in a lifetime.

gjeff Loc: Chicago Metro Area

Also get local maps and check them out. We did that and found things we did not know about.

btbg

David,
Sorry I took so long getting back to you. I was mistaken. I assumed that one + one = two. In this case that was not the case.

About 2012 the Oregonian had a series of articles that the hangar which houses the Tillamook Air Museum was in a state of disrepair and would need millions of dollars, something the museum doesn't have, to make the needed repairs.

Shortly after that the Erickson family announced that they were looking for a new home for the Erickson collection, 21 world war II war planes, all of which still fly.

It wasn't long after that that they announced plans to move the planes to Madras and open a new museum.

That museum has been open for some time now. I erroneously assumed that building in need of repairs plus losing the most significant part of their collection meant that the Tillamook Air Museum was no longer open. Something that was reinforced when we stopped their in 2015 and it was closed during what was posted as it's official open times.

I've been busy, so it took me a while to check and yes the museum is still open, although without the Erickson collection of war birds I'm unsure what is still there.

For anyone who cares that means that there are now three air museums in Oregon. The one in Tillamook, one in Madras, and one in McMinnville, which houses the Spruce Goose, the largest plane every to fly.

Sorry for the misinformation.