The Left Coast

As someone who has been to Europe 6x, Costa Rica 2x, Mexico and Canada, I always find it strange that I've never been west of Dallas. It's sort of ridiculous really. Of late we, the good wife and I, have been thinking of doing a westward journey, especially now that we have friends in multiple western cities. This morning I- and she a bit- spent a little time googlemapping different sites of interest. An itinerary might look like this:

• Seattle- visit our friends Anne and Chris respectively. There we have Olympic Nat'l, Mt. Ranier and perhaps even a trip to Vancouver, although that's quite north.
• Portland- visit Carlyn. I might just have to rent and ride in that great cycling city.
• We must break up the humongous stretch between Portland and SanFran. I'm thinking...
• NoCal- Smith RiverNRA/Jedidiah SmithSP or Redwoods NP. There seem to be alot of options in that general area. We would surely want to partake of the ocean and coastal options as well. Living in KY, I am quite sure I have no relative concept of the sizes and distances out that way.
  
• SanFran- to visit Cynthia. Mind you, I would like to stop and do Napa or Point Reyes.
  

I think to pay for the plan tix, car and lodging we'll have to save up a small fortune. That said, we've been doing the family thing now for 12 years+ and have done very few, if any, "big" vacations. It's time for the munchkins to see the world.

If any of my dear readers has an insight, please feel free to comment. I can walk you through the highlights of Madrid or Monteverde, Costa Rica, but I'm ignorant of the Left Coast, USA.