West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed
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Hi oppos!
So I'm planning on spending a couple days out of the city next week over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm off work, and noone will show me a house then anyway and sitting in my studio hotel suite for 4 days would be depressing as hell so my wife suggested I get out of the city for a couple days.
I love the idea but also am unusually unprepared for it. My cold weather and camping gear are still in Missouri and I don't know how to ski anyway so heading into the mountains maybe isn't the best idea. I do enjoy hiking and fishing in the snow though. Big resort towns aren't a good idea and I don't want to cross state lines (coronavirus!).
Ideas are requested for somewhere that is pretty, outdoors, has places to hike, maybe flyfish and not terribly many people. Likely will do an airbnb or hotel for 2 nights (again tent and shit is still in Missouri). I'd say anywhere within roughly 300 miles of San Jose,
The request is a tall order but if anyone can help me it's Oppo.
Picture of a December trip to Denver a few years ago for your time.
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- Lassen National Park
- Big trees state park
- Calivaris Big trees on HWY 4 near arnold if you want mountains,
- Ocean, Santa Cruz, Big Sur
- Pennicals
Off the top of my head, all of those are within a reasonable drive of SJC.
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I always enjoyed the area around Sonora / Jamestown / Columbia for getting away. There's some reasonable hikes and outdoor tourist destinations (cheesy, but there all the same). Nothing remarkable, but nice nonetheless. Angels Camp isn't bad either.
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Portland is nice. Although travel is tough right now.
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Also, my wife would just say "go to Paso Robles because Firestone Walker is there". But I think that kind of violates some of your requirements. But some of the wineries there are beautiful and have a lot of outdoor seating... as long as they didn't burn down.
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@jminer Somewhere around Cambria? Or between Cambria and Paso?
We stay at the hotel Cheval in Paso but with the 'rona atd all..it seems you're looking for a more rustic holiday.
That area is beautiful.....wine country airB&B would be sweet -
@carsoffortlangley said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
Portland is nice. Although travel is tough right now.
Yeah, I'd be seriously tempted to go to Oregon if I wasn't trying to stay in the state.
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@classicdatsundebate said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
@jminer Somewhere around Cambria? Or between Cambria and Paso?
We stay at the hotel Cheval in Paso but with the 'rona atd all..it seems you're looking for a more rustic holiday.
That area is beautiful.....wine country airB&B would be sweetYeah the thought is somewhere fairly quiet and out of the way. That may be more places than usual over the Thanksgiving weekend, honestly no idea out here.
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@highlander said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
- Lassen National Park
- Big trees state park
- Calivaris Big trees on HWY 4 near arnold if you want mountains,
- Ocean, Santa Cruz, Big Sur
- Pennicals
Off the top of my head, all of those are within a reasonable drive of SJC.
I will look these up! Probably going to stay away from Santa Cruz, been down there twice in the last few weeks and it's bee fairly busy with a lot of folks sans mask.
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@jminer Oops! Missed that line. I enjoyed the south of the state when I went. Joshua Tree national park is cool
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Definitely don't come to the San Luis Obispo area, it sucks here...
Bad trails, bad ocean, bad mountains, bad food, bad wine and beer, bad cycling, bad roads, bad bad bad.
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@classicdatsundebate Shhh it sucks here
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I was going to recommend a heated tent cabin at Yosemite, but it looks like they are closed for the season.
If you do want to go up into the mountains, I would happily lend you some gear if you'll be passing through the Sacramento region. I have tents, sleeping bags, snowshoes, jackets, snow gear, etc. I'd offer to take you on a hike/climb up Old Man Mountain. It's about a month after the absolute perfect time of the year for it in my opinion, but it's still a great trek. But I'll be working all holiday weekend.
Point Reyes is great too. I know that part of the park was hit by wildfires, but there's still a lot of great trails out that way. Sugarloaf Ridge, in the mountains between Napa and Sonoma is a great place to do some day hiking. Amazing views of the hills and wineries, plenty of places to stop and pick up a quick bite of food, and generally not packed with people.
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@smugaardvark A cabin in Yosemite was my first thought, but saw they were closed. That's a very kind offer for the equipment, I'll let you know. I'll definitely look into your options too, they all sound great.
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@rallywrench said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
Definitely don't come to the San Luis Obispo area, it sucks here...
Bad trails, bad ocean, bad mountains, bad food, bad wine and beer, bad cycling, bad roads, bad bad bad.
Something about this fells disingenuous...
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@jminer just stop a little short of the Oregon border... the trinity alps/castle crags/shasta area is amazing.
Or, if you're more inclined toward the coast, check out this place linked on google maps ... it's like being in Jurassic Park!
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@jminer I'd suggest heading down to Big Sur and stay someplace in San Luis Osbibo or Pismo Beach or at the other end in the Monterrey area. This time of the year is perfect because there will be fewer tourists and also less likely to get pea soup marine layer all day. Plus you can do some hiking without the cold and winter stuff. It's the quintessential California experience. You can also include a stop in Big Basin for some Redwood action, although I know the fires hit there HARD.
I'm also going to be not around family because covid and I don't have an interest in doing Thanksgiving with my house mates. So I'll be going on a holiday weekend trip to mammoth (eastern Sierra) For some skiing.
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@jminer There's a bumper sticker I always think of that says "surfing sucks, don't try it". I kid though, it's great here and we're only 3-4 hours away. It's off season for tourism here too, which is best. Happy to make more specific recommendations if you find yourself headed south!
The only negative: as of Tuesday San Luis Obispo County is in Purple Covid shutdown, and as of just this afternoon under a partial curfew with many other counties. Maybe not a big deal for a couple cruising around, but something that may hamper plans nonetheless.
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@rallywrench I'm wondering how that curfew thing is going to pan out. From what I understand it's just 2200-0500 which is normally sleeping time for me anyways. I certainly wouldn't out at that hour regardless.
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@wrong-wheel-drive Yeah, realistically it's not a problem at all. I'm trying to find sleep then, anyway. Maybe doing a night ride by myself at most. It'll help keep the college kids who drove up our case count home though. Our sheriff pretty quickly issued a statement saying they're not going to do anything about it, in any case. I do worry about such moves being more fuel for the conspiracy nutters though, they're only getting dumber and louder.
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@jminer The places of recommend are up in the Oregon/Washington coastline. Pretty far.
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@rallywrench said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
@wrong-wheel-drive Yeah, realistically it's not a problem at all. I'm trying to find sleep then, anyway. Maybe doing a night ride by myself at most. It'll help keep the college kids who drove up our case count home though. Our sheriff pretty quickly issued a statement saying they're not going to do anything about it, in any case. I do worry about such moves being more fuel for the conspiracy nutters though, they're only getting dumber and louder.
Lol what a useless restriction if the sheriff's ain't gonna do anything about it. Man the Sheriff's in all the counties around here suck. LA, Ventura, and SLO County all are garbage tier. CHP should just get more funding and run all their shit.
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@rallywrench the county where I am got bumped into purple Tuesday too.
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@wrong-wheel-drive said in West Coast Oppos - destination for the holiday weekend needed:
@jminer I'd suggest heading down to Big Sur and stay someplace in San Luis Osbibo or Pismo Beach or at the other end in the Monterrey area. This time of the year is perfect because there will be fewer tourists and also less likely to get pea soup marine layer all day. Plus you can do some hiking without the cold and winter stuff. It's the quintessential California experience. You can also include a stop in Big Basin for some Redwood action, although I know the fires hit there HARD.
I'm also going to be not around family because covid and I don't have an interest in doing Thanksgiving with my house mates. So I'll be going on a holiday weekend trip to mammoth (eastern Sierra) For some skiing.
This is a solid sounding recommendation, thank you!
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@jminer caliveras is really cool and sparsely populated
