Reply #3: It makes a big difference whether you go in the winter or spring

[XemaSab]

It's going to be cold and rainy/snowy almost anywhere you go in the winter. And if you go anywhere before late May or June, some mountain passes might be closed.

A two month road trip extravaganza, eh?

I'd go across the south in one direction and the north in the other direction.

Going across the South I'd DEFINITELY hit southern Utah and the parks there. It's God's country down there. You might want to go to the Grand Canyon and Vegas (which I've never been to), then take 395 up to Mono Lake, hitting Death Valley on the way. From Mono Lake, go over Tioga Pass through Yosemite, then take the 41 over to the coast. Go ALL the way up the coast (through Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Cruz, the Bay Area, Point Reyes, the Sonoma coast, Mendocino, Redwoods National and State Parks, Arcata, Oregon, and parts of Washington state, all the way to the Olympic peninsula). Take a ferry to the San Juan Islands, look for skylark, and proceed to mainland Washington state. Go up through North Cascades National Park, and cut over through Glacier. Then go home.

What you'll be missing with this particular route is Tucson, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Lake Tahoe (which is overrated), Lassen (which is underrated), Crater Lake (which I've never been to), Seattle, and Mt. St. Helens (which is worth the detour). You could probably tack Colorado on the front, and detour south to Yellowstone on the back.

Sounds like a BLAST.

(And on edit, you COULD, if you get bored with Highway 1, cut over to the 5 at Crescent City, and go up the 5 hitting Crater Lake, Portland, and Mt. St. Helens, then drive from Olympia over to Aberdeen (or thereabouts) and resume the drive up the 1. That would probably save some time you'd spend driving for actual sightseeing.)

And get a parks pass!