Last April, we drove along the coast from the SF Bay Area, all the
way around Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Weather in April can
be suspect, even in low areas due to rain, and most mountains will
be completely impassable, so you want the coast. One "interior"
stop we made was at Oregon Caves NP, and April is a nice time to
do that.
If you haven't seen the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts, those are
spectacular, and it'd be worth taking Highway 1 until it merges
with US-101. If not, I guess you can just go up 101. After they
merge, there is Redwood National Park, which will be wet in April,
but still very scenic. The Oregon coast has many state parks, and
a combination of towns and scenery. It's a good place for leisurely
stopping. You can drive up to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia.
It has some interesting history, and of course the Columbia is
impressive. Then drive inland to Portland.
We had no problem just showing up and staying places on weekdays.
For weekends, you should try to be more aware of where you're going
to be. If it's a big city, no problem, but if it's more of a
vacation getaway spot, you'll want weekend reservations to play it
safe.
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