Help, Mexico to Vancouver and back

[photoBob]

Greetings all,
This August I will be going from SoCal down to Mexico for the night and then up to Vancouver and back home.
I'm hoping that with the wealth of experience on this forum that you can give me some insight to a number of things. Namely; route selection, local attractions, great food, landmarks, camping locations, nightlife, local flavor, scenery, expected weather, etc.
I did a 6 state, 15 day, 2,500 mille solo trip last summer through CA, AZ, NM, CO, UT, NV and back and had a great time. Learned a lot too. This time I will be going with one other guy 1 up and a couple 2 up on an FJR. We will likely do a 50/50 mix of hotels and camping.
I thank you all in advance for your assistance & ride safe,
-Bob

Update;
Weve got 2+ weeks
For the most part holtels are more about a hot shower and comfy bed than ultra posh amenities.
The bikes willl be 1 Suzuki Vstrom650, 1 Triumph Sprint ST, and 1 FJR1300 (2up)
I was thinking 300ish miles per day average
We all love the outdoors and the femalle is not a priss
Fishing along the way would be fun
I'm a bit of a foodie so anything from the best taco to the best escargo would interest me
A few of us are into wine but I think I've got CA covered. I don't know too much about Or and WA wineries though
Any sort of touristy kitch could be fun for a photo op. or just the experience of it
Speaking of photo opportunities, I am a photographer by trade so without question...
Mostlly I am interested in anything that each area has to offer that is unique to that locale (i.e. shelfish, coffee and grunge music in Seattle)
As for terrain, we're tallking purely street considering the two sport tourers and the 2 up factor.
I hope this additional cllarification helps,
-Bob

[05Vader]

Make sure you catch Crater Lake and some of Central Oregon. Sunriver and Bend both have great lodging. Great Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley (Yamhill County) south of Portland. The really great Washington wines are around Walla Walla which may be a little too far east for you. I spent 26 years in the hospitality business, so if you need more specifics let me know!

[V1Vr]

If you are really in to wines, and came up from the east through central Washington you could continue on up to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Wineries galore, and maybe some photo ops of the vinyards and orchards around Osoyoos. Hiway 3 or Hiway 1 out to the coast are both good biking roads and then maybe take the coastal route home, around the Olympic pennisula and down the Oregon coast. Check out Route reports, I think it is, for some of Ratspikes Oregon coast pics.

[photoBob]

sellf bump

[zero_it]

A "must do" if you're going for northwest flavor would be a little volcano touring. May as well hit the one that actually blows up once in awhile. Mt. St. Helens in southeastern Washington has some of the the best motorcycle roads in the state and incredible scenery. If you're primarily slabbing it through Washington, then take Hiway 504 heading east off of I-5 from Castle Rock to the Johnson Observatory. If you really want to spend some quality time in the region, then come in from the south and hit some of the twisty paved Forest Service roads into Windy Ridge. From Hiway 14 east of Portland (on the Washington side of the Columbia River) head north up the Wind River Road to FS Road 90 and 25. FS Road 99 goes out to Windy Ridge putting as close as you can possibly get to the open crater while standing on solid ground. Roads 25 and 99 are almost hard to beat on a bike - twisty, scenic, very little traffic and (I gotta say it again) TWISTY! You will not be disappointed.

Another good route would be up the west side of Hood Canal on Hiway 101 to Port Townsend. PT is a cool old Victorian-era town right on the water with lots of late 1800's vintage homes in town and big horse & cattle farms outside of town. A Washington State ferry can then take you over to Whidbey Island and a leisurely ride out Hiway 20 back to I-5 in Burlington which is about 1 1/2 hours south of the Canadian border. Enroute you'll go across Deception Pass, a very narrow & steep walled passage through the rocks. Great photo opportunity here.

I've got tons of fun rides in my mental library. Let me know if you want more info about our great state.