Drive from San Francisco to Portland on Highway 101

With all the camping and beach gear you'll want to bring for your San Francisco to Portland trip, booking an SUV rental is your best bet. Not only do they provide ample storage, but comfy, spacious seating for kids in the back. The four-wheel drive will also come in handy if you're driving on slick roads in Portland's famous, ever-present rain.

The trip from San Francisco offers plenty of educational and outdoor experiences to interest children, while also exposing them to important historic sites. They'll never forget their first sight of the Golden Gate Bridge, whale spotting together off the coast of Mendocino, or finding shells on the beach.

The Charles M. Schulz Center in Santa Rosa is another kid-friendly destination, and then there's the Adventure! Children's Museum in Eugene, where they can dig for buried treasure or create art. They can also learn all about the area's past at the Applegate Pioneer Museum or the Bohemia Gold Mining Museum. Spend a memorable night camping together as a family along the Willamette River, and then wake up to visit the Oregon Zoo or Museum of Science and Industry. The trip from San Francisco to Portland is absolutely a family crowd-pleaser.

There are tolls going westward from Oakland into San Francisco, but not the other direction. The toll for those traveling into San Francisco from Oakland is $6 during peak commuting hours. If you're driving out of San Francisco through Oakland on your way to Portland, Oregon, this toll will not apply to you.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center celebrates the life, work, and legacy of famous American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, creator of the famous syndicated cartoon strip "Peanuts." The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center is located in Santa Rosa, just 55 miles outside of San Francisco. Parents will love sharing a piece of their childhood with their children and getting to know more about the man who created Charlie Brown, Lucy, and of course, Snoopy. They can even try their hand at drawing their own comic strip within the facility.

Santa Rosa, California, enjoys a balmy weather pattern throughout the year, ranging from rainy winter highs in the upper 50s to sunny 80 degrees in the summertime.

You're more likely to need a poncho or umbrella in Portland, Oregon, a city that experiences a more extreme climate than Santa Rosa. Portland gets rain 12 to 15 days a month in the fall, winter, and spring seasons from November to April, then the weather clears up from June to September with an average of two to five days of rain per month. Sunny summers top out at 80 degrees, while cold, wet Portland winters can be as low as the mid-40s.

Every view as you drive down Highway 1 in Mendocino is an incredible view, but if you had to pick just a few highlights, these sites make the top of the list. Stop the car downtown on Main Street and walk the Point Mendocino trail. Look out for lighthouses at Point Arena and Point Cabrillo. If you're pressed for time, you could just go to The Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, which offers 47 incredible acres of wide-open ocean views. Eat dinner at Point Noyo and watch for whales splashing offshore.

As of June 2018, the fee to visit Olympic National Park is $30 per vehicle and $25 per motorcycle. If you plan to visit more than once during your trip, go ahead and spring for the annual park pass for $55. You will save money, even if you only visit twice.

They say the rain never stops in Oregon. Yes, it rains a lot, but that makes the landscape especially lush and verdant, and the numerous waterfalls you'll see in Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area never run dry. Walking in a hooded poncho in the drizzle, you'll blend right in like a Portland native. Most locals are so used to the rain (and as a point of pride), that it's said they never even pull out an umbrella.

After a few hours in the car, the kids will need to burn off some energy, and Eugene offers a good spot. Visitors to Eugene are in luck because the Adventure! Children's Museum awaits. This immersive museum invites children to dig for treasure in an archaeological dig or design something creative in the arts lab. You can even take in a show in the Museum's Shakespeare theater. The Eugene Science Center also offers interactive science and technology activities, a planetarium, and a tot spot geared toward little ones.

Want an activity to please the whole family? Stop into Putter's Indoor Golf and Strike City Lanes, and you can split up to play a game of indoor mini-golf or bowling. Reunite over a pizza in the snack bar. The complex also has a diner or sports bar, if you prefer more variety. If the weather is fine, pack a picnic and head to the Amazon Community Center and Park, where you'll find a skate park, playground, and picnic tables. There is an outdoor seasonal pool and a dog park, so you can walk your pet too before heading back out on the road.

From excellent coffee shops and food trucks to creative local arts expressions, Portland, Oregon, has become the epicenter for emerging and alternative culture on the West Coast. The walkable and bike-friendly city spans about 20 miles across, but within that compact radius, you'll find a fascinating cultural world that's pure Portland, packed full of microbreweries, independently owned bookstores, curiosity shops, organic and vegan restaurants, and dazzling murals and graffiti everywhere you turn.

On its outskirts, Portland is ringed by splendid natural beauty that's ideal for hiking, camping, and exploring. Whatever your tribe, interest, or persuasion, you'll find your niche in Portland.

There's one sure way to please everyone for dinner in Portland, and that is to go to the Alder Street Food Cart in downtown Portland. Bring cash, divide, and conquer. Between the group, you can sample a world of cuisines and fusion foods that look as good as they taste, from crepes, French toast, and acai bowls to Filipino fusion, Chinese, Greek, Mexican, and classic fish and chips. There may be limited sidewalk seating, but you can also grab lunch and head to nearby Director Park.

Over 500 food carts operate within Portland at any given time, and some of them are a moving target. You can stalk your favorite cart on Twitter for a current location, or you can visit a site like foodcartsportland.com for real-time maps. If you're feeling overwhelmed, you can book a tour to experience the food cart scene with an expert local guide, or simply wander the streets and smell the breeze. It's likely you'll sniff out something tasty around every corner in Portland.

Often, Portland food carts are organized into surface parking lots or “pods.” One of the most established and well-known pods is the Alder Street Food Cart pod, which is located between Washington Street and Southwest Alder, and it stretches from Southwest Ninth to Southwest Tenth Avenues.