In fact, there may be. Highway 97 runs straight down the high plateau of central Oregon before splitting off into a few minor highways in northeastern California. From there you can weave through the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge, Lava Beds National Monument, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial Park, and Lassen National Forest, before winding up somewhere around Chico. From there roads cut west to Clear Lake and down into California's wine country. It's the Shasta Cascades, remote, dry, and relatively lightly traveled. All of this presents a whole different set of challenges than those faced on the coast route, but ones we're intrigued by. Any of you readers traveled in this part of the country? We'd love advice, things not to miss, or any knowledge you can pass on as we research the feasibility of changing the route down to San Francisco.