onesnowyowl-
The original Dire Straits album always makes my road trip list.
U2 Achtung Baby
Sarah McLaughlan or other "therapy tunes" when I find myself hurrying.
It's ~9.5hrs from Corvallis to San Jose at 65MPH average. Stopping at Shasta screws that up but is probably beautiful with current weather.
Oh, Avoid 101 & 17 for the trip to Santa Cruz. Try to take 1 on the coast for one direction, then maybe 9 through Boulder Creek and Los Gatos for the other. Good breweries, restaurants, people...