OK, Hornfans posters, You gave me some terrific recommendations for our recent road trip through the Dakotas. Now that I've done that, the only state west of the Mississippi that I haven't seen is Oregon. So we're starting to plan a trip for next spring. Basic plan is to use AAdvantage miles to fly into Portland, rent a car, and spend 5-6 days in Oregon and Washington before flying back to DFW. I'd like to hear some ideas from you that know the area. We're both in our 60s, so it needs to be low-impact physically. We enjoy seeing National Parks and the like, and certainly want to see the Pacific coast. We have friends in Seattle and will want to spend a day or two there (perhaps even take in a baseball game at Safeco if the Rangers are in town!). Ideas and suggestions? HHD
I'll throw in a a plug for Olympic National Park in Washington; wife and I went there for 3-4 days a couple of years ago and really liked it. The Sol Duc rainforest is amazing, and I was blown away by the trees throughout the park; Sitka spruce and Douglas Fir in the 200-250 ft. height range. We stayed at Sol Duc Hot Springs a couple of nights and Crescent Lake a couple of nights. The shoreline at Rialto Beach is really cool as well and Port Angeles is nice little town (even if your are not a Twilight fan!). Its the only place I can think where you visit rain forest, glacier capped mountains, and beach all on the same day. It is a little further from Seattle than I guessed, maybe about a 5 hour drive. I love visiting the Pac NW, and overall it ought to make a nice contrast to your great plains trip.
My brother lives in Portland, Oregon, and he drove me up the Columbia River Gorge out of Portland. He took me to a place where they had Sturgeon (IIRC) in pools, the biggest fresh water fish I'd ever seen. The river is huge, the gorge itself is very beautiful and the fish were amazing. We also drove up Mount Hood but it was very cloudy so there wasn't much to see that day there except some snow. I forgot about Stanley Park in Vancouver. It's a very nice stroll and views.
The Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park is an amazing hike. It averages around 160 inches of rain each year, so every square inch is covered in green. I visited in July and the weather was pefect.The Columbia River Gorge outside of Portland was equally amazing with all of the beautiful waterfalls. It's hard to go wrong in Oregon and Washington.
Depot Bay, Or Astoria, Or Mt St Helens Yakima Valley Port Townsend, Wa Multanomah Falls, Or Jake's Crawfish in Portland Get a fantastic meal at a reasonable price at Western Culinary Institute in Portland Seattle all the obvious things. Pike's really is cool without the theatrics of the fish market. Take a day trip to the San Juan Islands. just to name a few….
Lots of good suggestions above. Also: Tillamook Cheese factory in Oregon (along the coast) is worth a stop. If you are there during the Tillamook County Fair, make sure you stay for the "Pig N Ford" races at the end of each day. From Pt. Townsend, there is a company that offers full day whale watching trips with a stop over in Friday Harbour of the San Juan Islands. Highly recommend this. The Boeing Factory Tour in Seattle was also a good stop. In addition to a game at Safeco field, we also did the tour of the field. They actually let you go sit in the dugouts, the press box, and the owner's suite. The Ballard locks in Seattle were also worth a visit. Hike along the beaches at low tide to see all the sea life in the tide pools (think big purple and orange starfishes) If you're a hiker, Obstruction Point in ONP (just past Hurricane Ridge) was great. If you're not into Twilight, don't plan to spend the night in Forks, WA. Lots of brew pubs in Portland Lots of great, really fresh seafood everywhere you stop
Thanks for all the good suggestions. We're set to go in July - I actually get to use some of my AAdvantage miles (that's getting to be a lot more difficult these days!). Anybody want to add any more last-minute suggestions? HHD
Have fun and be sure to give us a post-trip report. Reading it might make us at least feel a little cooler when it is 107 in Texas at that time.
OK, Folks, Thanks for all the great recommendations. Mrs. HHD and I just returned today and we had a blast! First day we picked up the rent car at PDX and drove up the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River Falls and back. Multnomah Falls was well worth the stop. We also toured the Bonneville dam - interesting stop - before returning to Portland. Second day we drove over to Tillamook to tour the creamery. Tillamook ice cream is superb - ranks right up there with Blue Bell. Then we drove down the coast to Florence, stopping frequently to view the rocks and take pictures. There are still several spots where they are recovering tsunami debris that is washing ashore. Drove over to Eugene to have dinner with one of my high school classmates before returning to Portland. Saturday we drove to Seattle. I-5 is an absolute disaster! That may be worst traffic jam I've seen other than Los Angeles - I'll never gripe about LBJ again! Our friends had a complete jam-packed two days for us - lunch at Duke's on the water, then over to the Alki. Had a great dinner at another spot on the water. Went to Pike Place Market and watched the guys throwing fish. There are some interesting shops in the Market - worth a visit. Sunday we had brunch on the water, then caught the Sounder train to go downtown and walk over to Safeco for the baseball game. Safeco is a nice facility, but I don't think it's quite as good as The Ballpark in Arlington or Camden Yards. Had a quick pizza dinner at a place in Lynnwood, then split from our friends (he had to go to work early Monday morning). Didn't feel we had enough time to do Olympic National Park justice in a half a day, so we exited at castle Rock and drove up to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center. I recommend this highly - very complete documentation of the 1980 eruption of the volcano, lots of memorabilia. There are a couple more overlooks further up the road; you can get to a point within 6 miles of the crater. The clouds were low and kept rolling in, so we opted not to go all the way to the last overlook. To any of you going to the Northwest, I recommend this visit - well worth the time, and admission was only $5 each. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit - we packed a lot into five days, and there were many other things we could have done. Thanks again for your suggestions. Next year I'll try the New England states, and I'll ping everyone again for ideas! HHD
