Washington and Oregon Fall vacation 2015
#1
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Washington and Oregon Fall vacation 2015
We propose flying into Seattle from UK for a three week vacation touring Washington and Oregon. First three weeks of September or thereabouts. We are both early 70's, have never visited this part of US before and enjoy beautiful and varied countryside but won't be looking for mountain trekking!
Seattle (3 nights)
Olympic NP - Port Angeles (2)
Lake Quinault(2)
Tillamook (1 or 2)
Coos Bay (1)
Crater Lake (1 or 2)
Bend (1 or 2)
Portland (1)
Mt Ranier (1)
Wenatchee (1)
Winthrop (2)
Marblemount (1)
and back to Seattle to fly home.
Seattle (3 nights)
Olympic NP - Port Angeles (2)
Lake Quinault(2)
Tillamook (1 or 2)
Coos Bay (1)
Crater Lake (1 or 2)
Bend (1 or 2)
Portland (1)
Mt Ranier (1)
Wenatchee (1)
Winthrop (2)
Marblemount (1)
and back to Seattle to fly home.
#2
Stay in Seattle 2 nights to start. Come back at the end for a day if you think you missed something.
Tillamook is not that much of a tourist town. It does have 2 good cheese factories. I like the viewing area upstairs at the Tillamook cheese factory along 101 north of town.
Try for a reservation at the Crater Lake lodge. You may want to stay 2 nights in Bend.
Tillamook is not that much of a tourist town. It does have 2 good cheese factories. I like the viewing area upstairs at the Tillamook cheese factory along 101 north of town.
Try for a reservation at the Crater Lake lodge. You may want to stay 2 nights in Bend.
#3
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Your timing will be perfect for all of this Typically September is our best weather here. Three nights in Seattle is good, as there is much to see and you can adjust to our time zone before hitting the road.
Just a heads up, when you leave PA, leave in the morning and plan to arrive at Lake Quinault in the late afternoon/early evening so that you can stop along the way. There are some fantastic places. BTW, LQ is gorgeous!
I would skip Tillamook and instead opt for somewhere around Cannon Beach.
One night at Crater Lake is ample for most people, so add your other night to Bend.
I am wondering why Marblemount? It is popular with hikers (we are in the area a lot for tat), but otherwise is not a usual visitor spot. Unless you have a specific reason, you may want to skip this and add this night to somewhere else.
Just a heads up, when you leave PA, leave in the morning and plan to arrive at Lake Quinault in the late afternoon/early evening so that you can stop along the way. There are some fantastic places. BTW, LQ is gorgeous!
I would skip Tillamook and instead opt for somewhere around Cannon Beach.
One night at Crater Lake is ample for most people, so add your other night to Bend.
I am wondering why Marblemount? It is popular with hikers (we are in the area a lot for tat), but otherwise is not a usual visitor spot. Unless you have a specific reason, you may want to skip this and add this night to somewhere else.
#4
That's a LOT of miles you are covering with short stays everywhere! Certainly it can be done but you're going to be in the car quite a bit of your trip. I suggest running a spread sheet on the miles per day it will take to accomplish this as outlined.
#5
I think you need to see more by seeing less. Your itinerary would involve some very long days on the road while at the same time not giving enough time to enjoy the places you DO plan to visit.
Others may well disagree, but my view is that you should remove almost all of Oregon from the itinerary, in order to see more of a smaller area.
For example, while there are certainly beautiful parts of the Oregon coast, you're planning to spend four nights on the Olympic Peninsula. The coastal scenery along the Pacific coastal strip of Olympic National Park - places like Rialto or Ruby Beaches, for example - are scenically the equal if not superior to anything you'd see on the Oregon coast.
Crater Lake is magnificent, but it's hundreds of miles from anywhere else - and in August, hot miles at that - and, in my view, you could spend those hours behind the wheel more profitably elsewhere, maybe even not sitting behind the wheel, as it were.
The North Cascades are impressive and very beautiful, but suffer from a severe shortage of accommodation and visitor facilities, and if you're not hikers, the national park experience becomes mainly a drive-by one.
Your outline itinerary doesn't (seem to) include time for the Columbia River Gorge, one of the potential highlights of the trip, nor does it include any (apparent) time to experience the Puget Sound region.
So here's a possible re-do of your route, submitted just as something to consider: http://goo.gl/maps/rY3nY
Features -
After Seattle, spend a couple of nights on San Juan Island. These are idyllic islands, with plenty of history and scenery, and a nice range of accommodations.
Then loop the Olympic Peninsula, visiting Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent near Port Angeles, then Rialto or another beach near La Push on the coast, the Hoh Valley rain forest, Ruby Beach and Kalaloch on the southern part of the coastal strip, followed by Lake Quinault.
Then continue down the coast to Astoria, visiting Cape Disappointment en route (marvelous area on the north shore of the Columbia River's mouth.)
Then head up the Columbia (the north shore is more scenic than the Oregon side) to Longview, and visit Johnstone Ridge at Mount St. Helens.
Continue south back to the Columbia, and spend a couple of nights in or near the Columbia Gorge, seeing the waterfalls, but also maybe taking a few hours to travel up the Hood River Valley to Timberline Lodge on the side of Mount Hood - a grand and scenic two hours away from the Gorge.
Continue east along the Columbia to the Maryhill Museum at Maryhill - Rodin in the sagebrush - then north on US 97 through marvelous "old west" country to US 12 in Yakima. Follow US 12 over White Pass and into Mount Rainier National Park, then finally back to Seattle.
This big loop covers an impressive range of environments and natural features - inland sea, pastoral islands, the magnificent Olympic National park - alpine vistas, rocky seashores, amazing rain forests. Then more rocky and historic coastline with Lewis and Clark connections, an active volcano, the amazing Columbia Gorge, more volcanoes, sagebrush and red-rock Old West, and finally a third stratovolcano. Plus, not forgetting, two of the US' most enjoyable cities (Seattle and Portland) and no one day's drive longer than three or four hours.
I know it's a big departure from your plans, but just offered for your consideration.
Others may well disagree, but my view is that you should remove almost all of Oregon from the itinerary, in order to see more of a smaller area.
For example, while there are certainly beautiful parts of the Oregon coast, you're planning to spend four nights on the Olympic Peninsula. The coastal scenery along the Pacific coastal strip of Olympic National Park - places like Rialto or Ruby Beaches, for example - are scenically the equal if not superior to anything you'd see on the Oregon coast.
Crater Lake is magnificent, but it's hundreds of miles from anywhere else - and in August, hot miles at that - and, in my view, you could spend those hours behind the wheel more profitably elsewhere, maybe even not sitting behind the wheel, as it were.
The North Cascades are impressive and very beautiful, but suffer from a severe shortage of accommodation and visitor facilities, and if you're not hikers, the national park experience becomes mainly a drive-by one.
Your outline itinerary doesn't (seem to) include time for the Columbia River Gorge, one of the potential highlights of the trip, nor does it include any (apparent) time to experience the Puget Sound region.
So here's a possible re-do of your route, submitted just as something to consider: http://goo.gl/maps/rY3nY
Features -
After Seattle, spend a couple of nights on San Juan Island. These are idyllic islands, with plenty of history and scenery, and a nice range of accommodations.
Then loop the Olympic Peninsula, visiting Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent near Port Angeles, then Rialto or another beach near La Push on the coast, the Hoh Valley rain forest, Ruby Beach and Kalaloch on the southern part of the coastal strip, followed by Lake Quinault.
Then continue down the coast to Astoria, visiting Cape Disappointment en route (marvelous area on the north shore of the Columbia River's mouth.)
Then head up the Columbia (the north shore is more scenic than the Oregon side) to Longview, and visit Johnstone Ridge at Mount St. Helens.
Continue south back to the Columbia, and spend a couple of nights in or near the Columbia Gorge, seeing the waterfalls, but also maybe taking a few hours to travel up the Hood River Valley to Timberline Lodge on the side of Mount Hood - a grand and scenic two hours away from the Gorge.
Continue east along the Columbia to the Maryhill Museum at Maryhill - Rodin in the sagebrush - then north on US 97 through marvelous "old west" country to US 12 in Yakima. Follow US 12 over White Pass and into Mount Rainier National Park, then finally back to Seattle.
This big loop covers an impressive range of environments and natural features - inland sea, pastoral islands, the magnificent Olympic National park - alpine vistas, rocky seashores, amazing rain forests. Then more rocky and historic coastline with Lewis and Clark connections, an active volcano, the amazing Columbia Gorge, more volcanoes, sagebrush and red-rock Old West, and finally a third stratovolcano. Plus, not forgetting, two of the US' most enjoyable cities (Seattle and Portland) and no one day's drive longer than three or four hours.
I know it's a big departure from your plans, but just offered for your consideration.
#6
I've been agreeing w/ Gardyloo a LOT lately
IMO your plan is basically a lot (waaaaaaayy too much) of driving to tick places off lists and next to no time at/enjoying any of them.
For instance Coos Bay to Crater Lake is a 4 hour drive so you either have no time in Coos Bay or no time at Crater Lake.
One night in Portland -- what's the point? Either you want to see some of Portland or you should just drive through.
A series of one night stands basically is ia series of packing/unpacking, checking in/checking out, repeat.
So cut back on trying to cover sooooooo much territory. I'd stick to just Washington.
IMO your plan is basically a lot (waaaaaaayy too much) of driving to tick places off lists and next to no time at/enjoying any of them.
For instance Coos Bay to Crater Lake is a 4 hour drive so you either have no time in Coos Bay or no time at Crater Lake.
One night in Portland -- what's the point? Either you want to see some of Portland or you should just drive through.
A series of one night stands basically is ia series of packing/unpacking, checking in/checking out, repeat.
So cut back on trying to cover sooooooo much territory. I'd stick to just Washington.
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faline
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Feb 26th, 2011 04:42 PM