10 days in the Pacific Northwest
 

My husband and I are planning a trip with our adult children, my father and our teen in August. We have 10 days to spend in the Pacific Northwest. We fly into and out of Portland so two of the 10 days are travel days and are limited. My husband has MS and is limited to what he can do physically but enjoys sight seeing, eating good food and touring wineries. My father is also somewhat limited with hiking and biking. I think a couple days in Portland would be sufficient since we aren't big shoppers. I would like to check out the incredible book store. The girls are serious bikers (biked from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. in 5 days) and we all ski and were curious if it was true that we could ski Mt. Hood in August? None of us have been to the Pacific Northwest and most of us have never been to the west coast. We would like to see Crater Lake, the Redwoods and some other National Park areas. We would like some scenic drives. We have a relative who just located to Seattle that we would like to see as well. We would love to also see a rainforest and some whales but realize we are limited in what we can see and do in the time we have available. Due to the number in our group (6-7) we wanted to rent a home through VRBO but don't know which town to choose that would be centrally located to all of the day trips we would like to participate in. We were leaning towards Bend? Any thoughts?

Eugene would be better if you want to establish a base.

thanks

Hi and welcome to Fodors, <b>SherryBF</b>!

You're going to have to reign in your plans if you want someplace where you can base yourselves. Crater Lake to the Redwoods takes a day just to get there; Bend to Seattle is a good 6 hours on the road; the Seattle to the redwoods is basically a 2-day drive, so you'd end up zigzagging all over the place.

I'd suggest you look at no more than two "bases" separated by a couple of driving days. I'd also recommend that you drop one or two of your candidate destinations unless you're really in love with long drives, which will be made harder if you need more than one vehicle for your group.

The two bases I'd suggest are near Portland and near Seattle. From a base near Portland (I'd actually choose somewhere closer to the Columbia Gorge than the city) you can explore not only Portland, but also the Columbia Gorge, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and maybe some Willamette Valley wineries. Bend and Crater Lake are out; they're much too far as day trips. Likewise the northern California redwoods are just too far.

From Seattle you can include Mount Rainier, much of the Puget Sound country, and all the city attractions.

So start with Portland and spend some time there, visiting Powell's books (which, note, is not super-friendly to people with mobility issues - lots of floors and levels.)

Between Portland and Seattle, I'd take three days and visit the Pacific coastal area of Olympic National Park, where you can see some wonderful rocky-coastline scenery, and visit the Quinault and/or Hoh rainforests. Spend one of the three days in Port Angeles at the top of the Olympic Peninsula, and use it for a morning ferry ride (as foot passengers to save money) over to Victoria BC, where there are numerous whale-watching operators (or just stroll around the picturesque if touristy Inner Harbour) before returning to Port Angeles on an evening ferry (around 90 min. each way, and don't forget your passports.)

Then into Seattle via the Bainbridge Island ferry, spend your allotted time in the city or on day trips, then return to Portland to fly home.

It's still a pretty ambitious itinerary, but you could cover a fair amount of ground without driving yourselves to distraction.

Thank you for the helpful suggestions. Do you think we could still manage Crater Lake if not the redwoods?

I don't know if there will be skiing at Mt. Bachelor in August.
There is about 100" there now. http://www.mtbachelor.com/winter/index.html
Come from Hood River or Mt. Hood to Bend. Check on Mt. Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes Highway. Cut back over to US 97 and then south to Rt. 138 to come into Crater Lake NP by the north entrance in August. The north entrance will not open before the first week of July because of snow.
If you have the time to see the Redwoods, you want to drive US 199 from the Grants Pass area to Crescent City, CA.

If the girls are seriously into biking and skiing, it sounds like they enjoy adrenalin sports. Have you considered Hood River and windsurfing lessons? Some of my son's friends love it.

You did not specifically mention going to the ocean. In Oregon, some beaches will be accommodating to your husband with MS and others will be difficult access due to steep stairs to get onto the beach. Many beaches will be fine if your husband and dad can trudge through some soft sand for a ways to get to the packed sand (easy walking). But you will want to call the city's chamber of commerce. You need current information because the tides change the beaches over time.

Thank you, great ideas and good information on the difficulty accessing some of the beach areas. Very helpful.

The girls would probably love windsurfing. My youngest has surfed in Wilmington N.C. but not windsurfed. Sounds like fun.

We did see snowboarding on Mt. Hood in July, but the conditions did not look great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57622981132189

The Pole Pedal Paddle event in Bend will be on May 18, 2013.
http://www.pppbend.com/
Hood River seems to be a great draw for the windsurfers on the Columbia River.