En route: Van 2 Port in 2/3 days?
Mar 25th, 2018, 06:16 AM
#1
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En route: Van 2 Port in 2/3 days?
Can anyone offer advice for stops along the way from Vancouver to Portland on a 2/3 day timeframe with two kids? I don't have any specific interests ... just wanting ideas to select from. Thank you!
Mar 25th, 2018, 08:05 AM
#2
Take the early Amtrak Cascades train or bus to Seattle. See the tourist places in Seattle on foot or by bus. (Space Needle, Pike Place market and the library among many others).
Take the Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle King St. station (newly remodeled-beautiful) to Portland. The train ride takes you past the Boeing factory.
There is plenty to see and do in Portland. You don't need a rental car unless you want to go east of the city to see the waterfalls and the Columbia Gorge.
Take the Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle King St. station (newly remodeled-beautiful) to Portland. The train ride takes you past the Boeing factory.
There is plenty to see and do in Portland. You don't need a rental car unless you want to go east of the city to see the waterfalls and the Columbia Gorge.
Mar 25th, 2018, 10:07 AM
#5
When will this be? How many hours in the car are okay? Little kids or bigger ones?
One idea (three days). Map - https://goo.gl/maps/hJ1cmVDe3SF2
Day 1 - Portland to Hood River or The Dalles via the Columbia River Gorge. Stop at a waterfall or two along the Historic Columbia River Highway, and stop for sure at the Bonneville Hatchery where the kids can feed the baby trout and visit Herman the Sturgeon, an enormous and ancient fish viewed from underwater windows. The hatchery has been a fab stop for kids since forever. In the afternoon (if this is in the summer or fall) drive the Hood River Valley "fruit loop" (U-pick farms, etc.) or drive up to Timberline Lodge on the side of Mount Hood. Stay in Hood River, or if you want, continue to The Dalles for the night.
Day 2 - Visit the Maryhill Museum (quite kid-friendly) and the Stonehenge replica sitting on the clifftops overlooking the river, then head north through terrific "old west" country through the Yakama reservation to the Yakima Valley. Continue north on US 97 through beautiful ranching country and Blewett Pass to Leavenworth, WA, a faux Bavarian village set in lovely mountain-and-orchard country. Nearby Lake Wenatchee has nice beaches for a late afternoon cool-off if needed.
Day 3 - Cross the Cascades on US 2 over beautiful Stevens Pass, then north to the Canadian border. If you want to take WA 9 north rather than I-5 to the border, you'll have a more scenic but slower drive, but - depending on when this is - probably a shorter wait at the border.
Two day alternative. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/dMBH8bVQsMM2
Day 1 - Zoom north on I-5 through Seattle then take WA 526 (aka the Boeing Freeway) to the Future of Flight center for a tour of the Boeing Everett plant, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world. (Note age limits apply for kids.) https://www.futureofflight.org/ . Spend the night in Mukilteo, a nice little waterfront town with a cute lighthouse, driftwood-covered beach with views of the Olympic Mountains, and a very kid-friendly branch of the iconic Ivar's seafood restaurant chain, sitting on pilings over the water. The Silver Cloud hotel next door to Ivar's is terrific.
Day 2 - Take the ferry from Mukilteo over to Whidbey Island. Visit the pretty waterfront village of Langley, then drive up the island to Fort Casey State Park, with its lighthouse, hiking trails, and cool coastal defense gun batteries. Continue to Deception Pass State Park. There are hikes and beach-combing opportunities, great views, and if you're there at a tide change, the water flowing through the channel is awesome. Then follow WA 20 back to I-5 and north to the border.
Either of these are very enjoyable alternatives to the straight shot up I-5.
One idea (three days). Map - https://goo.gl/maps/hJ1cmVDe3SF2
Day 1 - Portland to Hood River or The Dalles via the Columbia River Gorge. Stop at a waterfall or two along the Historic Columbia River Highway, and stop for sure at the Bonneville Hatchery where the kids can feed the baby trout and visit Herman the Sturgeon, an enormous and ancient fish viewed from underwater windows. The hatchery has been a fab stop for kids since forever. In the afternoon (if this is in the summer or fall) drive the Hood River Valley "fruit loop" (U-pick farms, etc.) or drive up to Timberline Lodge on the side of Mount Hood. Stay in Hood River, or if you want, continue to The Dalles for the night.
Day 2 - Visit the Maryhill Museum (quite kid-friendly) and the Stonehenge replica sitting on the clifftops overlooking the river, then head north through terrific "old west" country through the Yakama reservation to the Yakima Valley. Continue north on US 97 through beautiful ranching country and Blewett Pass to Leavenworth, WA, a faux Bavarian village set in lovely mountain-and-orchard country. Nearby Lake Wenatchee has nice beaches for a late afternoon cool-off if needed.
Day 3 - Cross the Cascades on US 2 over beautiful Stevens Pass, then north to the Canadian border. If you want to take WA 9 north rather than I-5 to the border, you'll have a more scenic but slower drive, but - depending on when this is - probably a shorter wait at the border.
Two day alternative. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/dMBH8bVQsMM2
Day 1 - Zoom north on I-5 through Seattle then take WA 526 (aka the Boeing Freeway) to the Future of Flight center for a tour of the Boeing Everett plant, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world. (Note age limits apply for kids.) https://www.futureofflight.org/ . Spend the night in Mukilteo, a nice little waterfront town with a cute lighthouse, driftwood-covered beach with views of the Olympic Mountains, and a very kid-friendly branch of the iconic Ivar's seafood restaurant chain, sitting on pilings over the water. The Silver Cloud hotel next door to Ivar's is terrific.
Day 2 - Take the ferry from Mukilteo over to Whidbey Island. Visit the pretty waterfront village of Langley, then drive up the island to Fort Casey State Park, with its lighthouse, hiking trails, and cool coastal defense gun batteries. Continue to Deception Pass State Park. There are hikes and beach-combing opportunities, great views, and if you're there at a tide change, the water flowing through the channel is awesome. Then follow WA 20 back to I-5 and north to the border.
Either of these are very enjoyable alternatives to the straight shot up I-5.
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