W are three 60 something women traveling to oregon for the first time we have 8 days and flying in to Portland, we want to see the best of the state in that time how should we plan it?

The major attractions include:

Portland
Columbia River Gorge
Mt. Hood
Oregon Coast
Willamette Valley Wine Country
Ashland Shakespeare Festival
Crater Lake

Which ones interest you most?

HTTY

everything but the shakespeare festival and maybe visit only one or two wineries

Oh, also hikes are limited to 1-2 miles, also where should we stay or base ourselves, we are flying out of portland and renting a car, also on a budget!

Portland-Willamette Valley on your way to the Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach, Yachats, or Bandon)-Crater Lake-Mt. Hood-Columbia River Gorge (Hood River)-Portland.

Or, you could do this the other way around, saving the coast until the end.

If you are traveling in July or August, it isn't too soon to book rooms on the coast and at Crater Lake.

HTTY

Hmmmmmmph, it is kind of fun to plot an Oregon-only northwest trip.

I have a feeling I would do one big loop around the western part of the state:

(in order)

Portland
Hood River / The Dalles

(note: Hwy #35 from Hood River to Madras is preferable to 97/197 from The Dalles)

Madras
Bend
Crater Lake
Grants Pash-ish area, then over to the coast, and up the coast
all the way to Astoria if you have time

IF there is more time at the end, maybe a day trip from Portland to Mt. St. Helens.


That is just vague, and general, mostly to indicate direction of suggested travel.

Following NorthWestMale's route, you would spend the night in Hood River or Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood if lucky enough to get a reservation. Madras is just a gas stop at Fred Meyer.
Stay in Bend/Sunviver or Crater Lake if lucky enough to get res.
Spend at least 24 hours in Crater Lake NP unless you are coming soon. There are still over 100" of snow in parts of the park and most roads are now closed. If you only come as far as Bend, take US 20 West making a stop in the town of Sisters. Skipping Crater Lake makes sense if you are coming before July 4. It snowed in Crater Lake NP about an inch TODAY
You should see enough of the coast if come North from Newport.
There are a great variety of nice places to stay on the coast.
Knowing when you are coming and more of what you want to see would be helpful.

8 days to fly into Portland drive around the state and drive back to Portland sounds like you'd be rushed.

I would concentrate on the Portland area (Mt.St.Helens/Mt. Hood &/or Colombia River Gorge, Downtown Portland, drive west to the coast, wine areas).

Newport north to Portland would be plenty for" coastal". Plan one overnight in Astoria - Cannery Motel right on the Columbia River is well worth the money. Into Portland next day is easy drive.
Portland--must visit Powell's Bookstore, Pearl Bakery around the corner is wonderful.
You should do a "search" for Portland lots to do...Note--Be sure to check dates of Rose Festival- In June--lodgings fill up fast.
Trip sound great..

This sounds a lot like our upcoming vacation itinerary, except we have 10 more days. I did find some interesting bed and breakfasts in Astoria (we booked Clementine's). Found a book entitled something like "Creaky Knees," and it has some great hikes in Oregon, from easy to I-can't-do-this-anymore. We will be referring to it quite a bit.

Have fun!

any ideas about where we should stay in portland on a budget should we stay in portland after flying in or rent a car and drive to our first destination I'm a little confused about where to go first and how many places to stay befor heading back to portland in the 8 days

When are you coming? Drop Crater Lake if you are coming before July 4. Stay in the Columbia Gorge area first night. Don't stay in the city of Portland. Stay in Bend/Sunviver the second night.

With regard to the budget, first guesstimate GAS prices and gas consumption, and back-track from there. IF it were me, I would use Priceline.com to get a room in downtown Portland on that first night.

Perhaps if you put it all together ideally, you can use ground transportation to get from the airport to central Portland... then spend a night there, and rent a car THE NEXT DAY from a downtown location.

THIS SAVE THE CONSIDERABLE TAXES on rental cars at most airports, AND it saves the potential high parking fee for a downtown overnight stay. Furthermore, if your trip is "8 days"... rental car rates are best by the "week" (equates to "5 to 7 days") and this way you could reduce your need to a 7-day period.

I stayed in downtown Portland via Priceline in February and was quite content with the place I got... perhaps 4 blocks from Powell's Books. My companion had stayed in town via Priceline a few months earlier, and landed a similarly appealing hotel nearby.

If you're not familiar with how Priceline.com works, maybe have a friend of one of you travelers go through the process on your behalf. The rates are very good and downtown Portland is compact enough so that it doesn't matter very much just which hotel you get for a night.

(in reference to my post above, I know "Madras" wasn't significant on its own, but it was the best spot on the map to use for explaining the better of two different routes)

To follow up on NorthwestMale's advice - I have downtown Portland on my Priceline notification "radar," and have been seeing wins almost every day for downtown Portland 4-star hotels for $75. There are a lot of zones, and no 4-star properties in the other zones, so you have quite a few "free rebid" options to help your bid.

Here is a site that will help you with a bidding strategy:
http://www.biddingtraveler.com/

Also, http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/ is a good resource.

I agree, rent your car downtown the next day. Ride the Red Line light rail from the airport to downtown. There is even a free zone in the downtown. http://trimet.org/schedules/maxredline.htm
Still would be nice to know when you are coming to Oregon.