Hoping someone can give me some ideas for spending free time during a visit to Seattle-Portland colleges with my daughter. Here's what I'm working with: After touring Lewis & Clark on Friday 8/1, I have a weekend to sightsee around before our next college visit on Monday morning in Olympia and an afternoon to spend after visiting another college the next morning in Tacoma. My quandary is whether to make a beeline to Seattle and spend our time visiting Seattle neighborhoods (and stay three nights in some central location, perhaps Tacoma), or to allot the weekend to moseying around the countryside en route from Portland. I am tending towards the latter because I did spend some time in Seattle a few years ago and I've never seen the Oregon coast or the rainforests on the Olympic peninsula. Can anyone suggest a plan and a lodging location? I'm just stumped.

The OR coast is wonderful, but places book up far in advance and I would doubt you would get anything decent at this late date. You could easily do a day trip over to Cannon Beach though as it is only 90 minutes each way from downtown Portland.

What about exploring Portland itself? There is a lot to do right in town as well as a day trip to the gorge and/or Mt. Hood. Or head down to Silver Falls State Park.

ONP is great, but IMO you don't have enough time.

This is helpful, mms. Thank you! We have a long day in Portland at the end of the trip (after the Willamette College visit). But Cannon Beach sounds good. What about driving to Ilwaco/Oysterville and staying around there. Pretty? Also very full up? What do you think?

...stay three nights in some central location, perhaps Tacoma)

It would be great to spend the weekend in Cannon Beach, if you can find a room, but it all depends on what time you have to been in Olympia on monday morning and in Tacoma on Tuesday.

I agree you don't have enough time for ONP, but ore information is needed to give good suggestions.

Mt St Helens would be a good day trip on the way between the two. The visitor centers do a good job of showing what happened on the day of the big explosion, and it is also interesting to see how the countryside is recovering now.

After checking availability in a lot of places, I was thinking of this: Friday night in Portland and Saturday night in Long Beach. Then late Sunday afternoon we can drive to Tacoma and spend two nights there (we have to be in Olympia at 9:45 on Monday--the Tuesday appointment is at 8:45). Most Tacoma B&Bs are either full or expensive, so today's challenge is to figure out the best option in the inexpensive motel category.

I think you'd be better off staying in Olympia than in Tacoma. Olympia a rather nice little town with a good Farmer's Market on the weekend.

We like to have lunch on the deck at Budd Bay Cafe (a very well established place for fish), and I've heard there is a very good Italian restaurant in Olympia now.

The Phoenix is a standard motel close to the action.

(In Tacoma, the best option for a motel is Sliver Cloud--a very good local chain.)

The famous Oregon coast has little to do with the area in southern Washington. The Oregon coast is known for its magnificent coast highway, hugging cliffs that plummet to beaches below or water's edge; the astounding views; and the huge rocks jutting out of the water. The Washington coast, where you are thinking of going, is flat.

If it is just you and your daughter, I believe you could find space in Canon Beach, which is where I would head on Friday after her interview. I would stay on Saturday night as well, then go to Olympia on Sunday afternoon.

Another great option, and more direct between Portland and Seattle, is to take in Mt. Rainier. If you can get a room there or nearby, it's awesome. There is a very old rain forest at Mt. Rainier at Ohanapekosh. Again, if you could get lodging there, I'd suggest you stay for both nights in the same place. Below is a url for Ohanapecosh.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/ohanapecosh.htm

For your afternoons, I'd spend one in Tacoma visiting the WA State Historical Society Museum, Tacoma Art Museum and Glass Museum, all together, and then walking the old town waterfront, not too far away.