christy1

It is the very accessible, condo lined, pull your car up to the parking lot type areas on the southern Washington coast that I would agree are not worthwhile destinations.

BUT, much of Washington's Coast IS public, since ONP has so much coastline. And, the ONP coast really is spectacular but it is quite remote and takes some getting to. If that is what you want, a wilderness beach experience, go to the coast at ONP, but if you'd rather have more facilities and lots of views from your car, go to Oregon.

Minnie

I'm finally getting it together.

Here is my itinerary so far. A lot of it is based on when I was able to get lodging in some places.

Day 1 Fly into PDX and overnight somewhere to the east of Portland

Day 2 Do the Columbia River Road, head up 97, go east on 12 to Mt. Rainier NP
Stay in Rainier 2-3 nights

Day 5 Drive to Lake Quinault and stay 2 nights

Day 7 Drive to Lake Crescent and stay 3 nights, includes day trip to Victoria

Days 10,11,12 - Not sure what to do here- Maybe San Juan Islands, maybe Christy's suggestion to drive to Winthrop

Days 13, 14, 14 - Seattle - see city sights, etc.

Day 15 - Fly home from Seattle

I have not included details because there are so many, thanks to everyone, but I have included them on my personal itinerary.

Comments are certainly welcome. I feel like the fog has lifted!

sunbum1944

Suggestion for your Portland stay is the Edgefield Inn- very fun place and at the beginning of the Gorge so you will be set to go.
Staying at Ranier - suggest Paradise Lodge ( better make reservations now)
or the Park Lodge which is also nice-
but Paradise is better.
Have a nice stay

johnthedorf

Minnie,
Your itinerary is very good. You will have a splendid time.

kimamom

Sounds like a great trip,Minnie! I've been on in the Portland/Oregon Coast area for a week now. It's beautiful here. Yesterday we went over to the WA coast and drove around the entire Willapa Bay taking photos and took in a gorgeous sunset on the way home. It's the land of oysters there! We stopped at a great little seafood shack and picked up some crab and shrimp cocktail to nibble on while we drove around the bay.

Had a very disappointing meal at the Shoalwater at the Shelburne Inn, but they were short three of their kitchen staff. I hope you have a wonderful time!

If you get a chance, try to make it over to Park Kitchen in the Pearl for a meal. We also enjoyed Wildwood, Pho Van Bistro and Higgins this trip while in the Portland area. ***kim***

christy1

Since you're planning a decent chunk of time at Rainier and ONP maybe my North Cascades suggestion is a little much. I love mountains and could easily do this but many others would probably feel that you're already seeing enough mountain scenery. So, the San Juans might be the better pick for those undecided days (especially if whale watching interests you).

Minnie

Thanks Christy

I really appreciate your cluing me in on this. I just started checking out the San Juans. I'm sure I'll have questions later.

Minnie

marcieb

Minnie,
For your Portland area night, check out the Heathman Lodge. It's in Vancouver, Wa which is just across the river from Portland. I've stayed there twice. Very nice, reasonable prices, decent restaurant and lovely rooms. Well located for your departure to the east.

Another comment, about your Lake Quinault/Lake Crescent days: speaking as one who has done this, your teenage daughter may get restless for that length of time there. It's just beautiful but maybe a bit too "relaxing" for most teenagers, for that long, unless she's an avid hiker/reader.

She might enjoy San Juan Islands more...Washington State Ferries runs a ferry that goes through the San Juans, ending near Victoria, that you might enjoy taking one-way and then use another ferry for the other end of the trip. Reservations required - incredible scenery and wildlife.Then lots to do and see in Victoria.

My last comment: don't underestimate drive times. Have a wonderful vacation!

Andrew

You are getting great suggestions. However, it sounds like you aren't even going to see downtown Portland, which would be a shame, because it's a terrific city. If you will arrive late at the airport on your first night, it probably isn't worth staying downtown, but if you by chance do arrive before dinner, it might be worth having dinner downtown at Jakes and walking around a bit, perhaps even staying downtown (very long days in July). The rest of your trip will have you in more rural settings anyway, so perhaps you'd like at least one taste of a city.

If you want to see some pictures of downtown Portland, go to my website www.PortlandBridges.com .

If you stay to the east of Portland, I'd definitely recommend the Edgefield. Probably wouldn't stay at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA (not to be confused with the Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland), because the lodge is not in an exciting area - it's near the Vancouver Mall, something you could stand to miss. (Relatives have stayed at the Lodge and I saw their room, it's nice...but not a must-stay-at.) The Edgefield is unique on the other hand, something you will remember.

Andrew

justme22

i did a washington trip a few years ago, i would definately hit the san juan islands, the ferry trip there is beautiful! you can stay in quaint towns filled with tourist and up scale shops, rent bikes, there are whale watch trips to take, look for accomodations in Friday Harbor. hurricane ridge is really beautiful, the interior penninsula is filled with lavendar farms... enjoy

Minnie

Thanks again to everybody who took the time to help me.

I am having trouble arranging the San Juan part of this trip. One problem is that the summer ferry schedule is not available yet. I read on another post that it makes sense to take your car to Victoria, drive to Sidney and ferry to one of the San Juan Islands and then to Anacortes. The way my itinerary is set up, we would be leaving on Sunday for Victoria. The Black Ball ferry leaves Port Angeles at 8:20 a.m. The trip is 95 minutes. Then we would probably tour Victoria and overnight there. The next day (Monday) we would drive to Sydney and ferry to one of the San Juan islands. That looks like another 11/2 hour crossing or more. I had wanted to be in Seattle by Tuesday night. Is this practical? Sounds a little rushed. I could regroup and leave off the Columbia Gorge part, but we did want to see something of Oregon.

I did notice that there is a Puget Sound Express day trip to Friday Harbor from Port Townsend. It is billed as "with Whale Watching." Has anyone had any experience with this? Also found a reference to spotting whales at Cape Flattery (which I can't find on any of my maps). Any input here?

We are spending two nights at Lake Quinault Lodge. So far I cannot get a response from Lake Crescent Lodge, so am thinking of staying in Port Angeles. Is that a good idea? It seems like a good base for Hurricane Ridge, Marymere Falls, also day trip to Victoria via the Victoria Express if we decide to go that route.

By the way we all (teen-ager included) LOVE to hike.

johnthedorf

Minnie....you're a kick! "By the way we all (teen-ager included) LOVE to hike". Since you will be near Forks put the Hoh River Rainforest on your "things to see". You can hike short or long as you wish. You are going to be one busy person!

Gardyloo

My personal opinion is that 3 nights at Mt Rainier is one too many, actually in my heart of hearts two too many. It's a wonderful mountain but the visitor areas can be (and are) very congested during the peak season; the accommodations at Paradise or nearby are overpriced and so-so (typical National Park concession stuff) and there are so many other options for those days that it seems like overdoing it. YMMV of course.

I would also skip the San Juans this time. The islands are beautiful to be sure, but they really call for a more relaxed and flexible itinerary than you may possess, and in fact also in summer ferry lines and delays can really eat into the time on the islands; people line up hours in advance of some of the busier sailings - is that how you want to spend your time?

Instead I would seriously look at re-tinkering the schedule past Rainier. Just a suggestion, of course - if you stick to your current plan you will have a fine time, so this is just along the lines of alternate strategies.

One night at Rainier. Get up real early and do a morning walk around Paradise (if that's where you're looking.) Best time of day because the daytrip crowds from Seattle don't start arriving until around 11-12. If you're on the road by 1 you can make Lake Quinault before dinnertime easily.

One or two nights at Quinault, one of which should be spent on a day drive up to Hoh and one or more of the beaches - Ruby would be my pick, others might disagree. Make a full day of it, with walks up some of the Hoh trails and along the beach at Ruby. Return to Quinault - yes, you'll be doubling back the next day, but so what.

Two nights at Lake Crescent or P.A. Visit Hurricane Ridge the afternoon that you leave Quinault. From Quinault to PA is around 2 1/2 to 3 hours driving (without more than necessary stops) so if you're on the road in late morning you can easily make it by early afternoon, with plenty of time to go up to Hurricane and back down by dinnertime. It's kitschy, but try the 3 Crabs in Dungeness for lunch or dinner (on the beach north of Sequim) - not the world's best food but a marvelous setting and IMO cole slaw that will change your lives.

Day trip to Victoria the next day. No car.

Next day, Port Angeles to Port Townsend, ferry to Keystone, highway to I-5. North on I-5 to the border. 3 nights (the ones you've saved earlier) in Vancouver. If you want the best scenery in the Pacific NW (or Lower Mainland if you're a BCer) take the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler - around 2 hours each way from Vancouver, plenty of shopping, sightseeing, eating opportunities there. Gawk at the bazaillion dollar ski lodges and vacation homes, then overnight or back to Vancouver.

Eventually make you way across the border (allow for some border delays but unless it's a weekend morning/evening not that bad) to Seattle to finish up.

This may well save you money too - ferry charges for vehicles across to Vancouver Island are quite high, accommodation in the San Juans is (again IMO) seriously overpriced, and if you want to try out urbane living on a budget, use Priceline for a 4 star hotel in Vancouver.

This really (to me but I'm biased) helps capture what this region is best at - marvelous natural environments and three of the best cities to visit in North America - hell, in the world, each with its own distinct personality, culture, and each close to some of the most amazing scenery going. Look at the list of what you'll get - the great river of the west, cowboy-and-Indian country (the real deal), volcanoes up close, rain forests with elk the size of hippos, wild, pristine coast, wilderness valleys, lavender fields, double-deck buses and flower baskets, ferries, global-class cities with a babel of cultures all trying to feed you delicious food, fjords into mountains before the Winter Olympics make their mark, and the Pike Place Market. How bad can that be? Oh, and a beer and pizza with your movie at the Edgefield.

Sure you can't spare another week?

christy1

If they love to hike, they'll shortchange themselves by spending only a night in Rainier. That effectively would limit you to walking around the shorter paved nature trails at Paradise with the mobs of tour bus tourists, when there are so many spectacular and less traveled hikes in the park. With three nights, that's only two days-and with all of the areas in the park-Sunrise, Paradise, Carbon River, Ohanapecosh-two days really isn't very many.
If accomodations at Paradise aren't the best, there are other options (ie Longmire, towns outside of the park) that would allow you to avoid the major crowds while having time to enjoy how spectacular Rainier is.

Minnie

Gardyloo, Funny you should suggest Vancouver--discussed SJ dilemma with husband over lunch and he suggested Vancouver. We were there 6 years ago and loved it! Everything you said makes perfect sense. Wish we did have another week!

Thanks to all. I think I'm on the high road now!