Would appreciate thoughts/recommendations regarding our upcoming trip for a 1st visit to WA & OR:

9/2: Staying pm with family in Lynnwood, WA - will pu rental car.
9/3: Drive I-5 thru Bellingham to Mt Baker Hwy to Picture Lake - husband MUST see Mount Shuksan view. Stay pm at Inn at Mt Baker.
9/4: This is the day we are most concerned about time: Leave inn, take Keystone's noon ferry to Port Townsend. Stop @ Port Angeles Park Visitor Center. Take US 101 around the Olympic Peninsula for dinner & pm @ Lake Quinault Lodge. Have read the west side of OP is impressive plus this makes a shorter drive for the following day.
9/5: Drive Rte 101 to Cannon Beach for weekend stay at Surfsand Resort.
9/7: To Portland for flight back to Dallas.
This quick anniversary trip combines our favorites: 2 nights of mountain/forest for husband and 2 nights of beach for me! Seeing and hiking the Mt Shuksan/Baker area is a life-long dream for my husband so that must stay. We would appreciate any "must-sees" as well as restaurant recommendations. Thanks in advance. We've always relied on this site but this is our 1st posting.

You are trying to do too much in too few days and you have organized day 4 around the certainty that you will be able to get on a particular ferry at a specific time.

Also, on day 4, you are going to ONP but you have no time to see what it has to offer--points of interest are mostly not on Highway 101.

It's too bad your husband MUST see Mount Shuksan.

I agree--9/4 is too much for one day and you won't have time to see anything of ONP. I'd stay further north that night and just plan on getting to Cannon Beach late in the day on the 5th.

Or alternatively, at least consider driving from Mt Baker the afternoon/evening of 9/3 and staying somewhere on Whidbey Island that night so you can take an earler ferry to Pt Townsend.

Seems a bit ambitious to me. I understand the Keystone ferry is a real challenge this year (old ferries pulled from service, limited replacement capacity). How about getting your beach fix in ONP? There's a lodge at the beach in one of the ocean segments of Olympic National Park. You miss the cute seaside town aspect of Canon Beach, but you can substitute some time in Port Townsend, or maybe take the ferry for a day to Victoria.

I'm not really sure how to fix it, or what I would cut, but you have WAY too much on your itinerary for such a short trip, in my opinion. You are covering a LOT of ground in a very quick time.
~suze in Seattle

I appreciate your comments and have decided to make at least one change so far:
9/4 Leave inn, drive thru Seattle and come into Lake Quinault Lodge from the south.
This will eliminate the ferry, shave 1 1/2 hrs of driving (besides the 45-90 mins of wait at the ferry). We'll miss seeing the northern side of ONP but this will give us time to enjoy the scenery and do small hikes around Lake Quinault. I know we're missing most of the beautiful Olympic Peninsula but it is actually our 3rd priority with Cannon Beach being #1 and Mt Shuksan #2. The 9/4 is just a day to get us from one to the other. Still interested in other recs & thoughts!

Why not skip ONP entirely? If your priorities are Cannon Beach & Mt Shuksan, plus seeing relatives in Lynnwood, that's plenty for a 5 day trip. ONP isn't really on your way between the two. It's a huge place and to me hardly worth the detour for basically a 'drive by'.

If you are going to drive to Quinault from the south, you may as well skip the Olympic National Park.

The routing Lynwood-Mt. Baker-Lake Quinault via Olympia, is an extremely awkward itinerary. Also, it seems to me that to go to Olympic National Park for the sole purpose of having dinner at Lake Quinault Lodge is missing the point of ONP.

As I said yesterday: It's too bad your husband must see Mount Shuksan. However, if he must, there are better things you can do on your way to Cannon Beach than to go to Lake Quinault.

Hi Seeall50! It's very nice on the coast right now. For your Cannon Beach restaurants, I would consider Bistro, Newman's @ 988, Gower St. Bistro and Mo's for casual ambiance with pretty views of Haystack Rock.

We were at Ecola State Park yesterday, don't miss spending some time here. You could take the drive back to Indian Beach for some gorgeous scenery. If you come over to Seaside where I am, there are lots of yummy places to eat here. I would suggest Yummy Wine Bar, Taste of Tuscany for Italian food, Bigfoot Pub & Grub (we had yet another very good meal here last night after the guys got back from elk hunting) Norma's Ocean Diner for seafood and the Seaside Ocean Inn which is a new venue right on the promenade with views of the ocean from the dining room. If you like BBQ food, check out the Riverside BBQ, we had Pulled Pork sandwiches there yesterday, there are outdoor tables with views of the Necanicum River or you can take your food to go for a picnic in the area.

I hope you enjoy your time on the Oregon Coast, please report back on your experiences. ***kim***

Wow! Kim, the only elk hunting open right now is bow hunting - are they all bow hunters? Did they get one? Who does the cooking - you or your husband?

We're here at Cannon Beach this weekend. Weather is overcast with a few sunbreaks - 62 degress out right now. We went to Bill's Tavern for lunch on Saturday - our favorite hamburger venue. The owners of Bill's are also the owners of Warren House in Tolovana - another great place - with an outside deck with a partial ocean view. If you have a pet, you might want to choose a picnic table in the flowered beer garden in the back
Our other favorite lunch restaurant in Cannon Beach is Wayfarer - adjacent to Surfsand. They do room service delivery to
Surfand - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They have a fabulous crab cesaer salad, awesome clam chowder, great fish and chips and a wonderful view of the ocean and Haystack Rock. If the restaurant looks really busy, check out the bar - it has a great ocean view, fireplace, and open seating. Can't beat it!

Yes, all bow hunters! Warren House sounds nice, we have not been there yet. ***kim***