Never been to the Pacific Northwest but planning a trip to Mt. Hood area for Christmas and New Years. What should I expect weather-wise? Snow? Rain? What is a good manageable day trip to do? California? Canada? Help!

California and Canada are both out for day trips. But Seattle is feasible - though a 3 hour drive each way makes for a long day.

With luck, you should have good snow at Mt. Hood for Christmas. Portland will probably be rainy at least part of the time. In Mt. Hood, are you staying at Timberline? Be sure to see The Shining which featured the hotel (or even better, The Shinning spoof on the the Simpsons). Portland is a good day trip and try to see the Christmas ships if they're going through. Officers' Row in Vancouver, WA, right over the bridge, is nicely decorated at Christmas. Weather permitting, Cannon Beach would be another nice day trip.

Never been to Oregon at Christmas. But I'd love to go. Can I go with you? I hope there's lots and lots of snow. And maybe a hottub on a deck overlooking a bubbling creek...

Let's see..Christmas in the NW: raining in Portland, snowing on Mt. Hood, and variations of the two in the 60 miles between. Not that I don't love it here...

Day trips - if you're staying in Portland, you've got the beach or Mt. Hood. But the beach is better suited to an overnight. Not much fun there when it's storming unless you're watching it from your room overlooking Haystack Rock.

I was in Portland last Christmas and made a day trip to Mt. St. Henens and Mt. Ranier in the same day. It was a long day but both were awesome. Another day trip was driving along the Columbia River to The Dalles - beautiful drive. Lots of great local brew pubs to have lunch at along the way. Silver Falls (I think that's the name) State Park is a few hours away, near Salem. Great water fall viewing. The pacific coast is a can't miss! We made a nice loop SW from Portland to the coast, along it for about 100 miles, then a different route back to Portland. Expect pleanty of rain in the winter, snow of course at the higher elevations. Neither spoiled our trip.