Oregon, Washington Trip Report
Jul 9th, 2005, 09:25 AM
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Oregon, Washington Trip Report
Just back from 11 days in Oregon and Washington. Flew into Portland on Saturday, June 25.
Sunday – Drove through the Columbia River Gorge and around to Mt Hood. Stopped at four waterfalls and took two small hikes. Picked up some Rainier Cherries along the Fruit Loop. Best fruit ever grown!! Drove up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. It was cloudy most of the day, but we had some great views of the peaks.
Monday and Tuesday – Drove the Oregon coast from Tillamook to Astoria, spending the night in Cannon Beach. Rained all day the first day, and was very overcast the rest of the time. Started to do the Three Capes Loop, but quit after Cape Mears. Toured the Tillamook cheese factory and had some excellent ice cream. Walked out to Haystock Rock Tuesday morning before we checked out of the motel. Drove through Ecola State park and saw four elk. Visited Fort Clatsop and the Astoria Column before heading to Kelso, Washington for the night.
Wednesday - Finally had some decent weather. Drove the Silver Lake Memorial Highway to Mt St Helens. Stopped at all three visitor centers and had great views into the crater from Johnston Ridge. One of the highlights of the trip.
Thursday – Drove up to Paradise at Mt Rainier. The top of the mountain was in and out of clouds all day, but the weather was good. Left Paradise and drove around to Sunrise. Drive was a lot longer than I thought, and the views weren’t any better than Paradise. Maybe due to the clouds.
Friday – Based ourselves in Kirkland for three nights. Drove up to Anacortes for a whale watch trip with Island Adventures. Saw one Grey Whale and several Orcas, plus circled through many of the islands. The boat was enclosed which was very nice. Saw several open air Zodiacs with people in full waterproof suits. Didn’t look very comfortable.
Saturday – Drove into Seattle. Went to Pike Place Market, Seattle Center, Pioneer Square and Ballard Locks.
Sunday – Took the Bainbridge Island ferry and drove through Port Townsend and Sequim on our way to Port Angeles. Did a little browsing in PT and visited three Lavender farms. The girls really like that part.
Monday – Celebrated the 4th of July by leaving the country. Took the Victoria Express to Victoria for the day. Took a guided tour of the Parliament Building which was better than we expected. Very entertaining. Toured the harbor area and did some shopping. Watched glass blowers at work in Starfish Gallery. Took the Coho ferry back that afternoon. It was actually a little rougher than the Victoria Express, but both were pretty smooth. Also, both took at least 15 minutes longer to cross than they advertise. Port Angeles welcomed us back to the country with a band on the pier, a parade and fireworks. And we were only gone 9 hours! What a nice little town.
Tuesday – Drove up to Hurricane Ridge. Cloudy again, so didn’t have real good views. Came back down the mountain and then to Lake Crescent where we spent the night in the lodge. It rained all the rest of the day, so we passed time in the lodge playing board games and reading.
Wednesday – Finally quit raining so we hiked to Marymere Falls. Great trail and beautiful falls. Headed to Sea-Tac via Bremerton so I could show the family where I was stationed in the early 80’s. Even found my old apartment. Spent the night near the airport for our 6 am flight back to Little Rock.
Overall, we had a good time, but the weather really put a damper on things, so to speak. It rained two full days, and was overcast most of the others. Our spirits were definetly higher on the nice days. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Sunday – Drove through the Columbia River Gorge and around to Mt Hood. Stopped at four waterfalls and took two small hikes. Picked up some Rainier Cherries along the Fruit Loop. Best fruit ever grown!! Drove up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. It was cloudy most of the day, but we had some great views of the peaks.
Monday and Tuesday – Drove the Oregon coast from Tillamook to Astoria, spending the night in Cannon Beach. Rained all day the first day, and was very overcast the rest of the time. Started to do the Three Capes Loop, but quit after Cape Mears. Toured the Tillamook cheese factory and had some excellent ice cream. Walked out to Haystock Rock Tuesday morning before we checked out of the motel. Drove through Ecola State park and saw four elk. Visited Fort Clatsop and the Astoria Column before heading to Kelso, Washington for the night.
Wednesday - Finally had some decent weather. Drove the Silver Lake Memorial Highway to Mt St Helens. Stopped at all three visitor centers and had great views into the crater from Johnston Ridge. One of the highlights of the trip.
Thursday – Drove up to Paradise at Mt Rainier. The top of the mountain was in and out of clouds all day, but the weather was good. Left Paradise and drove around to Sunrise. Drive was a lot longer than I thought, and the views weren’t any better than Paradise. Maybe due to the clouds.
Friday – Based ourselves in Kirkland for three nights. Drove up to Anacortes for a whale watch trip with Island Adventures. Saw one Grey Whale and several Orcas, plus circled through many of the islands. The boat was enclosed which was very nice. Saw several open air Zodiacs with people in full waterproof suits. Didn’t look very comfortable.
Saturday – Drove into Seattle. Went to Pike Place Market, Seattle Center, Pioneer Square and Ballard Locks.
Sunday – Took the Bainbridge Island ferry and drove through Port Townsend and Sequim on our way to Port Angeles. Did a little browsing in PT and visited three Lavender farms. The girls really like that part.
Monday – Celebrated the 4th of July by leaving the country. Took the Victoria Express to Victoria for the day. Took a guided tour of the Parliament Building which was better than we expected. Very entertaining. Toured the harbor area and did some shopping. Watched glass blowers at work in Starfish Gallery. Took the Coho ferry back that afternoon. It was actually a little rougher than the Victoria Express, but both were pretty smooth. Also, both took at least 15 minutes longer to cross than they advertise. Port Angeles welcomed us back to the country with a band on the pier, a parade and fireworks. And we were only gone 9 hours! What a nice little town.
Tuesday – Drove up to Hurricane Ridge. Cloudy again, so didn’t have real good views. Came back down the mountain and then to Lake Crescent where we spent the night in the lodge. It rained all the rest of the day, so we passed time in the lodge playing board games and reading.
Wednesday – Finally quit raining so we hiked to Marymere Falls. Great trail and beautiful falls. Headed to Sea-Tac via Bremerton so I could show the family where I was stationed in the early 80’s. Even found my old apartment. Spent the night near the airport for our 6 am flight back to Little Rock.
Overall, we had a good time, but the weather really put a damper on things, so to speak. It rained two full days, and was overcast most of the others. Our spirits were definetly higher on the nice days. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Jul 9th, 2005, 04:14 PM
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Thought the report was long enough already, but I'll add more. Top three were Mt St Helens (great weather and views of crater), Victoria (kids really liked being in another country), and Mt Rainier (good weather and views). The day we spent in Port Townsend and Sequim had the best weather, so that was a lot of fun also. Columbia River Gorge was spectacular.
Whale watching was fun, but a long day to see a half dozen whales. Glad we went, but don't think we would do it again. Didn't care much for the Oregon coast since it was rainy or cloudy the whole time. I don't want to judge an area based on weather, but when all your plans are based around seeing beautiful scenery, it kind of drags you down.
It's kind of hard to say what areas were better than others, because we had a lot more fun on the days the weather was nice. Does that make sense?
Whale watching was fun, but a long day to see a half dozen whales. Glad we went, but don't think we would do it again. Didn't care much for the Oregon coast since it was rainy or cloudy the whole time. I don't want to judge an area based on weather, but when all your plans are based around seeing beautiful scenery, it kind of drags you down.
It's kind of hard to say what areas were better than others, because we had a lot more fun on the days the weather was nice. Does that make sense?
Jul 9th, 2005, 04:25 PM
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Thank you for your report. I thought your first one was just fine too! I hope to be making a trip to the Pacific NW soon so I really enjoy reading posts about the area. Sorry the weather wasn't the best but from what I've read, that's not too unusual! Thanks again.
Jul 9th, 2005, 04:38 PM
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Too bad you had such rotten weather on the Oregon coast. A week later and you'd have seen it at its best. Then again, maybe that's why we Oregonians list storm-watching as one of the most popular coastal activities. It can happen most any time of year.
Hope you give us another try some day.
Hope you give us another try some day.
Jul 9th, 2005, 05:08 PM
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I am glad you had a good trip, even though the weather did not cooperate. You learn real quick around here to go do things inspite of it, lol! I was born and raised here, so I forget that people are not used to it.
Jul 10th, 2005, 05:40 AM
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I thought the best part of the Oregon coast was the bad weather rolling in over the Pacific and knowing the last place that water was was Hawaii, or Japan! Our hotel had a covered deck overlooking the ocean that you could actually see the storms approaching. I guess to each his own.
Jul 10th, 2005, 07:15 AM
#10
Thanks for the great trip report and telling your busy itinerary. I would apologize for our weather, but there's nothing unusual about rain in the Pacific NW! That's why it's so green and gorgeous here. Actually this 4th of July weekend was mostly sunny and beautiful in Seattle, now THAT is unusual for us.
Jul 10th, 2005, 07:20 AM
#11
Sequim and Port Townsend are in a 'sunbelt' out that way. They have less annuyal rainfall than the surrounding areas.
Definitely I can understand that you had more fun on vacation on your sunny days(!) but I don't think you'd make a very good northwesterner
We're simply used to it out here. Even look forward to the rain if it's been sunny too many days in a row. It's part of being a local. I expect rain when I go to the coast!
Definitely I can understand that you had more fun on vacation on your sunny days(!) but I don't think you'd make a very good northwesterner
We're simply used to it out here. Even look forward to the rain if it's been sunny too many days in a row. It's part of being a local. I expect rain when I go to the coast!
Jul 12th, 2005, 05:42 PM
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Sorry the weather wasn't cooperative for what you wanted to do. The joke around here is that summer doesn't start until July 5. It is still warming up too!
Hope you'll come back and visit another time!
Sara
Hope you'll come back and visit another time!
Sara
