Thanks to all your great advice, I had an amazing trip to the Pacific Northwest! I hope you enjoy reading my report-

From the airport, I drove to the UW campus where I met up with my friend who showed me around campus, and I fell in love with U Dub. Definitely applying here for grad school! I don't care what anyone says about the weather in Seattle- I love it! Cold and dreary...imagine my disappointment when it was nearly 90 degrees in LA today. Anyways, we then drove out to Deception Pass (where the Ring was filmed) and although it was getting pretty dark by the time we got there, definitely worth it. We then drove down to Mukilteo(sp) and took the ferry to the mainland. It was a very cool to be able to drive onto a boat!

Next day, we drove out to Snoqualmie Pass and it was my first time driving in winter conditions. I was doing fine, but all those big rigs swaying made me mighty nervous! It started snowing pretty heavily at Snoqualmie, and there was talk of requiring chains and possibly closing down the pass, so we hurried back to Seattle. We walked around the different neighborhoods and downtown (and finally visited the amazing REI store!), then headed over the bridge and walked around Lake Washington. It was very relaxing to just hang out at the lake, listening to the water lap on the shore. I couldn't believe that people swim in the lake in the summer though! We were debating between driving to Vancouver or Portland, and in the end, decided on Portland. Bad idea, leaving at 5PM on a Friday! It took almost two hours to get to Sea-Tac, and the entire drive took nearly five hours. We stayed at the HI Hostel in downtown Portland and it was the best hostel I've been to! So clean (especially the restroom!), spacious, lots of guests, free food, friendly staff- the perfect hostel! It had a very central location, so we were able to walk/take the public transit everywhere.

Next was Astoria and the 'scenic' route back to Seattle. Yes, it was interesting, but not enough to justify the much longer drive. We should've gone to the gorge instead! Oh well, it gave us a good chance to see the beautiful Oregon/Washington coastline, but the 6 from Raymond to Chehalis wasn't anything special. I'd hate to see what the 8 from Aberdeen to the 5 would be like! We stopped at the Centralia outlets, then took a few photos at the Olympia State Capital.

We chilled out in Bellevue, where I got up early the next morning to fly out. I had been doing so much driving the past few days, I felt like that was all I had been doing. My trip was a bit rushed, and I regret not being able to spend more time to Portland and the Gorge. Oh well- gotta save something for next time! Thanks again!

Glad you enjoyed some of the great sites around here! I am in Portland, but used to live near Seattle, so always enjoy reading about those parts. The Deception Pass area is really nice. Too bad about the drive down here...we always plan it to avoid certain hours. So are you planning your next trip back yet?

Yes I am planning my next trip back, but it will have to be a while, since I am a broke college student . My next trip will be in the summer, when I can visit the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and possibly Vancouver. What struck me the most about the area (being from LA) was the driving. Very few speed, in fact, most drivers are under the speed limit 5-10mph. It was incredibly frustrating at first, but I got used to it. Speed limit of 60mph, and drivers are going 50mph in the FAST lane. However, I also noticed that drivers were extremely polite. Nobody honks, cuts anyone off, will move to the side to let me pass, etc. You don't see that in LA!

Glad you liked our little corner of the Northwest, Brushfire. I'm curious--why is it hard to believe that we swim in Lake Washington in the summer? The water is very clean, and by mid-summer it is warm enough that even I enjoy a swim, especially in the evening after work.

enzian, I'm used to swimming in mountain lakes, and swimming in an urban area just seems strange for me. Also the fact that it was so cold now...hard to imagine people jumping off docks into that water! I guess I have something else on my "to-do" list next time I'm in Washington!

Brushfire, you sound just like my 23 year old daughter! She moved to Seattle this September from here in NJ to go to Grad school. She really loves Seattle and U Dub. If you love the outdoors then this is a great place to be.

Oh, and she really likes the grad school.

jersey, that's great to hear! What program is she in? I just got a Low Fare Alert for Seattle- $143 from LAX! Tempting...

Her undergrad was in economics and international relations and she is currently studying marine environmental affairs (I believe I got that right). She is now debating pursuing a degree in marine law. After working for a year after college, I think she would rather be a professional student. LOL

Anyone who is dying to fly to Portland from the east coast in the winter rainys: Continental has an insane fare right now (Feb-Mar, certain days) flying from PHL to PDX via Newark for $172 round/trip. Plus the plane is a cross-country flight from Newark to Portland, non-stop; the "connection" from Philly is an Amtrak train. You can even book this as two one-way tickets. Southwest has an almost-as-good fare certain days with a direct (one-stop, Chicago Midway) flight PHL to PDX for as little as $185 r/t. I wouldn't be surprised if similar fares to Seattle are available.

Thanks for the heads up.

jersey, how are those out-of-state tuition fees? I am currently supporting myself at an in-state public university (UCLA) and it's pretty difficult. I can't even imagine trying to pay for out-of-state fees! Seattle would definitely be a great place to study marine environmental affairs- that's one of the reasons why the area is so appealing to me.

brushfire,
Glad you had a great trip. I love it here too and DD went to undergraduate at U Dub but is probably going to law school (environmental law) at Hastings, so I know what you mean about out-of-state tuition. But UW is excellent in any environmental program, so it may be well worth it to you.

(You're lucky you missed the snow we're having now--this has been the worst winter I've ever seen in the 15 years we've been here.)