My Huaband and I are taking a two week trip to oregon and Washington. We will be staying in Bend,Oregon and Seattle. Can anyone help with things to do in these areas.Probably will go to Vancouver. Thanks

Bend is an interesting, but confused city. It has a lot to offer in the way of the great outdoors: the Deschutes River, great hiking, Mt Bachelor, Three Sisters Wilderness Area. The downtown section of Bend is kinda cute, with some nice restaurants, but there is strip mall after strip mall in Bend (I know, this is hardly unique, but some reason it stands out more in Bend.) Anyway, plan on making a day trip up to the town of Sisters. Neat little place. In fact, you may want to spend a night there.
Have fun.

Don't know what time of year you are going... We were recently in WA and really enjoyed our trip to the San Juan Islands - specifically Friday Harbor. (Drive to Anacortes and take the ferry). We went whale watching while there. We did Vancover, but wish we had made it to Vancouver Island
and Victoria instead. (We prefer the mountains, water, etc. to the big cities.) We drove to Mt. Baker and took the most wonderful hike thru the park, up a mountain. It was something we'll treasure forever. Our next trip we will NOT miss Olympic National Forest

Thanks for the replys. I am leaving the end of this week. It sounds like Bend will not be as we expected. Maybe there is some place nearby. We are visiting relatives in La Pinet,thirty miles north. Has anyone been river rafting in the area? If so , can you recomend a good Outfit?
Is the Boeing Tour in Seattle worthwhile? My husband is very interested in airplane history.

Tina, Capt. Kirk's points are good. Sisters is a nice alternate destination, also they're having a crafts fair this weekend and it might be fun (Bend is okay IMO - it does have a great 50s drive-in as I recall). It will probably be very warm, with high fire risk, so watch out.

For your airplane-loving spouse, the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle is a don't miss - not as good as the Smithsonian A&SM but IMO on a par with the USAF museum in Dayton. The Boeing factory tour is also great fun - located at the 747/777 assembly facility at Paine Field in Everett, about 25 miles north of downtown Seattle. Arrive early in the morning so you don't have to wait, makes for a fun day outing when combined with a trip to Whidbey Island via the Mukilteo ferry, 5 min. from the Boeing tour center.

There are many lovely B&Bs in Bend and the area around the Deschutes River is also very beautiful. The strip malls are on the main highway in and out of town. What town doesn't have them? If you really find you don't want to stay in Bend, try Sun River which is south a few miles. I'm not sure where this La Pinet is, north of Bend. There is La Pine which is south of Bend. Anywhere on the Deschutes River is good for rafting, but we are in the middle of a drought and the river levels are very low. Forget the negative comments of the poster above. Central Oregon is a beautiful place.

There's lots to do around Bend. My favorite is Newberry Crater, a bit south of town. You can drive up into the huge crater, and camp on one of the beautiful lakes. There's pretty good fishing, and a small lodge as well. A couple of the higher lookouts are quite spectacular, as is the walk up into the obsidian lava flow, where you encounter house-sized bocks of black glass. Also, just south of town is the High Desert Museum, which is quite nicely laid out, with many outdoor animal enclosures and exhibits. Also, you can take the tour bus up to the top of Lava Butte, a cinder cone that is quite fascinating, and another great view.

Thanks everyone for the replys. The name of the town we ar visiting os La Pine. Sorry for the slip of my finger on the keyboard.
We will be sure to Tour Boeing.It sounds like there is lots to do around the Bend area.Not knowing exactly on what day we will be arriveing is a problem.Hopefully it will be after the Labor Day holiday.

Bend is a great area, specifically the area of Sunriver just 20 minutes out of town. In fact, headed there this weekend. Sunriver has a shopping village and is surrounded by numerous bike baths that link the area together. Rafting, canoeing, horse-back riding, golf are also available. There are great places to raft on the Dechutes and a large number of good companies. You might also enjoy the warm springs at Kah-Nee-Tah which is a ways outside of Bend. As others recommended, Sisters is a great little town to visit as well. As for Washington, you should definitely go up the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend and then to Port Angeles to take the ferry over to Victoria, BC and the surrounding San Juan Islands...beautiful!!! Have a great time in our Pacific NW!

High Desert Museum is the highlight of Bend. Bend is okay. Nothing special but the lakes area around it like Sparks lake is very nice in the summer.
I didn't like Sisters at all. It was a huge disappointment. Talk about strip malls. All Sisters is is a few blocks of low rent little shops with no charm or character.

Hi there,

I've lived in Seattle my entire life so I guess I have a few opinions . I would agree with the person who told you about the Boeing museum and the Boeing factory tour. The San Juans are beautiful but mighty packed this time of year. Whidbey Island is a good alternative and you get on the ferry right by the Boeing factory. On Whidbey Island you'd want to see the towns of Langley and Coupeville which are both really cute. There's also a big fort along the way that has some spectacular scenery and a lot of kite flying. Coupeville has a great little homespun restaurant right over the water with fresh home baked bread and soup.

There are lots of good things to do in the Seattle area. One thing you wouldn't want to miss is a drive across the I-90 bridge. It goes across Lake Washington and the view is wonderful. When people visit from out of town I also suggest visiting Pioneer Square and taking the underground tour. Pike Place Market is a must see, especially at this time of year. Fresh food and flowers and lots of neat arts and crafts all right at the waterfront.

I also recommend Palisades restaurant - the food and view are just incredible and the architecture of the restaurant is really unique. It's not too far from downtown.

There's some neat shopping downtown with Westlake Mall and another new mall right across from Nordstroms. The Museum of History and Industry and the Seattle Art Museum are really interesting. The Woodland Park Zoo is one of the best in the country. The aquarium downtown is very good as well.

There's excellent easy hiking near Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier (where you can drive right up), or Mt. Si. If you're here long enough a trip to Victoria is nice. You can drive and take a ferry or take the clipper direct from downtown and return the same day. Vancouver is also fun to visit but it's a lot like Seattle. Turtle Bay just north of Vancouver and is some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

I don't know if you've ever been to the coast in either state. It's well worth a trip. The Oregon coast is stunning. You can drive up from Lincoln City through to Astoria in just a couple of hours stopping at Canon Beach along the way. You can also tour the Blue Heron and Tillamook cheese factories (I like Blue Heron best, they have wonderful brie). It's be a shame to come out here and miss the Oregon coast. It's really wonderful. The Washington coast is nice but the Oregon coast is more hilly so there are some fantastic lookouts you can stop at and see for miles. Also a lot of nice lighthouses.

Feel free to email me if you want more ideas or have questions. I'm always happy to give advice on how to enjoy this part of the world!

Britt