Log Cabin Resort is on the opposite side of Lake Crescent. The grounds are certainly beautiful. I haven't stayed there for 20 years so can't vouch for the rooms.

I have to jump in here because we stayed at the Palace Hotel last summer. We were looking for a place (kinda at the last minute) in Port Townsend that accepted pets, & that's the only one that had availability. I was surprised they accepted pets, It was a lot of fun. It could use some updating, but the decor & atomosphere is very unique. We enjoyed our stay there & didn't have any complaints.

I prefer Port Townsend over Port Angeles, but that's just me.

Serendipity42

Serendipity--I much prefer PT over PA as well.

Oh, I think that is a given. I don't think there's anything attractive about Port Angeles. My reference to that was just for the place to sleep the night before taking the ferry to Victoria since Lake Crescent is full.
Even then I don't need to be IN Port Angeles, maybe an hour or so away.

Hmmm. After checking with Lake Crescent Lodge which is full on our night before going to Victoria, I find they do have rooms for either or both nights on our return.

So now I'm thinking -- maybe drive up on May 27 (a Wednesday) from Seattle and arrive in the afternoon at Port Townsend, spending one night there and then going the next morning to Port Angeles to get the ferry to Victoria. And then coming back -- drive from Vancouver to Lake Crescent and either spend two nights there, or just spend one night there, then drive around Olympic spending the other night either at Forks (I would love to do the Hoh Rainforest walk) or go on to spend the second night at Lake Quinault before driving back to SeaTac for our night before flying out.

That defeats what I said about finding a place and using more as a base -- unless we would spend both nights at Lake Crescent, spend our day doing Hoh Rainforest and the coast and returning to Lake Crescent, then doing Hurricane Ridge before driving back along the Hood Canal to Seattle.

What do you think?

If you do that, it would make more sense IMO to go up to Vancouver from Pt Townsend (take the ferry to Whidbey and then drive up I-5), then go to Victoria, then to Port Angeles. Otherwise, going from Vancouver to Lk Crescent is going to be a LONG travel day, in particular because the wait to cross the border coming back into the US is almost always much longer than crossing into Canada.

I would stay 2 nights at Lk Crescent and use it as a base for a day trip to the Hoh rather than change hotels again.

No. The Victoria/Tofino/Vancouver part of the trip are all set in stone with particular dates, rentals, and in order. I was surprised that Mapquest lists just 4 hours from Vancouver to Lake Crescent (admittedly not adding in waiting time for the ferry or for the border crossing). But surely those things shouldn't put it over 6 or so hours, should it?

I'm still a little confused how early we should leave Vancouver to avoid the mob at the border crossing -- it will be a Friday morning.

And yes, the more I think about it, using Lake Crescent as a base and just going as far as Hoh would be fine -- not circling the long way to the south of Olympic NP to get back to Seattle.

Incidentally, my original plan was to return from Vancouver to Seattle by train or bus, avoiding the border problem with the car. But when I got a rental car for the full three weeks from Seattle to Seattle for about the same as a one week rental in Canada, I changed my mind -- so we'll have to deal with the car/border crossing issue.

Ah, ok, that makes sense. Didn't realize you were going to Tofino this trip--lucky you! Have you been before?

I'd plan on being at the border no later than 9 or 10 AM (earlier if you can). If you'll have a laptop with you, it would probably be a good idea to check the border wait-time site for a Friday or two before that to get a sense of the wait time and how early it builds as the morning goes on. And check the WA State Ferry site to see what the deal is with the Whidbey/Pt Townsend ferry next May (it's a little up in the air right now it seems like) and make a reservation if need be--that's how I'd go rather than taking the Edmonds/Kingston ferry. The trip could be as long as 7 hours though if there's a 2 hour wait at the border.

Nope. Never been to Tofino.

A couple years ago we left Vancouver in the morning and decided to do the "truck" border crossing, but as we approached it there was a lighted sign saying "long wait -- take the Peace crossing" or something like that, so we switched gears and crossed over to there. But as we entered the highway north of that crossing going down a ramp, the traffic was already basically stopped, way back into the distance. Of course the ramp fed into the right lane and we kept going, slowly but moving which seemed odd. Finally we came to a sign that said the right lane was for special passes only -- gee, how were we to know that? I guess there had been a similar sign before the ramp, and we were indeed lucky that someone let us in to the left (or our friend Paul is just an aggressive driver who managed to work his way in). We felt guilty for doing this, but what else could we do? We got through in about 10 minutes total, as opposed to at least an hour I'm guessing, probably more.

On a related issue, does anyone know the times for the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria (end of May). They aren't on line, only the winter schedule. I'm thinking we might be able to squeeze in two nights at Port Townsend before taking the ferry over if we did the early morning one on a Friday.

I love reading about trip people are planning to my home state. Reminds that just because I've lived there I definitely haven't seen it all.

You're getting lots of great advice. The only thing I wanted to add is that the ferry to Victoria can be pretty rough. I've taken it twice and both times ended up a bit green.

OK, I feel like I almost need to start over. I just got a call from the Crescent Lake Lodge. It seems they DO have a vacancy for our first night after all, so they called me. It seems the dates were blocked with enquiries, but not confirmed reservations. I took it.

So we will be driving from Seattle to Lake Crescent, just spending the one night and taking the ferry to Victoria the next day (hey, I didn't even turn green on the Hurtigruten in the North Sea off Norway in storms that left half the crew heaving, so I'm not worried).

I'm not sure if we'll have time to go do the Hoh rainforest after our arrival at Lake Crescent or maybe even the next morning and then take a later ferry to Victoria. I'm also getting the idea that I shouldn't count on Hurricane Ridge in May.

That now frees us up on the return to do two nights in Port Townsend -- back to that earlier idea. So I'm now working on where to stay -- maybe the Palace or the Swan. I like the idea of the balcony with chairs at the Swan if facing the marina.

Oh, boy! So on the confirmation that Lake Crescent Lodge sent me, I see the Hood Canal bridge will be closed in May and June of 2009. That means one LONG detour getting up to Lake Crescent and going back. I guess it's not so bad going back, we just have to go all the way down to Olympia and back up to SeaTac, but I guess the same is true for going -- no point in going over to Bainbridge from Seattle and up -- or am I missing a way to connect? I went to the website and they offer boat service and shuttle buses to replace the bridge for commuters -- but no way to get your car across.

Or I guess returning to SeaTac from Port Townsend, it would make more sense to go via Whidbey, with the two ferries?

Wow, now I remember reading about the upcoming bridge closure. Sorry it'll happen while you're here! You know what, if it were me, I would scratch the Olypmic Penninsula & just go to Whidbey. There are some really nice vacation rentals there, my hubby & I stayed at one near Greenbank & loved it. Right on the water, very peaceful. There are wineries to visit, Langley is a neat place with shops & restaurants. Lots of hiking opportunities. Just an idea

Serendipity42

Oh, that's right, I'd forgetten about the Hood Canal Bridge closing again. You don't actually have to go all the way down to Olympia to drive around...you can take Rt. 16 from Tacoma and then there are a couple of ways to get from there to Rt. 106 that cuts across to meet up with Rt. 101 at the south end of Hood Canal--you go through the town of Union (consult a good road map).

Driving around on that last Sunday might actually be a better option than taking the two ferries from Pt Townsend--in particular, the line ups coming home from Whidbey on a Sunday can be a couple hours long.

Yes, I see the route you are talking about, but it doesn't look like it would be any quicker than going I-5 to Olympia then 101 all the way up (or in reverse). Those roads between Tacoma and Union look awfully slow, but I could be wrong.

I know what you're saying about the ferries on a Sunday in June.

If we're going to go back to Seattle from Port Townsend via 101 along the Hood Canal, I'm wondering if it doesn't make sense to take our full day up to Lake Crescent from Seattle by the 101 and around Olympic to the west and do the Hoh on the way up.

The bridge closure does complicate things a bit.

Seems like since you have to go the "long way around" on your way up to meet the Coho ferry, you might as well take the western route and see the Hoh. I've only been there once, but it was May, and very nice. We saw elk gliding silently through the forest. . .

Then if you still wanted to spend time in Port Townsend on the return, you could take the Keystone ferry back to Whidbey and then drive south to the Mukilteo. That is how I used to visit my mom way back when the Hood Cananl Bridge was out after a storm (I forget what year that was, maybe in the 80's).

I think the summer schedule for the Coho has them doing 3 roundtrips a day instead of two, so the first departure each day is quite early in the morning. Although the schedule is not yet online, they will tell you if you call. If you are spending the previous night at Lake Crescent, you probably want a noon or mid-afternoon sailing so you don't have to rush. It's nice that they take reservations now.

Interesting.

According to Mapquest, Port Townsend to SeaTac by way of Olympia is 3 hours and 4 minutes.

Port Townsend to SeaTac via the two ferries and Mukilteo is 2 hours and 19 minutes, but I'm assuming they don't allow the time for the ferry waits. It seems that especially on a Sunday, it would make a LOT more sense to avoid the entire double ferry situation and just go the Olympia Route. I can't imagine it wouldn't be quicker overall if those times are accurate.

Yes, the ferry waits are not included. And on weekends the waits can get quite long, especially if it is a nice weekend. The ferry website has webcams of each route, along with current wait times. If you have internet access, you could check that last minute if you are debating on routes. The Clinton/Mukilteo ferry we have always had better luck with wait times than the Edmonds/Kingston.

I don't know the relative time for each route but going via Tacoma "feels" quicker to me. Plus I love driving along Hood Canal for the scenery, and I have to say I really dislike driving on I-5 especially the stretch from just north of Tacoma to south of Ft Lewis so I'm sure that factors in to my choice as well ;-).