ann0320

My husband and I are in our sixites, planning our first trip to Pacific Northwest since we were kids. So we want to pack in as much as possible for a 10 - 11 day trip. We could possibly squeeze in another day if it makes sense. We have some fleixibility but leaning towards leaving shortly after Labor Day.

What we enjoy the most is the outdoors - hiking (5 - 6 hours max), scenery, wildlife. Not really into night life, museums, shopping (would like to fit in Pike Street Market, though)

Here's what we were thinking:

Day 1: Fly into Seattle. Take Ferry over from Anacortes to Victoria or head over to Fort Angeles.
Day 2: Victoira - Butchart Gardens, China Town
Day 3: Lake Crescent Lodge: - Sights -Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Trail, Hoh Rain Forest
Day 4: Lake Quinault Lodge: - Ruby and Rialto Beaches
Day 5: Cannon Beach: - Ecola and Oswald West State Parks
Day 6: Cannon Beach: - if need more beach, travel south as far Cape Perpetua and then come back north to take scenic route along Columbia River Gorge
Day 7: Mt. Hood area: - any recommendationsfor lodging.
Day 8 - 10: Paradise Inn. Enjoy Mt. Rainier and then head back to Seattle for flight home.

Is this allow enough time for taking in some good hikes and beechcombing?

Which ferry to Victoria? San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island sound appealing, but thought maybe the ferry from Anacortes could give me my San Juan fix - and a bonus would be a whale sighting while on the ferry. We would probably overnight in Victoria, unless we decided to ferry out from Port Angeles and then we would probably just spend our first two nights in PA or Lake Crescent Lodge.

Seeing puffins and seals would be a treat. What beaches would be most likely to come across these?

happytrailstoyou

We like to make the most of our travel time, too, but this itinerary makes me anxious and dizzy. To make a wise decision about the first few days of your trip, check ferry schedules.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/
http://cohoferry.com/main/

If you can't make ferry reservations for you and your automobile, change your plans for Days 1-3. In any event, were I you, with only eight days, I would:

*eliminate Victoria (or visit as a day trip from Port Angeles),
*stay at only Lake Crescent Lodge in the Olympic National Park,
*travel the Oregon Coast as far as Cape Perpetua,
*spend one night in the Columbia River Gorge (Hood River), and
*drive WA 14 from Maryhill to Bingen
*spend one night at Paradise Inn, and
*spend one night in seattle.

HTtY

Tomsd

Like the idea of taking the Anacordes Ferry (about an hour north of SeaTac)over to Vancouver Island - and then returning on the Port Angeles ferry to continue your journey.

We saw a pod of Killer Whales/Orcas (alongside for over 15 minutes - they were not afraid of the big car ferry)- on our trip from Durham? (north of Victoria) to Anacordes - and pulling into the San Juan ports was a bonus too.

As for Mt. Hood - can't go wrong with another favorite of ours - the historic/beautiful Timberline Lodge - right on slope of Mt. Hood - just below the year round ski area on the glacier.

Tomsd

The Anacordes Ferry actuallu pulls into Sydney - about 18 miles north of Victoria.

ann0320

Thank you for your responses. I probably didn't make myself very clear.

We were actually planning on a 10 or 11 day stay. The first part of the trip was trying to decide if I should ferry out of PA and do a day trip to Victoria. If so, then we would have first two nights in PA or Lake Crescent Lodge. Since I prefer to not back track, the Anacordes ferry one way to Victoria and then return to Port Angeles sounds more appealing. I believe that Buchart Gardens is north of Victoria so maybe the Sidney drop off is even better.
Should I be booking our ferry departures already?

I will look into Timberline Lodge.

We are looking forward to our trip.

Fodorite018

It is the Anacortes Ferry, and it is over 90 miles from SeaTac, FWIW.

Definitely book your ferries ahead of time. The Coho ferry back to Port Angeles routinely fills up during the busier season.

I agree with HTTY's suggestions.

ann0320

I will study the ferry schedules, flight schedule, etc. I suspect that it may make for a less frantic start to vacation to spend that first night in Seattle.

Thanks for your input. I will post a revised plan after further review.

ann0320

Thank you so much for your valuable input.

Looking at the ferry schedules, my flight time, and studying the map of the area, I have done some major revision. This appears to me be much more logical than what I had originally proposed.

Please look at this new itinerary. I welcome any suggestions. Have I allowed enough time per location.

If we were to add another day to our trip, where should it be?

Day 1: Fly into Seattle 10:30 am. Head over to Mt. Rainier National Park. Night at Paradise Inn.

Day 2: Explore Mt. Rainier. Head over to Columbia Gorge. Spend the night in the area.

Day 3: Explore gorge area. Take Columbia Gorge Scenic Drive. Spend night at Cannon Beach.

Day 4: Drive south as far as Cape Perpetua, Oswald State Park. Spend 2nd night at Cannon Beach.

Day 5: Ecola State Park, Ruby Beach. Night at Lake Quinault.

Day 6: Hurricane Ridge, Hoh Rain Forest, Hurricane Ridge. Night at Lake Crescent.

Day 7: Take ferry over from Port Angeles to Victoria. Spend night.

Day 8: Take ferry from Sidney to Friday Harbor. Spend night on San Juan.

Day 9: Explore more of San Juan Islands. Spend 2nd night on San Juan.

Day 10: Take ferry to Anacortes. Spend Night in Seattle

Day 11 : Pikes Place Market. Take afternoon flight home.

happytrailstoyou

This is a much better plan if you absolutely must see everything and can get reservations on the ferries.

There is much to see between Cannon Beach and Cape Perpetua, and it is slow going on 101. If you make the round trip in one day, you won't have time to see and enjoy much of what is on the route.

It would be better to spend Day 3 in Yachats (Fireside, Adobe, or Overleaf) and to drive to Cannon Beach on Day 4.

HTtY

ann0320

Rather than drive down from Cannon Beach, what about taking a route from Portland down I-5 and then swing west to the coast?

How far in advance can you reserve the ferry? It appeared no further out than a couple of months. Spending the nights in Victoria and on San Juan I felt gave me additional flexibility for when to catch a ferry.

Is there a destination that you think I should eliminate?

Gardyloo

I'd echo HTTY - Day 4 sounds pretty grueling. I'd also mention that much of US 101 between Cannon Beach and Newport is NOT especially attractive; in particular Lincoln City is a never-ending strip mall that really slows you down.

I wonder if Day 3 couldn't start in Hood River then south on SR 35 and US 26 around the flanks of Mount Hood, then I-5 down to Corvallis and out to the coast, staying in Yachats. That would require an extra couple of hours in the car on Day 3, but it would save at least 3 hours on Day 4. This assumes you can find accommodation for one night stays in Cannon Beach, which can be troublesome earlier in the summer.

Fast forward to Days 7/8, I might suggest just visiting Victoria as a day trip (foot passengers) from Port Angeles. There are numerous buses waiting to take you to Butchart Gardens right at the ferry dock and around the Inner Harbour; that would save the (high) cost of the car ferry over and back to Friday Harbor, and on Day 8 you could be in Friday Harbor much earlier than if you had to wait for the evening boat from Sidney. You would need reservations on the Port Townsend - Coupeville ferry as well as the Anacortes - Friday Harbor boat (although, depending on specific dates, this is less critical) but in terms of travel time it would be much faster, and undoubtedly cheaper overall.

ann0320

I had wondered how important it was to have a car in Victoria.
Thank you for the suggestions.

I had intended in my itineary to suggest that my first night in Cannon Beach was after seeing the coast around Cape Perpetua. We are getting beach time at Cannon and Ecola State park, and Ruby Beach. Is the Cape Perpetua area something that should not be missed? We tend to lean more toward mountains than beaches.

In your opinion should the San Juan Islands stay on our to do list?

So many great places to take in - it is difficult for me to determine what could be eliminated.

Gardyloo

We tend to lean more toward mountains than beaches.

This is important information.

Okay, so I'll stick my neck out and make a big suggestion. Skip the Oregon coast and add more time on the Olympic Peninsula. Here's my thinking.

You're spending a lot of time in a car, and traveling to places that are really best seen up close, and not from car windows.

The Oregon coast is marvelous, but the beaches on the Olympic National Park coastal strip are just that - national park quality. Cape Perpetua is gorgeous, but look at pictures of it then look at pictures of Rialto Beach, near La Push. Or Shi Shi beach ("shy-shy.") I mean, c'mon. The beauty of the Olympic Peninsula is that it's all there, in pretty close proximity - these amazing beaches, the incomparable rain forest valleys along the Quinault and Hoh rivers, the mountains at Hurricane Ridge... and never mind blonde vampires and studly werewolves.

So if it were me looking at your (very ambitious) plan I'd add a day or two along the Columbia Gorge, so that Mount Hood could be explored, then I'd travel down the Columbia to the mouth at Cape Disappointment (equally scenic, also very historic) before heading into Olympic NP for several nights.

I'd also ditch the San Juans, again, not because they're not lovely, but allocating just one or two nights can turn the experience into more of a logistics exercise than a pleasurable one - get in line for this ferry, etc. You can certainly have a good "island" experience on Whidbey Island without the hassle of getting to and from the San Juans.

So pretty opinionated, and others will almost certainly disagree, but if it was me, I'd look at limiting the travel a little and extending the "hang time" in these marvelous areas.

ann0320

Thank you Gardyloo. Those suggestions do sound more like us. We prefer to be active and so eliminating a lot of time on the ferry and in the car makes sense. Maybe we'll have time for some kayaking on biking around Whidbey Island.

And more time for Columbia River Gorge sounds appealing. And then we'll have some time to do the fruit loop.