Washington State over Thanksgiving
 

We hope to be in Washington for about a week around Thanksgiving. We will be based in Pasco- SE WA. Do you have any suggestions for 2-4 day trips this time of year? We will have a car so any where in the state or area will be fine. Previously we have seen the Columbia Gorge, Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, and the Oregon coast. Would it be possible to see whales this time of year?
Thanks for your help.

It's a long drive (around 5 hrs) from the Tri-Cities to Seattle/Tacoma at the best of times; if there's snow in the passes it can take a full day, so I don't know if it would be worth it to cross over the mountains that week. As for whale watching, I doubt if there would be too many operators, if any, working then, except maybe some in the San Juans or Victoria BC, both of which are a very long distance indeed from Pasco.

Instead, I'd maybe look a bit closer and think about the Blue/Wallowa Mountains in NE Oregon (around Enterprise and Joseph) which are lovely and relatively unspoilt, and a much shorter drive than heading west. You might add Hell's Canyon to the itinerary too.

Heading over to The Dalles, Pendleton, and maybe the Maryhill Museum - all on or close enough to the Columbia River (east of the Gorge) would also be good ideas around then. There might also be some wine tasting and B&B opportunities in the Columbia/Yakima valleys, very close by to Pasco.

Lake Crescent is very lovely, and Port Townsend is wonderful.

Most Orca whale watch operators in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands only operated in late spring to early fall.
Gray and humpback whales do migrate along the Wa ocean coast in winter on their way to and from Mexico and Alaska-I can never remember when exactly they do this, but if you google you should be able to find info.

When we drive to Pasco from Seatle, we clock about 225 miles, and it takes us about 3.5 hours with one pit stop.

With snow at the pass it could take much longer.

What about going east into Idaho? Anyone know good routes there? I've heard of some beautiful spots along the border, like Hell's Canyon. I don't know what the conditions would be like in late November:
http://www.fs.fed.us/hellscanyon/

If you wanted to go East, you could try the Couer d' Alene Hotel, if you can get in. Nicely decorated for Christmas. But, other than the Spa in the hotel, not much else to do.

Trouble with E. washington and N. Idaho is that it gets real cold by that time of year, I doubt you would want to do a Hells Canyon excursion even if they were still operating.

I would go to Seattle or Portland, there is a lot to see and do and (Generally) the weather over the passes is not too bad that time of year. Traffic West to East the Sunday after Tgiving is not too bad either, west bound is terrible however.

Whale watching would likely be done, but it would be pretty miserable chasing them in the rain anyway. I don't know what the Seahawks schedule is but you might be able to snag a ticket from someone that is traveling out of town. There is always the regular seattle things, Pioneer Square, Pike Place Mkt, the waterfront, lots of good resturants, Bellevue Square etc.

Thank you for all the ideas. We have driven out to Washington from South Dakota twice so 3.5 hours doesn't seem to bad. Icy roads in the mt. passes would probably mean using a back up plan.

The cold & wind we are used to, rain that time of year would be new to us. Would this be heavy rain or more of an all day drizzle?

If you are talking about E. Washington, N. Idaho, it could be a deluge, drizzle or bright and sunny. That time of year, you just don't know. If you are from the Dakotas it will probably seem balmy. There just isn't much going on, its before reliable ski season, but after the summer season.

As a fall back plan, it is an easier drive to Portland from Pasco, as there are no mountain passes along the Columbia river road so usually the drive is easier and it is all interstate. The only caveat to that is if they get an ice storm, everything grinds to a halt.

How about Leavenworth, Washington? It's a "Bavarian" town that's lots of fun to visit. Their Christkindlmarkt is Nov. 24-26. The distance from Pasco is 180 miles.

I agree with that, but I don't think its a four day place, a nice diversion going to or from Seattle. They do the lighting of the town the weekend after TG I think, and it is a lovely sight, particularly if snow is on the ground.