What in the world should we drop from the OR coast? It all sounds so nice...
 

Sorry if asking too many questions, but have run into problems while booking our trip, which is coming up here very shortly! Need advice, as it looks like we may need to drop one overnight stay, over what we'd orginally hoped, based on availability & minimum stay requirements, etc.

Here are our options:
Night 1: Ferndale (long 6-hr drive to there, won't see town this day - try to see Humboldt Redwoods/Ave of the Giants)
Night 2: Trinidad, CA (explore Ferndale & parks near Trinidad)
Night 3: Gold Beach, OR - (see Redwood Nat'l Park on the way & coastal parks near Brookings...evening arrival at TuTuTun)
Night 4: Gold Beach, OR - do river outing, or hike that day...not sure if want to do jet boats, yet
Night 5: Heceta Head Lighthouse B & B: north of Florence...see Bandon today, Florence dunes, town of Florence, arrive early enough to enjoy location
Night 6: Sandlake Country Inn, on the 3 Capes Loop - see Sea Lions near Lighthouse, parks north of Lighthouse, Yachats & Loop Road's parks
Night 7: Cannon Beach - see Tillamook, & spend most of day in Cannon Beach, so ready to head on to Wash next day early to stay in San Juans (4 days or so), before heading back down I-5 for long return home
Or >>>> Night 7: See Cannon Beach, half day...Ecola Park & Astoria...stay near Mt. St Helens or so, to get to San Juans by next evening

Most likely w/our current time limitations, we either have to drop the river boat thing, so as to only stay one night at the TuTuTun Ldoge...or, we need to drop either the 3 Capes stay or the Cannon Beach stay. Just trying to pace our days, between the driving involved, & sights to see along the way!

Never been to the Oregon Coast before, but my husband wants enough time in San Juans, to make the long drive up there worth it. So, to allow for that, we probably have to cut one night's stay out of this. Please help! :-) It *all* sounds so interesting!! And, if we drop the TuTuTun place one night.. whichever date we leave home, (out of our 2 options), would mean the Lighthouse *wouldn't* be available to stay in, that particular night.

So, it's looking like we'll have to drop either the Cannon Beach overnight or the 3 Capes one. Or, if you have a strong feeling about these, maybe we'll drop the lighthouse & one night at Gold Beach in favor of 3 Capes & Cannon Beach. Hard to know how CB is, from the books...quaint, or crowded & too 'unnatural' along the beach? I suppose if do we 'shortchange' Cannon Beach..it's easier to get back to someday, if flying into Seattle, as we usually do, to see islands in WA. What do *you* think?

If you took the time to read this...thanks so much!!! I understand if you don't have time to deal w/this level of detail. Perhaps we're taking WAY too much time, as it is, esp. since weather could be gray in May. Have so appreciated your help this week, everybody! :-) Thank you!

Sorry for the all those typos! :-) (Words out of place, etc.)

Appreciate your patience & all the advice you've lended thus far.

Hi R:

This sounds like a great trip. I'm not sure you need two nights in Northern California. You can do Avenue of the Giants on the way to Ferndale. Spend the night in Ferndale or Trinidad, then go to Gold Beach the next day. I did this in the reverse a couple of years ago. Had plenty of time to see Redwood National Park and Boardman State Park Beach (north of Brookings) on the way. The rest of the trip sounds good. You could even get rid of another night if you wanted even more time in the San Juans. Just to give you an idea, I stayed on the beach just tnorth of Gold Beach for 3 nights, 1 night in Bandon (beautiful) and 2 nights in yachats. That was it. It was an amazing trip. If we were going all the way to San juans from San Francisco (where I am) we might have tried to get all the way to Brookings the 1st night (not a big Eureka area person), Gold Beach for 1 or 2 nights, Yachats for 1 night and one other place north like Manzanita (friends say that's nice) or the 3 capes loop area. That's just me though. I know some people on this board do not like Yachats. I LOVED IT. Didn't like Florence. I just think you might get tired with all of the one nighters on your way to the San Juans. That's a lot of packing and unpacking. If you have seven days to get to San Juans then give yourself more time in a fewer places. Of course, if you are not big drivers, then I can see why you would want to make so many stops.

No matter what:

Have a great trip.

Hi again:

On reviewing my replay, I take back the part about trying to get to Brookings on the first day. Way too ambitious. Ferndale is much better.

I will admit to all relevant prejudices, but frankly I'd strongly recommend you consider cutting out two nights, one in the 3 Capes area, the other at Cannon Beach. These are pretty enough places, but given your itinerary and if you're following them up with the San Juans, I predict you'll have an acute artsy seaside town reaction at some point. How many shops selling driftwood seagulls or Myrtlewood doodahs can you take?

With one additional day, I'd recommend heading over toward Mt. St. Helens and taking enough time to see the sights there in a leisurely manner. With two days, I'd skip St. Helens and head up the Washington coast to the Hoh Valley in Olympic National Park, and walk on some amazing rain forest trails, then double back to Aberdeen and cut over to Olympia en route to the San Juans. Or, if it's going faster than you thought, go on up the west side of the Olympic Peninsula, stopping at La Push (Ruby or Rialto Beach) on the Olympic NP coastal strip for scenery that puts the northern Oregon coast to shame. Then continue over the top of the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend, ferry across to Whidbey Island, then drive over Deception Pass to Anacortes for the San Juan ferry. This alternate would take up all the time you'd saved in Oregon (and maybe a little more) but you'd see lots more, including some of the Northwest's unique sights.

Me again - we'll get this trip figured out yet! :-)

I did look up some float trips on the Gold Beach side and found one. I think it was 4 hours. You drive a long way up and then float down so it looks like there is at least one option for that so you don't have to do the jet boats. FYI - the wildlife does not seem upset by the jet boats, they build homes close and barely glance when we stop to look at them - that is not to say that the boats don't have an ecological impact, however!

I think if you can get to Mt. St. Helens it would be worth it.

If you do a short boat trip in GB then you could probably get to Bandon that night which gets you a little further north and takes out a night in GB. Gold Beach the town has very little to offer, it is mostly just a gateway to the Rogue, not even cute shops....

Or you could get further than Florence from Gold Beach too, if you don't do a long hike/boat trip. Even Newport is only an hour north with nice places to stay.

I don't think you are going to be able to do Cannon Beach and Astoria in the same day, too much to see and too far apart, let alone get to Mt. St. Helens on top of it!

Not sure this answered anything. I think I would spend more time on the mid-coast (Florence to Cannon Beach) than the southern. More to do and the beaches are great and great scenary - more dramatic than southern beaches (IMO).

I agree with franny, you probably don't need 2 nights in Northern CA. Also, as gardyloo said, the Olympics and nearby coastline are beautiful.

Not sure what the draw in Ferndale is. We stayed at the famed Gingerbread Mansion and were pretty nonplussed. Just my opinion, but I didn't think there was that much to explore in the town -- more time in the redwoods or in WA would be more important for me.
Every other place mentioned on your itinerary sounded great.

We are doing a similar trip in July, leaving from Marin. We'll probably hit Ashland the first night, then drive toward Portland and the coast for a few days. From there, we're headed to the Olympics for 3 days, and on to Victoria for 3 more. After that, Seattle.

Have fun!

Thanks to everyone for all of your efforts to ensure we have a great trip! :-) Truly appreciate it! Franny, it was great to hear how you paced a similar trip in the past, & how you would do it again, from the Bay area. Very helpful! Where did you stay in Yachats?

'Gardyloo'...you cracked me up! Loved the "acute artsy seaside town reaction" you referred to. ;-) Will definitely consider St. Helens, if we can squeeze it in & weather cooperates. Olympic, we won't attempt this time, as we were there once, & gave it a nice amount of time. And, it was SO beautiful, I can't envision doing it, any other way. Wouldn't want to rush it, or its beauty, one bit!

Sara, thank you so much for looking more into alternative trips on the Rogue! When I looked lightly the other day, I didn't find any float trips. Would love to hear more! :-) You, too, recommend St. Helens, so it seems if we can find an extra day or two, that should be a definite. (Have been to Ranier, but never St. Helens.) Also, thanks for pointing out our overly ambitious potential day...trying to do Cannon Beach & Astoria & ending up near St. Helens. Just not sure how much time to spend in Cannon Beach, yet! Some say it's worth dropping, at least as an overnight stay. But, then, others such as yourself, seem to most value the Coast near there. Guess tastes are so personal.

Lastly, "tpl"...we also stayed at the Gingerbread many, many years ago...when we were still in college. Agree w/you in that it was nice, but planned to try another place, this time. We weren't *that* knocked over by it, that we wouldn't try another spot. (Will do the Shaw House, if time for Ferndale & Trinidad both.) Had to rush through that area all those years ago, so just thought we'd allow for a bit more time in that region this trip, to better see the Redwoods, etc. And, have never seen Trinidad before.

Thanks to all of you again for your terrific help!!! - Rosemary

Hi Rosemary:

Great advice from everyone. I want to take your trip now!

We stayed at the Adobe Resort in Yachats. We were there with another couple. I remember our room was great, there's was fine. Spend the extra $ for a higher end room. It's an old place, but clean. We were on the second floor facing the ocean. We felt like we were direcly on the ocean. Great spot. In Bandon we stayed in some funky cabin on a cliff overlooking the beach. It had an amazing view. If you end up in Bandon, just make sure stay on the beach side of the highway. In Gold Beach, we stayed at an incredible beach house called "Beach House at Spirit Cove". The house was beautiful and immaculate and you feel like you have the beach to yourself. That was a splurge and worth every penny. I agree that the town of Gold beach isn't much. We did take a jet boat, which was a lot of fun. We had a very elegant dinner at TuTuTun Lodge. My only complaint with the dinner is that you have to sit with other couples. We sat at a table with 3 other couples. Not very romantic, but that's just me. I'm not much of B & B person. The Lodge is in a beautiful spot though. I disagree with one of the posts that said the southern Oregon coast isn't as spectacular as mid to north. I thought Boardman State Park north of Brookings was very beautiful. I thought Face Rock Beach in Bandon was amazing. The lighthouses are wonderful. Hacienta is beautiful. I could go on and on. :_) The best surprise is how different Yachats to Brookings is from the California Coast.

My first reaction is to drop the 3 Capes night (it is Kiwanda, Lookout, and Meares we're talking about, right?). But it really depends on what you're looking for.

Sandlake Country Inn will feel remote compared to Cannon Beach. But, as Gardyloo wrote, you might not want the more touristy feel of CB at this point in your trip (though IMO, it's a couple steps above the driftwood seagulls and myrtlewood salt and pepper shakers).

On the other hand, while scenery along 3 Capes loop is spectacular, so is Haystack Rock, Ecola and other CB views. And no Oregon beach will seem busy at this time of year.

If you're crunched for time, my advice would be to drive right through Tillamook and Astoria. There's little in either town to hold my interest.

Thank you *all* for the additional info & advice. Lovin' this! :-) Well, after pondering some more, & reading everybody's enthusiastic recommendations, we've decided to take the plunge, & be extravagant here & allow for *more* time on this trip. (planned on a week & a half...have decided to add 2 more days, so to heck w/work & jobs, huh?!) ;-)

Actually, though it might 'be the right time' for us to be this indulgent, as this *is* sort of a special anniversary, & I have a major health situation which will require some pretty scary surgery later this summer, too! (It's the reason we're driving, instead of flying...our usual way of getting to the San Juans.)

Some of you may have already seen this on some other thread (for Canada, which got dropped last Sept., due to my dog suddenly falling ill, right when we were supposed to fly to the Rockies there... & then, we had to let her go. :'-( Then, one week later, I was diagnosed w/an unruptured brain aneurysm, of all things. An 'accidental' finding.

This Dec., they found yet another. :-\ So, I'm afraid I have to 'face the music' & finally, try to treat these puppies this summer, I guess. Brain surgery tho'...the thought of it, is making me drag my heels just a wee bit. ;-) (at 35...I didn't quite prepare for this, just yet) They scare you about the possibility of aneurysms rupturing, so what can you do, but accept that eventually & try to prevent it?

Anyway, we *so* appreciate all your advice & patience w/this. This should be the perfect getaway, to help us regroup & face what's ahead. Thank you so much!! We still need to probably drop either one night in Cannon Beach or the 3 Capes, but may just squeak by, even with both, now that we said "to heck w/work," & are adding 2 more days. :-)
(But, 1 day will go the islands, & 1 to the St. Helens area, most likely.) Sorry for this novel...
Take care, everyone...you've been most kind! :-) Rosemary

Rosemary, I hope you and your husband have a wonderful trip. Happy 10th anniversary! Best wishes and please give us a report when you get back.