Planning a summer vacation flying into Seattle. Never have been in this part of the country. I don%26#39;t know if this is too broad of a question to ask, but in reviewing the various websites, there simply is too much to do and so can anyone help recommend what would be highlights to try to see. We will have a car and is a family of 4 with older teenagers. Want to see the Mountains, and the Coast, I think. It is extremely unlikely we will ever visit this area again since we live in Florida. Thoughts? What are the ';don%26#39;t miss?';
2 weeks in Oregon and Washington for the summer?
Hmmm...how much driving do you want to do? Are you all the type to stay one night and drive the next day or do you want to hunker down in one place. All answers depend on your style of traveling...
However, off the top of my head I would say that Mt. Ranier, Orcas Island, Mt. St. Helens and Multnomah Falls are all great places to visit (again, depending on how much you want to drive). Those locations don%26#39;t even get you out to Eastern WA or OR which is a whole different world full of their own wonderful places to see.
2 weeks in Oregon and Washington for the summer?
I can%26#39;t seem to reply directly to the post below. However, regarding driving/travel....... We are open to either staying in one place and making day trips, or staying in several places. Since it is unlikely we will ever return to the area ideally it would be nice to see the varying highlights even if it does mean driving. Again, on a map nothing seems more than a couple hours, but maps are deceiving. So, if you can share the must see places we can then figure how to see them. Thanks.
I live in Oregon, so I%26#39;m obviously biased, but my list of ';must sees'; would include (no particular order):
1. Olympic National Park;
2. Mt. St. Helens;
3. Columbia River Gorge;
4. As much of the Oregon coast as you can fit in;
5. Giant redwoods in northern California;
6. Crater Lake.
Those would be plenty to cover in two weeks, but if after penciling out an itinerary you find you%26#39;ve time to spare, there are any number of ';should sees'; as well. Then there%26#39;s a long list of ';you%26#39;d also like';.
With that amount of time, you might be able to fit in some rafting with down the Deschutes or the Rogue river. Try to find an outfitter that will provide lunch. I wouldn%26#39;t do either river on my own. Maybe do the Deschutes after a day exploring the Columbia River Gorge. The town of Maupin is where most if the outfitters start out. There are almost no accommodations in Maupin but the Dalles is a good place to sleep. If you do try rafting in Maupin, you can head down to Bend and check out the High Desert Museum and the lava flows. Very different landscape from the wetter Willamette Valley and the coast and mountains.
I agree with julaf and mistletoe...those are some great places!
The company we always use to raft the Deschutes is www.suncountrytours.com. They have a variety of trips from a few hours to several days.
In WA, Mt. Rainier is nice, but right now all the roads are closed to there. This fall there was a lot of flood damage, and they are scrambling to get the roads repaired and open, so if you go be sure to check first.
Hi there! You won%26#39;t want to miss the Columbia River Gorge, also Cannon Beach with Ecola State Park, Oswald West State Park (take the walk back to Short Sands Beach.) You may also want to check out Seaside and Astoria. Have fun! :)
I agree with all of the above!
Seems like you could drive down the coast and then cut over to see Crater Lake and then go up to Bend(the %26#39;high desert%26#39;). I would recomend going over mountains at %26#39;McKenzie Pass%26#39;(Hwy 242) outside of Bend if you are at all interested in lava fields and a nice drive. It is a historic highway so it takes some time to drive. Seems like an area older teenagers that are into outdoors would enjoy-since it is unusual area.
Ah, I think I know how you feel! We went for the first time to Orlando/ Cocoa Beach last year. There was an overwhelming amount of places to see/things not to miss, and we knew we weren%26#39;t likely to go there again anytime soon-but we finally narrowed it down.
I think it would be easier to stay in a few different places during your trip, as much of what has been suggested (a lot of great suggestions) are quite a ways from one another. I especially liked Mistletoe%26#39;s list. And rafting would be fun. I think you should be able to fit a lot of these in with some careful planning. If you want to see the redwoods, there are many located around the Crescent City area of very northern California-about 1 1/2 hours or so from Grants Pass in Oregon. Grants Pass is a couple hours from Crater Lake.
The Oregon coast is beautiful-definitely do try to drive along at least part of it-maybe stop at (or stay at) one or more of the state parks on the coast-or see a lighthouse. The Oregon coast water is cold, though and the shoreline slopes a lot and drops off fast-so you won%26#39;t be swimming in the water-more likely wading.
The Columbia Gorge is well worth visiting-many beautiful waterfalls and scenic views.
Sorry to hijack, but diekmanj, when were you in Orlando/Cocoa? We were there in December. Lived in Orlando years ago, but it was fun to go back.
Mtngrl, Hi! We went to Orlando/Cocoa Beach/Nassau (Bahamas) last May (Mid-May) for our anniversary/ early summer vacation. We went for two weeks and loved it. It was the first time we%26#39;d been to any of the places, except that I%26#39;d been to Disney World and Cocoa in 1997 on a high school national competition trip, but I didn%26#39;t plan any of that one and we spent a lot of that trip at the competition. This one was all for fun! Totally different when your the one planning it than when your a kid along on the trip!
Of course, we did Disney World, Universal, a dinner show, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island Wildlife refuge, the beach, and a couple days in Nassau. My husband loves space and Star Wars, so he loved Kennedy SC (got to see the shutle Discovery out on the launch pad) and Star Wars Weekend. All in all, we loved it, but it was nice to come home to cooler, not nearly so humid Oregon. We would love to go again sometime if we ever get the chance and see more of Florida. But I wouldn%26#39;t want to live there-I love Oregon too much! I have a friend from Oregon who lives in Key West, though, who loves it. Did you enjoy living in Florida? Sounds like you enjoyed getting to go back to visit.
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