July West Coast Vacation
- Thread starter dmclone
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A few years ago I did a trip from Seattle, a couple days in Newport, a night in Brookings, and then inland to Crater Lake (with a quick jaunt down to Redwood Natl Park), a night there, and then upwards back to Seattle. Very scenic, and lots of unique little restaurants and shops in the towns. Went back and did similar again this summer after helping my sister move from TX to Oregon.
Oregon\WA has a lot to offer. I'm a big fan of the oregon coastline (particularly Newport, home of Rogue Brewing). Lots of scenic views, little small towns with shops and restaurants you can hit up. Inlands, you have lots of scenic forest, particularly the redwood highway (which is a very interesting experience with a 30' box truck...)
Also highly recommend a visit to crater lake. The lake is so blue, you'd swear someone photoshopped real life.
Biggest crapshoot in OR\CA lately is the fire situation. When that smoke gets bad, it can mess your lungs up for a while. My more recent trip the smoke was terrible, especially as i was rolling through CA and into southern OR. Ended up feeling like **** for a few days thanks to that.
Oregon\WA has a lot to offer. I'm a big fan of the oregon coastline (particularly Newport, home of Rogue Brewing). Lots of scenic views, little small towns with shops and restaurants you can hit up. Inlands, you have lots of scenic forest, particularly the redwood highway (which is a very interesting experience with a 30' box truck...)
Also highly recommend a visit to crater lake. The lake is so blue, you'd swear someone photoshopped real life.
Biggest crapshoot in OR\CA lately is the fire situation. When that smoke gets bad, it can mess your lungs up for a while. My more recent trip the smoke was terrible, especially as i was rolling through CA and into southern OR. Ended up feeling like **** for a few days thanks to that.
The northwest is amazing. Columbia River Gorge. Tide pools, scenery and seafood along the Oregon Coast. Seaside. Newport. Crater Lake. Mount Saint Helens. Bend bike paths. You could spend a month just in Oregon. But if you have extra time, venture into northern California and check out the redwoods.
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A few years ago I did a trip from Seattle, a couple days in Newport, a night in Brookings, and then inland to Crater Lake (with a quick jaunt down to Redwood Natl Park), a night there, and then upwards back to Seattle. Very scenic, and lots of unique little restaurants and shops in the towns. Went back and did similar again this summer after helping my sister move from TX to Oregon.
Oregon\WA has a lot to offer. I'm a big fan of the oregon coastline (particularly Newport, home of Rogue Brewing). Lots of scenic views, little small towns with shops and restaurants you can hit up. Inlands, you have lots of scenic forest, particularly the redwood highway (which is a very interesting experience with a 30' box truck...)
Also highly recommend a visit to crater lake. The lake is so blue, you'd swear someone photoshopped real life.
Biggest crapshoot in OR\CA lately is the fire situation. When that smoke gets bad, it can mess your lungs up for a while. My more recent trip the smoke was terrible, especially as i was rolling through CA and into southern OR. Ended up feeling like **** for a few days thanks to that.
Sister-in-law lives south of Portland. Been there numerous times. Agree with these suggestions. Gotta check out the marine life in the tidal pools on the beaches. Be warned that plane fares and car rentals are expensive. And, traffic in Portland and Seattle can be horrendous.
Vancouver island is amazing. I’ve driven more than 800 miles all over it. If you go and are into landscaping and or gardens, go to Buchardt Gardens. Victoria is fun...very English. The car ferries are a fun way to sightsee and get to the island.
Two years ago we took a 25 plus day road trip up the west coast before taking in some of the national parks as we worked our way back to the Midwest. We started in the Bay area and followed the coast up to Astoria on the Columbia River. A fantastic trip that I would do again, but there is so much to see and do that I would either allow even more time or narrow down the trip.
Some of the highlights in California were checking out some of the off the radar wineries and a couple nights in Mendocino. We went up the Oregon coast in 3 days and 2 nights, but we should have spent at least a week. The section of the coast with the massive sand dunes is amazing - nothing else like them in the country. Next time I would spend 2 nights in the area with a full day to rent an OHV to better explore the dunes. Two nights at the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria was our favorite stay of the trip. The entire hotel is built over the Columbia River on piers that were originally built to support a fish cannery. There are numerous historical buildings and sites in the area including Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark established as their winter camp.
The travel east on the Columbia River Highway with stops at some of the many waterfalls should be on everyone's bucket list. Even if you plan on mainly a west coast vacation, you need to plan a day traveling inland to see these sights. We were fortunate to be able to avoid a few nights in motels with stops along the way with relatives in Spokane, WA ,Kalispell, MT, and Helena, MT. We enjoyed experiencing all of these cities as well as having a base to take in Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons national parks. A common theme again - we allowed 2 days in each area, but 3 or 4 days at each stop would have been better. One other point if you follow a route similar to ours - be prepared to go several hours each day without cell phone reception. A small price to pay for being able to experience so many one-of-a-kind views and sites.
Some of the highlights in California were checking out some of the off the radar wineries and a couple nights in Mendocino. We went up the Oregon coast in 3 days and 2 nights, but we should have spent at least a week. The section of the coast with the massive sand dunes is amazing - nothing else like them in the country. Next time I would spend 2 nights in the area with a full day to rent an OHV to better explore the dunes. Two nights at the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria was our favorite stay of the trip. The entire hotel is built over the Columbia River on piers that were originally built to support a fish cannery. There are numerous historical buildings and sites in the area including Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark established as their winter camp.
The travel east on the Columbia River Highway with stops at some of the many waterfalls should be on everyone's bucket list. Even if you plan on mainly a west coast vacation, you need to plan a day traveling inland to see these sights. We were fortunate to be able to avoid a few nights in motels with stops along the way with relatives in Spokane, WA ,Kalispell, MT, and Helena, MT. We enjoyed experiencing all of these cities as well as having a base to take in Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons national parks. A common theme again - we allowed 2 days in each area, but 3 or 4 days at each stop would have been better. One other point if you follow a route similar to ours - be prepared to go several hours each day without cell phone reception. A small price to pay for being able to experience so many one-of-a-kind views and sites.
Spent several years traveling to Oregon to visit our son and family while he was in residency (Two trips a year for 4 years). You will not run out of things to do. Absolutely beautiful state with lots and lots of wildly different scenery. Coastal, mountains, badlands, high plataeus and on and on. If you like the outdoors, you will love the state.
Be advised, Porland is ultra left to the extreme...makes Iowa City seem like an Amish Community. Some people love it, others hate it. My son and daughter-in-law decided it was not the place they wanted to raise their family. They still back go to Oregon to enjoy the beauty.
Be advised, Porland is ultra left to the extreme...makes Iowa City seem like an Amish Community. Some people love it, others hate it. My son and daughter-in-law decided it was not the place they wanted to raise their family. They still back go to Oregon to enjoy the beauty.
I have, so I'm going to guess it'll be an homage? I'm also going to guess that it will not have a lot of Salma Hayek talent.
The Oregon Coast is sensational. I've been to Astoria and Cannon Beach a couple times. It's amazed me so much, I'd like to have a vacation home in Cannon Beach some day.
This is a commerical Humboldt County (California) made a few years ago to promote tourism to their part of the state. They ran it a lot during Giants games. It's a riff on Alice In Wonderland. But it shows just how spectacular that part of the country is.
And, of course, one of my favorite (drone) videos of The Sea Ranch in Sonoma County.
And, of course, one of my favorite (drone) videos of The Sea Ranch in Sonoma County.
We did Portland for a long weekend last summer, spent some time in the Columbia River Gorge but then went south to Crater Lake National Park. Had the best hike of my life there up Mt. Scott. The lake is stunningly beautiful (deepest lake in USA).
Can't go wrong anywhere in OR, WA or NorCal.
Edit: sorry - I hadn't read through all the responses. I see that there was another mention and photo of Crater Lake. Anyway, another endorsement of that part of the state but I LOVE the entire Western 2/3 of Oregon (the Eastern 1/3 is "high desert").
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Never been to Crater lake. Heard good things.
Spent most of the time on trails or with the fly rod around the coastal streams and spent a couple of days out on the Deschutes River east of Mt. Hood. Nobody really mentions that high desert land but it's really cool out there.
I've only ever been to Portland for business and haven't ventured out beyond the downtown area, so my viewpoint is certainly skewed and of limited value here, but I tend to agree. The thing that stuck with me about Portland was what seemed like an enormous homeless population. I remember walking downtown one evening and seeing almost an entire city block down by the river front that was lined with homeless people settling in for the night. It was eye-opening and very sad.
Downtown Portland, like San Fran, has been destroyed by the homeless population. If you go to Oregon, don’t waste your time there, because there are so many other things to see.
