Trip Advice: Pacific Northwest

[DoogMinAmo]

Hi all,

Others have gotten non-baseball advice in the past, and now I hope to tap the ever-flowing resource that is the Redszone commmunity.

I am leaving Cleveland to return to Cincinnati, and am marking the big move with a trip. My girlfriend, myself, and a couple friends are planning a trip out on the West Coast in early June. The first few days will be spent in San Francisco, seeing old friends and taking in the city. I have a pretty good idea of what we will do here.

However, we are leaving an early Tuesday morning, and driving a rental car up highway 1 to Eugene, Orgeon to meet a friend there. We are alotting approximately 2.5 days for seeing the sites, including the Redwoods, Paul Bunyan, some beaches, small towns, etc.

Then after a couple days in Eugene, we head to Portland for a couple days, off to see Mount Saint Helens for a day, then Tacoma, Wash. for a half day, then Seattle for 2 more days, before flying home.

Does anyone have some great tips, or some must see sites for the post-San Francisco portion of the trip?

[westofyou]

IN NoCal make sure you catch Jedidiah State Park for the big Redwoods, the drive up 1 is much longer on the North of the state then the south, more remote, slower and more rugged. FYI Don't expect "cutsey" tourist towns north of Mendocino, most coastal cites from there up tend to be working cities, all rich with something, and often somewhat grimy in areas. bring warm clothes, the fog is crazy and often it won't warm up until noon on the coast, sometimes not at all. When cutting into Eugene I'd suggest getting up to Florence to go east, everything else below that is remote and mountainous.

Eugene is ok, lots of nature surrounds the area, rivers and such. June is still rainy season in Oregon, so don't be surprised if you get a couple grim days, Eugene especially.

Mt St Helens? Ape trail is the one everyone tries to take.

[pedro]

If you're going hiking up at Mt. St Helens I would highly recommend Lava Canyon

http://www.pbase.com/warthog2100/lavacanyon

[westofyou]

Point Reyes is in the first part of the journey, but if you have the time it's a good morning spent.

[Super_Barry11]

Would you have time to swing by Mount Rainier? It's amazingly beautiful!

What's on the agenda for San Francisco?

[rdiersin]

When going to Seattle, do you plan to spend the two days in the city? If it is more flexible, I would recommend going to the Olympic Pennisula for a day. You can take a ferry from Seattle to there and back. My wife and I went to the Olympic Pennisula and Seattle for our honeymoon last year. I am still pining to go back. The national park is great, in particular Hurricane Ridge is nice.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/olym/cams...neridgecam.htm




We didn't go to Mt Rainier, so that might be a better option. The Orca Islands are supposed to be nice too. Lots of things in Seattle to do and places to eat. I enjoyed Pike's Place Market. Also, we took a walk (a little bit more than we thought, or should I say more uphill) to the North of the city and got a wonderful view of the space needle and city. I can't remember the name of the park, but I believe it was in the Queen Ann part of the city, but I could be wrong there.

[westofyou]

Queen Anne it is, The Olympic Peninsula is a nice one too, if you do St Helens you could "skip" Rainier and hit the Peninsula, that place is a true rain forest though.

[Red Leader]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Queen Anne it is, The Olympic Peninsula is a nice one too, if you do St Helens you could "skip" Rainier and hit the Peninsula, that place is a true rain forest though.

Do they have sloths? I've always wanted to see a sloth, but not really interested in traveling to certain parts of South America to see them.

[rdiersin]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Queen Anne it is, The Olympic Peninsula is a nice one too, if you do St Helens you could "skip" Rainier and hit the Peninsula, that place is a true rain forest though.

Thanks WOY, I knew you would know . You're right about the Peninsula being a true rain forest. It really makes for some good trips. Hurricane Ridge was great, but there are a bunch of nice trails through rain forests. I really liked it down by the Sol Duc.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Red Leader

Do they have sloths? I've always wanted to see a sloth, but not really interested in traveling to certain parts of South America to see them.

No, IRRC it's a conifer forest, no sloths or warm weather jungle beasts

[vaticanplum]

Who was it that asked for similar advice for a trip last year, was it registerthis? (I think it might have been him because I seem to remember it being a honeymoon trip.) If I recall, that was a pretty extensive thread. Might be worth a search...anybody remember what it was called?

[Raisor]

Dear lord, bypass Tacoma, unless you're going to a Raniers game.

If you MUST go to Tacoma (blah), at least stop in Puyallup for an Earthquake burger.

[DoogMinAmo]

Originally Posted by Raisor

Dear lord, bypass Tacoma, unless you're going to a Raniers game.

If you MUST go to Tacoma (blah), at least stop in Puyallup for an Earthquake burger.

Going there for the glass museum and to see some Chihuly stuff. Otherwise, we will not be ther long.

San Francisco will be pretty much open, we will see Golden Gate Park, see the Pacific Ocean, walk around Russian Hill and maybe see some other sites. I just want to pretend I live there again fro a couple days more than anything.

A buddy of mine who lives in Seattle came up with a long list of things to see and do, so I am not really to worried abour there.

I guess my biggest concern/ question mark is the north coast of California and the south coast of Oregon. What cities are a waste of time, what are worth seeing?

Some things we have marked just by looking at websites:

California

Point Reyes Lighthouse
Sonoma Coast State Beach/ Bodega Head Promontory
Russian River-Jenner Beach at Goat Rock
Fort Ross
Salt Point State Park
Point Arena
Gualala
Elk
Van Damme Park
Mendocino
Fort Bragg
Rockport/ Westport
Leggett
Garberville
Avenue of the Giants
Scotia
Samoa
Eureka?
Arcata
Patrick's Point state Park
Prairie Creek Redwood State Park
Klamath/ Trees of Mystery
Crescent City

Oregon

Samuel Boardman State Park
Prehistoric Gardens
Port Orford
Bandon
Shore Acres State Park
Coos Bay
Dunes
Florence

It seems a bit much for 2+ days. Any suggestions on cutting it down?

[NoCalRed]

Originally Posted by DoogMinAmo

Going there for the glass museum and to see some Chihuly stuff. Otherwise, we will not be ther long.

San Francisco will be pretty much open, we will see Golden Gate Park, see the Pacific Ocean, walk around Russian Hill and maybe see some other sites. I just want to pretend I live there again fro a couple days more than anything.

A buddy of mine who lives in Seattle came up with a long list of things to see and do, so I am not really to worried abour there.

I guess my biggest concern/ question mark is the north coast of California and the south coast of Oregon. What cities are a waste of time, what are worth seeing?

Some things we have marked just by looking at websites:

California

Point Reyes Lighthouse
Sonoma Coast State Beach/ Bodega Head Promontory
Russian River-Jenner Beach at Goat Rock
Fort Ross
Salt Point State Park
Point Arena
Gualala
Elk
Van Damme Park
Mendocino
Fort Bragg
Rockport/ Westport
Leggett
Garberville
Avenue of the Giants
Scotia
Samoa
Eureka?
Arcata
Patrick's Point state Park
Prairie Creek Redwood State Park
Klamath/ Trees of Mystery
Crescent City

Oregon

Samuel Boardman State Park
Prehistoric Gardens
Port Orford
Bandon
Shore Acres State Park
Coos Bay
Dunes
Florence

It seems a bit much for 2+ days. Any suggestions on cutting it down?

If your set on staying on the coast then I think everything has been mentioned as far state parks on the coast. I really enjoy Point Reyes, going out to the light house during the whale migration is something to see. Speaking of that it seems I heard somewhere that migration is a little behind this year meaning that the whales are still in the Monterey area headed north. It is possible that they may be passing by Point Reyes in the next couple of weeks, not sure on that though.

Driving the great highway is an exprience in its self something I was set on doing when I first moved here. I've done it from where I live (wine country) to Oregon and from here to Los Angeles. If you have to be somewhere in a hurry 1 is not the way to go lots of winding and twisting, but great views at times.

Ideas on cutting some time down might be to think about which ones of those spots are pretty much the same up and down the north coast. For example the Bodega head beaches I see you list a couple and they are all similar all nice, but all similar. Although I am quite found of Goat Rock for a day on the beach with the family.

If you decide to go inland a bit there are lots to see in my neck of the woods. Wineries of course not just for tasting, but for the views as well, I've had many a nice sunday drives in the valley of the moon. Also there is a safari west http://www.safariwest.com/. The petrified redwood forest, Armstrong woods (although avenue of the giants is better), or even old faithful geyeser out is calistoga.

Anyhoo I've babbled on enough now. Have a nice trip sounds like you have lots to do.