Catman
Coasting On Lifes Highway
Premium
join:2003-03-13
Pineville, WV
| [ALL] Vacation tips?
I'm planning a North West trip for my summer vacation. Ive pretty much got the route set for the trip already. My uncle lives in Cody, WY, and I've been there before. After departing from his place, I plan on going north to Glacier and crossing it from east to west. Then our course heads west through northwest MT, northern ID and Northern WA. My idea is to make it to Cascade National Park that way. Then we will head south into Seattle, and the Olympic Peninsula. I really don't have an interest in St Helens or Rainer particularly, so I may just stick to the coast until the Columbia River. I plan on heading east and coming back down river on the Oregon side, all the way to Astoria. I want to drive coastal Oregon as far as I can until I have to cut across to Crater Lake. From there I will head back to the coast and follow the 101 all the way to San Francisco and probably beyond to Big Sur, before heading back east to Kings/Sequoia and Yosemite. Tentatively, Ill see those parks from south to north so I can cross the Sierras through Yosemite to make it into Nevada.
I want to hit as many national parks as I can along the way, to see the splendor. I also want to take in the attractions of the the larger cities along this route. Ive been doing some research and planning out places to go and things to see. The reason for this post, I wanted to ask the locals where they would suggest that is worth seeing/doing that isn't well known or well publicized.
I did this same thing when I vacationed New England two years ago in the NE forum. And the suggestions were awesome and very useful and appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time for your time reading this and your replies. Ill be checking back to see what you have to say. |
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drew
Reformation
Premium
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA
clubs:
 ·wavebroadband
| Must see: »www.portangeles.org/HurricaneRidge.html
If you're a camper, I love Staircase: »www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/c···unds.htm
The Space Needle is VASTLY overrated. Experience Music Project (EMP) is pretty cool if you're a music fan or a "modern museum" fan. The Pacific Science Center near both the Space Needle and EMP has some cool exhibits, but they're mostly for kids unless they have one of the seasonal exhibits going on. |
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sashwa
Pixie Cat Crunchin' n Foldin'
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-29
Alcatraz
clubs:  | reply to Catman
I know you really want personal recommendations but you might find some ideas in our FAQ:
»Extended Pacific Northwest Forum FAQ |
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tshirt
Premium,MVM
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
·Comcast
| reply to Catman
Your basic route sounds great.
in eastern washington Grand coolee dam (for the man-made stuff), dry falls, and the ginko petrified forest are good stops It sound like you enjoy the outdoors so after you reach the west end of the north cascades highway head south towards seattle, depending on your budget a hotel/motel north of lynnwood or everett would save quite a bit over anywhere but a flea bag in seattle.
in seattle it self, many mueseums, the REI flagship store (100k sq ft of everything outdoors and a cool building) is just off the freeway. I'd go to the pike place market/waterfront(see the original starbuck's tea and spice (before they sold much coffee)), instead of the space needle/seattle center, lot's of good resurants.
either a ferry ride from downtown or drive south to Tacoma across the tacoma narrows bridge (free west bound) wiil get you towards the olympic peninsula (make to loop up the east side and down the pacific) Hoh rain forest is great (and sometimes very wet even in summer) Long beach, astoria, tillamook (good cheese, great ice cream) the three capes (north oregon coast) down to florance,OR ( cool cobra lily bog, and the Oregon dunes), then east(small highway, but a nice drive to eugene ( hippy-dom/anarchy meets college town, and co-exists sortof  ) then on to crater lake and bend (if you want to see high desert/volcano world/lava tubes/etc)
when you get to Grant's pass take hwy 199 to California 101 (slower than I-5 but alot nicer), and see the redwoods on to the golden gate, I didn't find monterey itself all that interesting (nice aquirum) but castroville to gilroy (giant artichokes and garlic ice cream, yummy!) then on to Yosemite. |
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Owlbet
Ignite the Ice
Premium,MVM
join:2002-09-24
Palmer, AK | reply to Catman
Seeing how I'm fascinated with volcanoes, why not check out Crater of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho.
»www.nps.gov/crmo/ |
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drew
Reformation
Premium
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA
clubs: | That's a pretty cool place. It's been a number of years since I've been there but it was worth checking out. |
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Catman
Coasting On Lifes Highway
Premium
join:2003-03-13
Pineville, WV
| reply to Catman
Thanks for the replies. I didn't know Hurricane Ridge was open. I thought the blow down timber still had the road closed. Ill have to drive up there for sure. Pike Place looks interesting, compared to the Space Needle. We are going to goto the zoo in Seattle on our way in from the north, so staying somewhere north of there will probably be the plan to get up early for the zoo. Gotta balance the kid activities with the adult activities, luckily my daughter loves the outdoors as well. We loved the ferry across Lake Champlain so a Pugent sound ferry is a must. Hoh Rain forest looks awesome!! Thanks for the tips on coastal Oregon towns.
Crater of the Moon is a bit to far south for the loop up to Glacier to still pull that off and keep the back tracking down. Ill be back to Cody sometime in the future, a trip from there through Yellowstone to Southern Idaho will be on that vacation itenerary. |
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drew
Reformation
Premium
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA
clubs: | Did you say when you're making the trip?
There's been an unusual amount of snow and I was planning on going up there this weekend to take photos but there's like 90" of snow still. |
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Catman
Coasting On Lifes Highway
Premium
join:2003-03-13
Pineville, WV
| reply to Catman
Ah, I didnt say when I was going. Not to fear, I wont be going until the end of July and the beginning of August. I want to make sure the road through Cascade is open. Thanks for asking. 90" of snow in that kind of terrain would be a sight for my eyes to behold, however. The most we have gotten here at one time is 39" |
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drew
Reformation
Premium
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA
clubs: | Ah, you'll be fine then. I would anticipate the number of clouds in the sky then up there to be in the 0-5 range. It should be absolutely gorgeous.
Probably my all-time favorite sight. |
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theboz1419
join:2003-02-12
Elgin, IL
| reply to Catman
I have been on a similar route you have are going, As I live in Chicago area now, but I go home to family in Olympia, Washington.
Must see places for me when I'm home
Mount Rainer- I know you said it really did not interest you but, its one of the most beautiful parks in the Northwest, Its a must see to anybody going to the Northwest. The Drive to it is just a nice.
Westport- On the coast and Grays harbor- very nice fishing town, although not as busy as it used to be, its still a popular place to visit. I grew up going there every summer for Salmon fishing.
Olympic Mountains- There is no other rain forest in the 48 states like the Western slopes of the Olympics, and spectacular views.
Point Defiance park Tacoma, WA -one of the largest urban parks in the US, numerous trails, very good Zoo, Views of the puget sound, beaches, ect... |
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vaxvms
ferroequine fan
Premium
join:2005-03-01
Worcester, MA | reply to Catman
»[ID] Boise....what to do?
I'd be thrilled to see any train photos you might take. |
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