Pacific NW

[shnsajax 3591]

Wife and I are headed up this way in August for a Thursday to Sunday long weekend trip. Flying into Portland and staying there Thursday night. Will stay Friday and Saturday night in Cannon Beach. I love seeing the coast wherever I view and especially scenic locations.

For Saturday I was thinking we’d get up that morning and drive down south though Mazanita, Rockaway Beach down to Cape Meares State and Cape Lookout and over to Tillamook. Then maybe drive back up the coast to Astoria.

Thoughts? Anything I’m missing? Is going up north to Astoria a better move than perhaps heading further south?

TIA

I would go south unless a visit to Ft George is a priority.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

Grouse on Mt Storm King in Olympic 2 weeks back. It was a high of 70 that day 

[RPM 26318]

On 7/19/2022 at 4:12 PM, cam4mav said:

It's just awful here

Golden Gardens Park last night around 9:15pm, cool 65 degrees with a nice ocean breeze


 

Was stationed in Seattle when I was in the Coast Guard. Golden Gardens was party hotspot back in the day.

[CleverNickname 1308]

Post vacation breakdown:

• Flew into Seattle. Plane drama the day before - flight was cancelled after being delayed. Return home from airport. Messed with my car rental plans and first night hotel reservation. Alaska Air rebooked on a flight that wouldn't get us into Seattle until midnight (2am CST), and that after a 45 window to change planes in SFO. Refunded and booked on American for a hefty fee. FML. Meanwhile missing flight meant my non-prepaid car rental was borked, so I had to pay some extra juice on that, too. Not a great start. I guess the lesson is go ahead and prepay (not just reservations) if you lock down a good price on a car rental. Woke up at 5am for early flight. Kids grumpy all day. Son gets motion sick and pukes on shuttle to car rental place. At least I score a 4Runner, which was nice. 
• day 2 (out of Bellingham). Did a whale watching cruise out of Anacortes. Saw seals, sea lions, sea otter, and orcas. Various birds. We had done whale watching out of Boston, so nice bookeends. Key last minute add - we picked up some $30 binoculars from Fred Meyers (along with a $4 sytrofoam cooler that allows picnic lunches most days). That afternoon drove up to Mt Baker (up to Artist Point). Nice views, lots of snow, enjoyed the mountain town vibe up 9/542 to Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. 
• day 3: North Cascades NP. Got some decent hikes (kids protest on more than 5 miles, but sometimes we can trick em). Pretty drive. Did River Loop hike near the visitor center, and Rainy Loop just outside the NP.
• day 4: drive to Olympic NP. Do Hurricane Ridge, Marmere Falls hike. Stay in Forks. Twilight - who knew? Small town with surprisingly good grocery store. 
• day 5: Olympic. Rialto Beach. Tide pools at low tide. Sea stacks. Epic. Relatively short day. Laundry and sort of lounge. Motel had nice outdoor heated pool. 
• day 6: Olympic. Sol Duc Falls, Cape Flattery. Beach. Amazing and fish & chips and milk shakes from a food truck on the res. 
• day 7: drive to Mt Rainier. Stay in Packwood. Sunrise Point. (fwiw: Packwood is a pretty blah town. Not sure I'd stay there again, but not sure where else would be good). I've been to a lot of mountains, but these Cascade peaks are live f'n volcanoes, and look mean as sin. 
• day 8: Mt Rainier day 2. Silver Falls hike. Gondola at Crystal Mountain.
• day 9: Mt St Helens. Hummocks hike. A fucking volcano, yall! One of those places that are rad, but pretty accessible for the olds. Go there, but you can save it until you can't pee at will anymore. 
• day 10:  drive through Columbia Gorge. Get passes for the scenic drive and Multnomah. Surprisingly fun - I thought this would mostly be a travel day. Various waterfall hikes. Night in achingly hip Hood River. Dinner from foodie food trucks on waterfront. 
• day 11: drive past Mt Hood (another volcano!). Hike at Newberry Volcano Park for the Lava Tube Cave. Do the Obsidian hike. I almost bought this dope smokey the bear hat, but passed. Huge regrets. I could buy one online, but its not the same thing, is it? 
• day 12: Crater Lake. As amazingly beautiful as this is, Crater Lake to me has a very Grand Canyon vibe. You look, you awe. But its basically a national park to do when you are 75 and can't hike miles any longer. Regret staying (nice res casino hotel - just nothing there) in Chiloquin. Should have stayed in Klamath Falls. Had to go there anyway to get groceries and whatnot. 
• day 13: Chiloquin to Redwoods NP. Saw actual cowboys on horses rounding up cattle just south of CL. I don't know if I've seen that in 40+ years of living in Texas! Eastern Oregon might as well be Texas. Highs near 100. Dry. Medford might as well be San Angelo. At this point I was like "maybe I shouldn't have planned to do Redwoods. We got lots of hikes in the forest already." But Redwoods is awesome. Do a little 3.5 mile loop and see some big ass trees. So nice to walk in the shade, high maaaybe 80. Fewer mozzies than I expected. Just sublime. Nice beach near Klamath at sunset. Also full service gas in Oregon is a mind fuck. 
• day 14: drive up coast, Klamath to Florence. At one point we realized we had driven 20 miles in like 4 hours. Every overlook is rad! Every beach is so pretty! My kids will play in any beach, no matter how cold. 
• day 15: drive up coast, Florence to Seaside. Sea Lion cave was dope. Pretty beaches. "This is our time!" Seaside beach is foggy and cold as shit, and kids still want to play. Dare kid to poke weird rock, in shallow surf and massive dungeness crab skitters away. I now have a new reason to fear the sea. 
• day 16: drive up coast from Seaside. Meet friends in Seattle. Do city stuff. NIght in Seatac hotel.
• day 17: fly home.

Final thoughts: Although I'm glad we hit 4 national parks (Mt Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, Crater Lake), you could just do Olympic and probably get 80% of the experience. Olympic is maybe top 3 national parks for me. I've done a lot of em, I like to think. #1 is Yellowstone, #2 is Big Bend (for sentimental reasons), but #3 is now Olympic (ahead of Tetons, Glacier, & Utah 5, Acadia). Tentatively was planning on bagging 3-4 central CA parks next summer, but not sure anymore. Because we loved the Oregon coast that much. Originally we were going to do 2 nights at Redwoods, but decided to call and audible and spread out the drive a little more. I wish I had have 3-4 days for it. Now we may go back for an entire 9 day swing. Thinking of renting a cabin or house or whatever and really unplugging. Hell, already thinking of how to retire out there. The bustle of Seattle wasn't for me (and hell, we stayed in Bellingham mostly), plus the price of real estate... but if we could figure out what people do for doctors, my wife and I could totally see buying a small place. I'm used to many places in Texas being a long ways from anything, but Oregon coast is pretty damn similar. It aint easy to get there, or at least to places south of Seaside. Crescent Bay is practically Ft Stockton with how remote it is. 

Seaside is obviously close to Seattle, but the beaches and overlooks on the Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor are just so fucking amazing, it might be worth the extra 3-4 hour drive to be near Gold Beach or Brookings. 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by CleverNickname

[FartingDreamer 138]

On 7/27/2022 at 8:40 PM, mdleast said:

Actually thinking about driving as far south as Pacific City and Cape Kiwanda.

I've driven the Oregon coast in one day.  My advice, take your time and break the drive up into 3 days so you can stop and see all the coves and inlets and towns along the way, the scenery is unparalleled.   Lincoln City is a nice place to stay for the night and there is even a really good fish and chip shop not far from the beach.  

[gmr548 16576]

23 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

Post vacation breakdown:

• Flew into Seattle. Plane drama the day before - flight was cancelled after being delayed. Return home from airport. Messed with my car rental plans and first night hotel reservation. Alaska Air rebooked on a flight that wouldn't get us into Seattle until midnight (2am CST), and that after a 45 window to change planes in SFO. Refunded and booked on American for a hefty fee. FML. Meanwhile missing flight meant my non-prepaid car rental was borked, so I had to pay some extra juice on that, too. Not a great start. I guess the lesson is go ahead and prepay (not just reservations) if you lock down a good price on a car rental. Woke up at 5am for early flight. Kids grumpy all day. Son gets motion sick and pukes on shuttle to car rental place. At least I score a 4Runner, which was nice. 
• day 2 (out of Bellingham). Did a whale watching cruise out of Anacortes. Saw seals, sea lions, sea otter, and orcas. Various birds. We had done whale watching out of Boston, so nice bookeends. Key last minute add - we picked up some $30 binoculars from Fred Meyers (along with a $4 sytrofoam cooler that allows picnic lunches most days). That afternoon drove up to Mt Baker (up to Artist Point). Nice views, lots of snow, enjoyed the mountain town vibe up 9/542 to Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. 
• day 3: North Cascades NP. Got some decent hikes (kids protest on more than 5 miles, but sometimes we can trick em). Pretty drive. Did River Loop hike near the visitor center, and Rainy Loop just outside the NP.
• day 4: drive to Olympic NP. Do Hurricane Ridge, Marmere Falls hike. Stay in Forks. Twilight - who knew? Small town with surprisingly good grocery store. 
• day 5: Olympic. Rialto Beach. Tide pools at low tide. Sea stacks. Epic. Relatively short day. Laundry and sort of lounge. Motel had nice outdoor heated pool. 
• day 6: Olympic. Sol Duc Falls, Cape Flattery. Beach. Amazing and fish & chips and milk shakes from a food truck on the res. 
• day 7: drive to Mt Rainier. Stay in Packwood. Sunrise Point. (fwiw: Packwood is a pretty blah town. Not sure I'd stay there again, but not sure where else would be good). I've been to a lot of mountains, but these Cascade peaks are live f'n volcanoes, and look mean as sin. 
• day 8: Mt Rainier day 2. Silver Falls hike. Gondola at Crystal Mountain.
• day 9: Mt St Helens. Hummocks hike. A fucking volcano, yall! One of those places that are rad, but pretty accessible for the olds. Go there, but you can save it until you can't pee at will anymore. 
• day 10:  drive through Columbia Gorge. Get passes for the scenic drive and Multnomah. Surprisingly fun - I thought this would mostly be a travel day. Various waterfall hikes. Night in achingly hip Hood River. Dinner from foodie food trucks on waterfront. 
• day 11: drive past Mt Hood (another volcano!). Hike at Newberry Volcano Park for the Lava Tube Cave. Do the Obsidian hike. I almost bought this dope smokey the bear hat, but passed. Huge regrets. I could buy one online, but its not the same thing, is it? 
• day 12: Crater Lake. As amazingly beautiful as this is, Crater Lake to me has a very Grand Canyon vibe. You look, you awe. But its basically a national park to do when you are 75 and can't hike miles any longer. Regret staying (nice res casino hotel - just nothing there) in Chiloquin. Should have stayed in Klamath Falls. Had to go there anyway to get groceries and whatnot. 
• day 13: Chiloquin to Redwoods NP. Saw actual cowboys on horses rounding up cattle just south of CL. I don't know if I've seen that in 40+ years of living in Texas! Eastern Oregon might as well be Texas. Highs near 100. Dry. Medford might as well be San Angelo. At this point I was like "maybe I shouldn't have planned to do Redwoods. We got lots of hikes in the forest already." But Redwoods is awesome. Do a little 3.5 mile loop and see some big ass trees. So nice to walk in the shade, high maaaybe 80. Fewer mozzies than I expected. Just sublime. Nice beach near Klamath at sunset. Also full service gas in Oregon is a mind fuck. 
• day 14: drive up coast, Klamath to Florence. At one point we realized we had driven 20 miles in like 4 hours. Every overlook is rad! Every beach is so pretty! My kids will play in any beach, no matter how cold. 
• day 15: drive up coast, Florence to Seaside. Sea Lion cave was dope. Pretty beaches. "This is our time!" Seaside beach is foggy and cold as shit, and kids still want to play. Dare kid to poke weird rock, in shallow surf and massive dungeness crab skitters away. I now have a new reason to fear the sea. 
• day 16: drive up coast from Seaside. Meet friends in Seattle. Do city stuff. NIght in Seatac hotel.
• day 17: fly home.

Final thoughts: Although I'm glad we hit 4 national parks (Mt Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, Crater Lake), you could just do Olympic and probably get 80% of the experience. Olympic is maybe top 3 national parks for me. I've done a lot of em, I like to think. #1 is Yellowstone, #2 is Big Bend (for sentimental reasons), but #3 is now Olympic (ahead of Tetons, Glacier, & Utah 5, Acadia). Tentatively was planning on bagging 3-4 central CA parks next summer, but not sure anymore. Because we loved the Oregon coast that much. Originally we were going to do 2 nights at Redwoods, but decided to call and audible and spread out the drive a little more. I wish I had have 3-4 days for it. Now we may go back for an entire 9 day swing. Thinking of renting a cabin or house or whatever and really unplugging. Hell, already thinking of how to retire out there. The bustle of Seattle wasn't for me (and hell, we stayed in Bellingham mostly), plus the price of real estate... but if we could figure out what people do for doctors, my wife and I could totally see buying a small place. I'm used to many places in Texas being a long ways from anything, but Oregon coast is pretty damn similar. It aint easy to get there, or at least to places south of Seaside. Crescent Bay is practically Ft Stockton with how remote it is. 

Seaside is obviously close to Seattle, but the beaches and overlooks on the Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor are just so fucking amazing, it might be worth the extra 3-4 hour drive to be near Gold Beach or Brookings. 

 

Good shit. Sorry about the travel drama but it sounds like a great trip.

Agreed that Olympic is an absolute jewel.

[FartingDreamer 138]

Astoria is mainly like Portland in a way, you won't see the coast until you reach Cannon Beach which has hotels on the beach with a cool view of the rock.  Little known fact, the tall rock off Cannon Beach was the site of the northernmost great white shark attack.  

[CleverNickname 1308]

Fwiw: how much did we enjoy our vacation? So much that we have booked (refundable, but still) a week on the beach near Newport (Otter Rock) next summer. And my ex-SIL and her kids (my kiddos cousins) are going to stay next door. The only place we have ever returned to is Leakey/Frio (which barely counts as travel in my book). Usually we are hitting national parks or destination tourist cities (NYC, DC, etc).