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Hi everyone. We are going on a 22 day trip this summer. It will be hubby, myself, our 5 year old, and our 2 year old. Their birthdays are right before the trip. Please give me all of your suggestions for places to visit, restaurants, hike, hotels/air bnbs, photo spots, etc. Thank you. Attachment 4969
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Oregon Coast: my brother and sister law love the Tillamook factory.
Columbia River Gorge: Multnomah Falls has some great hikes for kids and adults....it is kind of touristy but still fun and the kids can do it. If you are spending any time in Portland prior to hitting the coast Reverend’s BBQ is great and kid friendly. OMSI is great too, but requires a few hours.
Redwoods to San Francisco: plan on this taking all day with minimal stops. It is a 6 to 7 hour drive. It looks super to close on a map, but it is way farther than it looks especially if you are starting in Euerka.
San Francisco: Exploratorium, Muir Woods, a baseball game if you like that, Crissy Field, SF Zoo, and Golden Gate Park/Academy of Sciences are just a few things that come to mind. We tend to eat at whatever hole in the wall place we can find in SF so I don’t really have any kid friendly recs. as it has been a long time since I have been there with the kids and I don’t recall the places we ate at when we were last there with dds who weren’t teens and pre teens.
Are you keeping the car in San Francisco? All of the places above are pretty easy to drive around and find parking.
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Yes. We will have a rental SUV in San Francisco. We return our rental SUV on day 22 (the day we fly home).
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For Seattle, you can be grossed out by the Gum wall and entertained by the Giant under the bridge. I actually didn't make it to either of these last summer before our cruise, but I wanted to!
In Ketchikan, our entire family enjoyed the lumberjack show. Corny but fun. Even had my 88yo father smiling and laughing. They really get the audience engaged.
Oregon coast:
Astoria- the really long bridge to WA (or maybe you’ll come across it.
“Dismal Nitch” on the Washington side- Do the Lewis and Clark National Park. There’s also the Salt thing to find over by Seaside. We stayed at the Best Western on the waterfront, and the trolley was fun to ride, went to the popular eatery along the tracks and saw the salmon fishery buildings.
Our favorite thing there was the Columbia River Maritime Museum and the Coast Guard ships parked outside. Also the tower where you can throw balsa wood gliders down from the top.
Farther down:
We enjoyed a stay at Driftwood Shores resort
Sea Lion Caves
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Gardens!!! We stopped at some beautiful gardens and scenic vices near Coos Bay where MIL and FIL used to date, and where DH’s grandmother used to have her birthday gatherings. I’ll try to figure out where...maybe Brandon?
Need to try the sand dune buggies next time!
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I'm so glad I saw this. We are going to Bend, Oregon for a wedding in June and since we've never really explored the Pacific Northwest, we are making a long vacation of it. I will definitely be looking at these.
How fun! I have lived in OR and WA for about 35 years, I just love it here. Honestly, I don't know how to fit it all into 22 days. I love tripadvisor for scouting out activities. Our tastes lean toward nature and educational stuff, but here are some of my highlights:
Oregon Coast -
Bandon, Newport
Oregon Dunes near Florence
Yachats is a gorgeous place to stay, we usually VRBO and see all the tide pools and highlights.
Seaside Beaches (also Cannon Beach)
Sorry, I just opened the little jpg, see you are spending a lot of time in Alaska, so I'll just leave this here for others.
Olympic Peninsula -
Neah Bay, Makah Cultural Center and Cape Flattery Trail
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...ashington.html
Hurricane Ridge
Port Angeles
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...ashington.html
Take a ferry to Seattle (assuming you are visiting Seattle, otherwise take a ferry to somewhere else)
Washington Cascades:
Mt St Helens visitors center - you will learn so much, it's a bit of a drive, but where else can you visit the blast zone of a recent volcano
Mt Rainier National Park is gorgeous but also a drive, so I'd pick one based on your interests.
Oregon
Portland is fun, Multnomah Falls is neat, and you will get to see some of the Columbia Gorge, definitely stop at one of the dams and learn about salmon
Crater Lake is awe inspiring if you have time, stop at the Steamboat Inn on the drive up there for some great food and a pretty place to stay
Bend is a lovely town and you can visit Newbery Crater for a different volcano experience, Black Butte cinder cone, Raft on the Deschutes River, stay in SunRiver
We did a trip from SF to Seattle years ago and the highlights I remember (we are also more outdoors oriented) are:
Orcas Island - sea kayaking with orcas
Paddleboarding on the lakes near Seattle
Snoqualamie Falls (sp?) - we just did a short walk and ate lunch in the lodge near the falls, very pretty
Hiking along the coast trail in Olympic NP (we camped overnight but there are walks that are short enough to be day trips)
Hiking along the Hoh River in Olympic NP
Cannon Beach, OR - Ecola State Park and Oswald State Park for hiking and tide pooling
Yachats - we stayed in a BnB and enjoyed the town and walking along the coast
We stayed at a BnB called the Lost Whale in Humboldt County near the Redwoods that was right on the water and had a private beach and a sea lion colony just offshore
Mendacino was super pretty and had great dining and lodging options (can't recall specifics but we loved the area)
Point Reyes Natl' Seashore/Bodega Bay/Stinson Beach - so many great walks and places to stay/eat
We also spent a week in Cannon Beach with our kids when they were little and they loved tide pooling near Haystack Rock, simple hikes at Ecola and Oswald (see above), the Tillamook factory. There were lots of great places to eat with kids in Cannon Beach and we had bonfires on the beach every night with s'mores. Also Tillamook ice cream every night!