Pacific Northwest trip

[aw738]

I'm going to be in the Pacific Northwest area (Portland/Redwood National Park) the week of the 11th. I was wondering what should I definitely see while I was there.

[Topflight]

I grew up in the Portland area, and IMHO the OMNI Museum is a must see.

http://portland.citysearch.com/review/11338847

We now live in Harpers Ferry, which is also God's country.

Have a great trip.

[Russinator]

If you get as far north as the San Juan Islands - Don't miss them.

Russ

[Gwenzilla]

Here's a list of some of the places we are planning on seeing when we go up in 2008:

Evergreen air museum (Spruce Goose!)  http://www.sprucegoose.org/

Wildlife Safari  Winston OR   http://www.wildlifesafari.org/

Numerous lighthouses along coast

Oregon Coast  Aquarium !!    http://www.aquarium.org/

Sea Lion Caves     http://www.sealioncaves.com/

Lots of other places too.  We always keep our eyes open for anyplace the has those squished penny machines too.  Kinda a hobby we started with lil' Spudzilla its fun and a cheap momento of the cool or odd places we visit

[tlhdoc]

Anthony who is going with you and how are you getting there?

[aw738]

Taking my dad and we are flying. I don't have enough time off work to drive and take the PU.

[GeneF]

Anthony

Been a while but a drive along the coast is great.  We enjoyed the town of Tillamook.  Nice cheese factory there.

Have a safe trip.

[chip]

Mount St. Helens is not a real long drive if you have time. Cannon Beach, Oregon is really nice at sunset, and there was a real friendly American Legion Post there when last I was there.

[aw738]

Had a good time except for motion sickness upon landing in Portland and rain 5 out of 8 days.

[GeneF]

Anthony

Don't you think you could give us a bit more of a report?

[aw738]

Saturday the 10th:
Got up real early to catch flight and everything was going good until the turbulence over the Rockies. After fighting motion sickness from there to Portland the pilot just had to rock the plane for the landing. That is when I lost my dry roasted peanuts.    That done me some good. The weather that day was good. After getting the rental car we headed for the location of the worlds first Geocache. Found it with little trouble. Made it as far as Eugene/Springfield OR that day.

Sunday the 11th
The weather is day was also pretty good. We made it all the way to Crescent City CA and the Redwood National/State Park. They are both sort of mixed together, but managed by the National Park Service. We drove down 101 and some of the back roads to view some amazing trees. If you haven't seen them I would recommend that you do.

Monday the 12th
Upon waking up in Crescent City it had rained most of the night. After breakfast we found about a single lane road that snaked through some of the larger trees. One was almost 20 feet in diameter. I then found a geocache in CA. We didn't spend too much time in CA and then headed for Crater Lake Or. When we got there we were within 3 miles of the lake and had to stop at the visitors center the road was getting slick with slush and ice. So we left to find a place to stay.

Tuesday the 13th
We left Klamath Falls heading for McMinnville OR. This day was mostly spent driving. At least there was no rain. The road from Klamath Falls to Bend OR was some of the best road I've been on in a long time. After we left Bend we headed west over a mountain pass at around 5000 feet. The mountains we saw were Mt Washington, Mt Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack. It had snowed either that night or that morning and the road had been plowed. My dad plowed snow for over 30 years and we were both amazed that they use no salt on the roads just stone chips. When we were almost into Salem OR we saw a helicopter picking up bundles of Christmas trees from a grove. Well I guess if that is what works.

Wednesday the 14th
Another day with good weather until later that night. We were off the the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the Spruce Goose. I wasn't expecting to see all of the aircraft they had on display. Thanks Gwenzilla for recomending it. We were there from 10:30 until 3. I was disapointed that they had no mention of WV native Chuck Yeager. If you don't know he was the first to break the sound barrier. After we left we headed for the OR coast and 101 again. We stayed in Tillimook. We should have toured the cheese factory but we didn't.

Thursday the 15th
We headed up the OR coast to Washington that next morning with it raining. After breakfast I found my third and final Geocache of the trip. I just needed to get one each state. After that we headed for Mt St Helens. After a stop at the visiters center at Silver Lake we drove the 40+ miles to the Johnson Ridge Observitory. We had misting rain on the way but when we got there it was a steady rain with cold winds at around 35degrees. All we could see was some snow on the lower part of the mountain below the clowds.

Friday the 16th
We really just had time to kill that day before the flight Saturday. We drove east on I84 until we got the The Dalles and turned around. This day had the worst rain of them all. We stoped at a water fall on the way back to Portland. I have a few pictures on my webshots page.

Saturday the 17th
After breakfast we headed back to the airport and yes I took some Dramamine this time. The return flight was pretty smooth.



http://community.webshots.com/user/aw738?vhost=community

[GeneF]

" We stayed in Tillimook. We should have toured the cheese factory but we didn't."

My favorite town in that area.  Have some good camping memories of three people we met there.

You are correct, those trees are awesome.  Kind of makes you realize how small you are.

Enjoyed your pics and glad you had a good trip.