Hi, I know we have a few people from PNW on here - and @deepconcentration / Cameron I feel like I’ve known you for 20 years without ever meeting!
Looking at a trip next year, Summer ish - maybe late Summer.
Starting in Portland. Probably 10 days.
Mix of city/country/city of course
Will be with my better half, and we like culture, would like some scenery and/or some wildlife - but not campers!
Main thing to someone like me is how much realistically can you drive and still enjoy a trip?
Never done a drive holiday.
Definitely worth hiring a small camper van. There’s plenty of great campsites along the coast between Salem and Seattle that you can park right up overlooking stunning windswept beaches or in rainy, green forests and soak it all in!
If you make it up past Seattle the San Juan islands are really worth your time…they are glorious. You could do camper van stuff or AirBnB/hotel it, rent bikes and go around. Otherwise around the Seattle area, really the sky is the limit in terms of outdoor stuff. East of Seattle is the Cascade mountain range with enough hikes for many lifetimes. West is the Olympic range/national park and the Pacific coast is extraordinary. Really it will be more about narrowing down what you want to do…
A couple of nights in Ashland would be my recommendation. There’s a nice cheap motel on the edge of town, easy walk in from there too Nice food bars art etc
I’d have a couple of nights in Seattle too, stay downtown, The Moore hotel on second ave near the market is fun -art deco bit shabby but in a good way and affordable
Portland is nice also and a trip up Mt. Hood is fun if you want to see the hotel where they filmed the exteriors for ‘the Shining’ You can also book for white water rafting in that area as well
Not been for a while but both Portland and Seattle have decent record stores from memory. So obvs your other half will need to find something to occupy their time with for a day or two also
hey hey! good to hear from you jez and yep - agree with everyone’s recommendations thus far.
i’m a big fan of the oregon coast and have spent a ton of time out there - i’m partial to the central part of it - lincoln city, pacific city, newport and all the good beaches in between. spending some time on the mountains is also well worth it - mt. hood and mt rainier are probably the easiest to get to and have the most facilities around them, but i also love mt. adams as it’s quiet and easy to camp without being surrounded by goofballs. central oregon is beautiful and a real hub for the outdoorsy action sports types (hiking/rafting/MTBs/breweries).
depending on when you’re in portland, you may be around for pickathon - brad v plays it every year and while i haven’t gone myself, folks say it’s amazing https://pickathon.com/ or, maybe the oregon country fair, which is a lil’ more hippie https://www.oregoncountryfair.org/ (the grateful dead played it back in 72 and it’s one of the better sets the dead ever did - search “veneta sunshine daydream” on the streaming services). anyway - there will be plenty of festivals and shows to choose from, i’m sure.
i live in seattle and can probably recommend any number of good spots to land. brad is in portland and is probably a lot more clued into what might be happening down there.
for reference, it takes about 3.5 hours to drive between portland and seattle. that can give you an idea about how to split your time and efforts.
And if you do end up in downtown Seattle, give a shout, we live right next to the Market, I know all the vendors and would be happy to give you a tour free of all the usual fluff…
