<p>If you are looking for breathtaking scenery and hiking in Oregon I recommend Crater Lake National Park: <a href=“http://planetoddity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/crater-lake-1.jpg[/url]”>http://planetoddity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/crater-lake-1.jpg</a></p>
![http://planetoddity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/crater-lake-1.jpg[/url]](http://planetoddity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/crater-lake-1.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>[Scenic</a> Byways Scenic Byways & Tour Routes - A Driving Guide](<a href=“Oregon Department of Transportation : Scenic Byways Program : Programs : State of Oregon”>Oregon Department of Transportation : Scenic Byways Program : Programs : State of Oregon)</p>
<p>we’re really gonna love your spending
:)</p>
<p>We did Seattle/Washington state as a graduation trip last year. We absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>The days are long, so we got a lot done in one day.</p>
<p>We loved the Falls from Twin Peaks, the Boeing plant in Everett, and a whale watching tour out of Anacortes. Islands Adventure. Highly, highly recommend! Not touristy, good old nature and whale watching. Surrounded by orcas. Absolutely amazing.</p>
<p>Headed back to Seattle airport from Anacortes through Whidbey Island. I absolutely loved this. Got a guide book/newspaper of Whidbey at the Boeing plant, where they outlined stops along a driving tour of the island. We hit most of them.</p>
<p>The plane ride from Albuquerque to Seattle on the way up brought us alongside
Mt. Rainier, an amazing view from the plane.</p>
<p>We were lucky to have a clear day on our day of arrival and got to see Mt. Rainier itself!</p>
<p>While up in Anacortes, and the ferry from Whidbey to Mukilteo, we saw Mt. Adams as well!</p>
<p>Also a highlight for my geek husband and son, a visit to a Nintendo repair store in Kirkland and the Microsoft campus in Redmond (?).</p>
<p>The Boeing tour in Everett required a reservation, as did the whale watching tour, but otherwise, we just got in the car with our directions and checked our itineraries off our list.</p>
<p>Thanks for this post. I am hoping to do the southern port of Washington state and Portland as well one day, so I’ll refer back to this post for ideas.</p>
<p>I must say, my first thought reading your first post was “from the east coast, for sure!” Well… just because Redwood National Forest is near the Oregon border doesn’t make it close to Portland or Seattle. These are BIG states and they take time to drive. I moved out to the NW from Boston, and I thought a drive from CA to WA wouldn’t be a big deal, only two states… Wrong. It’s about 12 hours of hard driving at 80 mph from SF to Portland. If you stop and see stuff… well, it’s longer.</p>
<p>I’ve driven to Eureka, CA (the southern end of the Redwoods) from Portland and back twice now. Once as a one-day nonstop (tiring but doable, but I didn’t stop) and once as part of a four-day-down-the-coast trip with my sister. Much more pleasant.</p>
<p>That said, if you want light hiking in late April, I think the Redwoods might be perfect. The weather will be amazing–green and cool but not really foggy–and you won’t have the potential problems and dangers of trying to hike mountains in April. People underestimate how cold the volcanoes can be even in late summer. In April, ski season on Mt. Hood is still in full swing. Mt. St. Helens doesn’t open its summit until mid-May. There are glaciers on those mountains.</p>
<p>If it were my trip and I liked the great outdoors enough to want to hike, I’d fly into Portland, spend a day or two here, then drive down the coast very slowly, stopping at the Oregon Dunes ([Oregon</a> Dunes National Recreation Area](<a href=“Florence Area Chamber of Commerce | Visit Florence, Oregon”>Florence Area Chamber of Commerce | Visit Florence, Oregon) ) and the sea lion caves, hike the Rogue River… then head on into California and the Redwoods. I’m not sure if I’d do it as a circle and end up back in Portland, or eat the one-way rental fees and fly out of SF. (When I did it in my car, I met my son and helped him move some stuff from SF to Portland.)</p>
<p>And then I’d come back in August and hike Mt. Rainier or Mt. Hood then.</p>
<p>Seattle and BC are nice, too, but will still be pretty cold in late April, whereas it will be firmly spring on the Oregon coast and in the Redwoods.</p>
<p>Terrific suggestions - thank you all. I’m going to print out this entire thread. It’s been a huge help! </p>
<p>And yes, as an easterner I’m used to easy multi-state drives (well, aside from the traffic). And I was just reading about the Fremont section of Seattle – it will certainly be right up D1’s alley. I think BC is definitely out. I don’t want this to feel like a whirlwind tour. That said, since we’re not doing CA, Muir Woods, etc. so I would like to make time to see the redwoods. We will have 8 days, including travel time, and I’m hoping to get a real feel for the places we go.</p>
<p>Also - not to pester everyone endlessly, but – has anyone here ever done a trip to the San Juan Islands to see killer whales? Not the kayaking kind, but rather a more typical whale watching thing–</p>
<p>I don’t think it will fit into this particular itinerary, but eastern Oregon is very underrated. Some of the areas off I-84 are simply gorgeous. You’ll just have to come back someday to see it :)</p>
<p>Definitely drive up and check out the Columbia River Gorge.</p>
<p>To the OP, yes, I did the San Juan Islands trip to see the killer whales.</p>
<p>And indeed, we did see them!</p>
<p>Although there are tour groups out of the San Juan Islands themselves, they involved taking a ferry to the islands, then getting on the boat.</p>
<p>We opted instead to use Islands Adventure Whale Watching, which leaves from Anacortes. We stayed in a Fairfield, I believe, in Mount Vernon, so we’d be less than 30 minute drive from the dock. Within 15 minutes of leaving the dock, we were surrounded by orcas. Since we were so lucky, the boat took us through Deception Pass, sort of the gateway to Whidbey Island. We saw bald eagles, seals, killer whales, various seabirds, awesome starfish. Look them up on google, I am computer challenged and can’t do links, but they have a whale report that will tell you what they see every day. The crew is awesome. It is not a tourist trap. It’s for nature lovers. They do also offer a kayak trip out of their store if you are interested in that.</p>
<p>I’m not sure when you’re going, but they do a Grey Whale tour in the spring, and I am seriously considering going up for a weekend to do that while son is still away at school, although I hate to go without him. I believe the grey whale tour is out of Everett, which is close to the Boeing plant, which is really, really awesome. </p>
<p>Island Adventures does guarantee whales, so if you don’t see them, you get a free trip, but believe me, you will see them. It was incredible how all the boats, even the ones out of Canada, keep in touch when they spot the whales. The tour will go as far and as close as they need to to get you to see whales. And they are amazing. Something on my bucket list that I can’t believe I really got to do.</p>
<p>I wish I could do links, because the people on Parent Cafe were most instrumental in making our trip a success. And our Triple A lady, who patiently printed TripTiks for me for every possible place we wanted to see.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, Washington is a big state, so here’s how we broke up our stay.</p>
<p>Flew into Seattle, stayed at Residence Inn Lake Union, where we did boat tours both from the harbor and on Lake Union. From “base camp” of Lake Union, also did Microsoft/ Nintendo, in Kirkland, Redmond, Snoqualmie Falls, and Air and Space Museum with the Concorde and Air Force One. Drove up to Everett, Boeing plant, on our way to stay near Anacortes. Stayed in Mount Vernon Fairfield Inn, half hour drive from Anacortes, the night before and night of our whale watching trip. Drove through Whidbey Island on our way back to Seattle Airport. Stayed in a Seattle Airport Fairfield night before flight. </p>
<p>So, we did stay in three different Marriott properties, but lucky us, it gained us two free nights because of some promotion, which we used for bringing son to college!</p>
<p>We used Marriott points and got Triple A rates for the hotel stays, and used Wanna Get Away fares on Southwest for the plane tickets, so we cut our costs to a minimum. Free breakfast at the hotel, and Red Robin for dinner a few nights. There are no Red Robins in Louisiana, so this was a big treat for us, and there was a wonderful view of Mount Rainier from the Red Robin in Tukwilo, or whatever it was, near the airport. Ate at Tweed’s Cafe near Snoqualmie Falls, where Twin Peaks was filmed, food delicious! The drive there was awesome as well. Gorgeous, gorgeous mountains everywhere, and beautiful lakes! </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy your trip. It truly is a special area of the country and not to be missed.</p>
<p>Here’s a link for Island Adventures whale watching: [About</a> Island Adventures: Orca Whale Watching Tours in the San Juan Islands departing Anacortes and Seattle, Washington State](<a href=“http://www.island-adventures.com/about/index.php]About”>http://www.island-adventures.com/about/index.php)</p>
<p>I would recommend them highly. Took a school field trip group on them and they did an amazing job.</p>
<p>A further comment on the driving. I lived in Phila and Boston until age 37, then moved west. Before we moved, I thought a three-hour drive was a big deal. Phila->NYC? Take the train! Boston to NYC? Forget it. </p>
<p>However, I regularly drive Portland to Seattle, which is more miles than Boston to NYC, and I do it to go have lunch with friends. Yes, it’s almost 200 miles, but I can (if I don’t hit rush hour) drive it in a reliable under-three-hours time. And it’s easy driving, most of it using cruise control. Think just-slightly-over-the-speed-limit the whole way. (We actually lived in the Seattle suburbs and had a business in Portland for almost four years before we sold and moved to Portland.)</p>
<p>Here’s a very comprehensive website about hiking in WA state.</p>
<p>[Home</a> — Washington Trails Association](<a href=“http://www.wta.org/]Home”>http://www.wta.org/)</p>
<p>You can search for hikes by a number of criteria and read trail reports often with photos.</p>
<p>*However, I regularly drive Portland to Seattle, which is more miles than Boston to NYC, and I do it to go have lunch with friends. Yes, it’s almost 200 miles, but I can (if I don’t hit rush hour) drive it in a reliable under-three-hours time. And it’s easy driving, most of it using cruise control. Think just-slightly-over-the-speed-limit the whole way. *</p>
<p>I hate it- I always get stuck in Tacoma/Ft Lewis. However, our neighbors for many years were from Portland & the dad ( who was the step dad of the oldest) drove the son down to Portland every other weekend on Fri/Sat, & picked him up on Sunday, so he could see his dad, & our neighbors didn’t trust the dads driving, even though he was a fire chief or something.
( The stepdad also attended Reed- the same class as Steve Jobs & had gotten really good aid, otherwise we would have never considered it)
But I still hate driving to Portland, give me Bellingham, that drive is much better. :)</p>