<p>Okay, I know that with rising gas prices and sky-high airfares a lot of people are not going to travel this summer. However, my DH and I have decided to do our part for the economy by spending our economic stimulus check on a trip to the Pacific NW. (Never mind that upcoming college tuition payment – we are putting our money to work to save America!) We are visiting Seattle, Tacoma, the Olympics, Mt. Rainier, and British Columbia during a 12 day visit (and we will probably need a rest when we get home because we will be so tired!) Anyone else have any fun vacation plans? </p>
<p>Also, can anyone suggest “must-sees” for British Columbia?</p>
<p>Take the ferry across from Port Angeles to Victoria if you are going to be in the Olympic National Park. Victoria and the surrounding area on Vancouver Island is amazing. Buchard Gardens is a memorable visit. I have gone late in the afternoon and enjoyed the concerts they had there after dusk. You can then take the ferry across from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay and then go up to Whistler. Whistler has great accomadations in the Summer and the area is beautiful. Have a great trip. Too bad the dollar has fallen so bad.</p>
<p>orchid_2010, we are also doing our part to stimulate the economy, traveling cross country to the NW, Seattle, Vancouver & Mt. Rainier. Fortunately, we bought our plane tickets a long time ago, before the “fare madness” began. We are combining a “city” vacation with an “outdoors” vacation to keep everyone happy. As our departure time gets closer, I thought I’d ask ek4, and others in the vicinity, for suggestions on seeing, eating and doing, in addition to all the touristy things I’ve already planned.</p>
<p>West Coast appears to be a draw this year. We’re probably heading for San Francisco. We thought we’d try a little Alcatraz, mixed in with Redwoods and China Town. The “ah-ha” moment for us came when we saw the Cubs would be in town during the time we’re thinking of visiting. And, as DH is a loooooong-suffering Cubs fan, we looked at it as a sign. </p>
<p>My wife and our two sons and I made pretty much that same trip last year as a last vacation before older son started college. Great trip, although we spent very little time in Seattle and much more in Victoria and Vancouver. Victoria is perhaps the prettiest “tourist town” I have seen, but it is that, so two days is more than enough. Vancouver is a city I could spend a lot of time in. The ferries from PA to Victoria and from Nanaimo to Vancouver are a lot of fun, too.</p>
<p>Two suggestions: First, drive north from Vancouver at least to Squamish and possibly all the way to Whistler on the “Sea to Sky Highway.” It’s undergoing reconstruction for the Olympics (desperately needed) so there may be a few delays, but the views are utterly spectacular. There is a falls between Squamish and Vancouver with a little park around it that is extremely scenic.</p>
<p>Second, if you can go to Mt. Baker northeast of Seattle that’s also a great side trip. The drive up the mountains to the lookout point is a bit harrowing, but again, the views are incredible.</p>
<p>As for us, since we did a nice trip last summer and we now are cutting tuition checks, this summer’s vacation will be at our cabin on a quiet lake in northern Wisconsin. Not as sexy as the Pacific NW, but a little slice of heaven all its own.</p>
<p>We were fortunate to get tickets at a fairly reasonable price when Airtran had a sale at the beginning of the month. </p>
<p>We are former Seattleites who have lived in Florida for 14 years. We didn’t leave Seattle willingly – we relocated because of family illnesses. We have not been back in all that time – I think mostly because we were afraid if we returned, we would miss it so much we’d want to move there again!</p>
<p>So we are going to hit all of our old haunts in the Seattle area, but are also going to try to do things we didn’t actually do when we lived there. </p>
<p>I love the tips on the Skytrain and the drive to Whistler – we were wondering if that would be worth the time to do. It sounds like it is.</p>
<p>If anyone needs tips on Florida travel, I’m here for you. :)</p>
<p>If we could find decently priced tickets to Jackson, WY, the plan is to do Grand Tetons & Yellowstone. The park rangers told us that gas was priced lower there than the east coast, so we might as well drive around there.!!!</p>
<p>orchid, sorry, I did not see your latest post about being WA native. When I saw it, I wanted to remove my post, but then decided to leave it up for others who might be interested in traveling to WA.</p>
<p>To explore Olympic Penninsula, you can take a ferry from Edmonds just north of Seattle, cross the Hood Canal and drive towards Port Angeles/Olympic Penninsula and explore the natural wonders on your way. </p>
<p>If you stop at Kalaloch or some other place to spend the night, the next morning you can take Hwy 101 all the way down to Oregon - it is a very scenic drive with breathtaking views of the ocean. Most roads going East will take you to I-5 which you can use as a faster return route to Seattle (stop by Mt. St. Helens on your way back).
To go to Victoria with your car, I personally recommend the Anacortes (on Whidbey Island) - Sydney ferry vs. the Pt. Townsend one (operated by Black Ball transport). Whidbey Island by itself is a pretty place to explore (Fort Casey is our favorite spot). Or if you are doing a day trip, you can venture onto one of those high speed “vomit comets” called Victoria Clipper departing from downtown Seattle (bring a lot of ginger ale and anti-nausea meds if you are prone to seasickness). Make sure you have the right documents when you are traveling to Canada (I do not know what the current req. are - they seem to change often).
Yo can see the WA state-operated ferry maps and schedules here:</p>
<p>We’re heading west too. Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, which we’ve visited several times in the past, and love, but this time we’re also driving up to Glacier, which will be our first time visiting. We’re really looking forward to the trip. We booked it last fall, and it’s hard to believe that our vacation is almost here.</p>
<p>chocoholic, we did that Grand Tetons/Yellowstone route a couple of summers ago. What a simply fabulous trip! We did lots and and lots of hiking and I was able to confirm that, in fact, I did give birth to mountain goats. :)</p>
<p>zebes-we did the SF tour last year, and did take in a Giants game. Good food at the Stadium. You must try the garlic fries ;). I couldn’t understand when I was ordering tickets for the game online in 3/07, why the seats that were coming up for 8/07 were pretty lame. It took a couple of months to realize that people were speculating on when Bonds was going to break the HR record, so lots of seats had been sold for seemingly meaningless games.</p>
<p>I don’t know what I’ll do this year - I want to do things with the entire family but that’s not easy with one D starting her career and the other off at an internship.</p>
<p>Last year we went to Europe but only decided on it and made the plans a week or so in advance. The summer before we went to Hawaii but I only decided on that on a Friday, made reservations that night, and left on Sunday. On top of all that, I ended up with an air fare San Diego to Hawaii for less than the trip I took earlier that week San Diego to San Jose. I guess procrastination paid off in that case.</p>
<p>Maybe I’ll just go to San Diego on vacation.</p>
<p>Ucsd-Ucla-dad, I live in Socal as well—we do plan on visiting old haunts and
discovering new things right here at home. The furthest afield we will head is
up to Kings Canyon for some old fashioned tent camping.</p>
<p>Orchid - they went bankrupt a month or so ago, when all those other airlines went belly up. I had to call my credit card company and at least I got my money back, but couldn’t find another airline that was cheap.</p>
<p>Sigh. We have yet to come up with our summer plans. Trying to arrange for something in advance with my family is akin to herding cats. We do everything exactly like ucla<em>ucsd</em>dad’s family. I’ll probably think of something soon… Right now I’m not going to worry about it and just enjoy our heat wave.</p>
<p>Here is my question for all of you airfare gurus: which airlines are a <em>safer</em> bet when it comes to buying tickets in advance (and by “safer” I mean that it does not look like thay are going to kick the bucket any time soon)? Alaska, JetBlue may be? I want to buy D’s Thanksgiving travel ticket and be done with it.</p>
<p>I generally stick with the larger long-established airlines (United, American, Southwest, Delta, etc.). They’re not guaranteed to go out of business but at least we usually know about their downfall for a longer period of time than a small startup type of airline. The fares aren’t necessarily higher.</p>
<p>I wonder if JetBlue discounts the toilet seat? But you probably can’t sit together with your family in there.</p>
<p>ww.bcferries.bc.ca
the BC Ferries are better than the WA ferries and the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay on the “odd hours” (9-11-1 etc) is the big boat with a great buffet, lovely ride (much smoother and better for any carsick types than the WA ferries or the smaller BC boats) through active pass, gorgeous and lets you out a bit north or Butchart Gardens. Victoria is a lovely city, but heading north on Hwy 1, the over the Malahat Pass (an impressive drive in itself) takes you into beautiful countryside- you can head west across the island to Tofino and the Wickaninish Inn [Tofino</a> Accommodation | Prime Tofino Whale Watching | Wickaninnish Inn](<a href=“http://www.wickinn.com/]Tofino”>http://www.wickinn.com/) is well known, though not inexpensive. Or stay on 1 and go as far as you like. Nanaimo is about an hour north of Victoria and the ferry there (there are two locations, so check the maps) can either take you back south to Tsawwassen or more north Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay. Or keep driving north for more untamed scenery</p>
<p>Most of the sound does not have much in the way of waves, but you can surf at Tofino.</p>
<p>Whistler is worth seeing.</p>
<p>Vancouver is great to walk around- Robson Street, etc Check out Lululemon for gorgeous over priced yoga gear- you will see the logo on “every one” in BC</p>
<p>It is sad that the USD is weak now, so expect the food to be a bit pricy (maybe not for you city dwellers) and the gas is crazy $1.40CD/litre</p>
<p>If you are driving up the 5 to cross the border, look for border crossing info on radio AM 1130 (traffic every 10 minutes on the ones) Sometimes the wait is crazy on holidays, etc. Crossing late at night or early in the morning is good.</p>
<p>You can exit the 5 on exit 275, one before Peace Arch and get right to the Truck Crossing, which allows cars and is frequently less busy.</p>
<p>If the radio says “Lynden/Aldergrove”" is way faster, get off on 275, turn right on H street and drive 15-20 minutes east. The road dead ends on the “Guide Meridian” where you will turn left and drive 5 minutes to that crossing.</p>
We are visiting Seattle, Tacoma, the Olympics, Mt. Rainier, and British Columbia during a 12 day visit (and we will probably need a rest when we get home because we will be so tired!) Anyone else have any fun vacation plans? </p>