Please critique my itinerary to WA/OR
We're planning a six week trip from western VA to WA and OR in Sept./Oct. There are some people we plan to meet up with out there, so our itinerary has to mesh with the times they are available. So I'...
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I massaged the itinerary a bit to hit the coast a bit earlier and added a few more days to the coast time. After researching Crater Lake more, I thought it best to be out of there by Oct. 1 as it seems that everything shuts down around then. I left the Columbia River Gorge until last because that would be the warmest spot to visit and also it gets us heading in the right direction toward home. I wanted to avoid as much backtracking as possible.
Here's the new plan:
8/30-9/5- Travel from western VA
9/5-8 – Wenatchee - Lake Chelan
9/8-10 - North Cascades NP
9/10-9/18 – Seattle area/Olympic NP
9/18-9/20 - Mt. Rainier
9/20-9/22 Mt. St. Helens
9/22-9/29 - Coast (dune buggy ride at Coos Bay, jetboat ride on Rogue River)
9/29-10/1 - Crater Lake
10/1-10/5 – Salem/Bend
10/5-10/7 – Portland/Mt. Hood
10/7-10/10 - Columbia River Gorge
This gets us started, but our attitude is that if we like a spot and want to stay there longer, we'll do it. The reverse is also true - if we get somewhere and see all we want to see before the allotted time is over, we'll head out early.
In general, I'd rather skip things than give them short shrift. On our last trip, we lost a day with a flat tire and ended up only having a couple of hours for Arches Park before it got dark. I would rather have skipped it altogether than gotten such a small nibble of it and left so unsatisfied. We decided not to make that mistake again.
Thanks for the suggestions of places to see. Oregon Gardens sounds awesome and is close to Silver Falls SP so we'll allot time there.
Nothing says we can't come back again in the future.
Here's the new plan:
8/30-9/5- Travel from western VA
9/5-8 – Wenatchee - Lake Chelan
9/8-10 - North Cascades NP
9/10-9/18 – Seattle area/Olympic NP
9/18-9/20 - Mt. Rainier
9/20-9/22 Mt. St. Helens
9/22-9/29 - Coast (dune buggy ride at Coos Bay, jetboat ride on Rogue River)
9/29-10/1 - Crater Lake
10/1-10/5 – Salem/Bend
10/5-10/7 – Portland/Mt. Hood
10/7-10/10 - Columbia River Gorge
This gets us started, but our attitude is that if we like a spot and want to stay there longer, we'll do it. The reverse is also true - if we get somewhere and see all we want to see before the allotted time is over, we'll head out early.
In general, I'd rather skip things than give them short shrift. On our last trip, we lost a day with a flat tire and ended up only having a couple of hours for Arches Park before it got dark. I would rather have skipped it altogether than gotten such a small nibble of it and left so unsatisfied. We decided not to make that mistake again.
Thanks for the suggestions of places to see. Oregon Gardens sounds awesome and is close to Silver Falls SP so we'll allot time there.
Nothing says we can't come back again in the future.
