Trip to Seattle

Where do you plan to stay and how much time do you have? Are you willing to move or rather sit at a 'base camp' location?

There is so much to see that a lot depends on your timetable. Are you coming into Wa. from east or south? A trip to the coast and Olympic Nat'l Park is in order. Work in a ferry ride.

Thankfully the west side is getting some rain today. first since the 13th of April.

Ditto on Leavenworth. Small, but very interesting Bavarian themed town. Used to be a lumber town that died, but the locals came up with the theme idea to attract tourists. Hwy 2 over Stevens Pass is fun and interesting - lots of twists and turns. :)

I'd avoid I-90. Many miles of grasslands and not a lot to see unless that's what you like. It can be VERY windy at times and even semi truck drivers have to pull over until it dies down enough. Even blows over FW trailers.

If you don't mind driving up to Mt. Vernon, take the ferry over to Port Townsend. Great ferry ride and Port Townsend is a quaint town with lots of of old buildings. From there you could take 101 down towards Olympia and back around up into Seattle. Or take 104/3/16 to Tacoma and back up to Seattle.

Definitely gotta visit Pike Place Market and the surrounding Old Town. Another must-visit is Ivar's on the waterfront across from the Market and get some of their famous clam chowder.

A bit south and east of Seattle is Mt. Ranier which is a good visit. Or go to Mt. St. Helens a bit more south. You'd need to go to the south side of Mt. St. Helens to see where the eruption took place, but it's a few more miles south. We visited the north side of Mt. St. Helens this year and is worth the visit if time/distance restricted.

If you've come this far, maybe you'd want to go right out to the coast like say Ocean Shores. There's a number of good campgrounds there too. By Sept. it starts to get quiet out there as the summer folk have headed back home.

Be prepared for some horrendous traffic in and around Seattle. Leave your RV at the campground! Parking around Pike Place Market can be a beetch and you'd be better off with the Harley...

If heading to Wa. in the next month or two, check up on active forest fires. It's been a bad year up and down the west coast. We were in Leavenworth last August and there was a forest fire burning nearby. All the locals were in panic/high alert mode in case the winds shifted and the fire got out of control. It has been hotter than normal and very dry out here for several months. Washington has a statewide drought and the southwest portion of BC is in a record level 4 drought condition (the worst level).

When do you plan on making the trip?
Do you want scenic or quick?
How much time are you planning?
I would add taking US 12 from Missoula to Lewiston/Clarkston area on the Snake River near the Snake River Hell's Canyon.

Definitely go to Boeing's Museum of Flight in Seattle, probably the best display of old planes anywhere in the world. You may want to go up to Canada since it's only a little over 160 miles form Seattle; you will need passports.

Bring plenty cash, keep Washington Green. :) (that's a joke)

If, and that's a big IF, the weather is clear make sure you go up on the Space Needle. Amazing views as you can see from Canada down to Oregon and the Olympics. Speaking of, take the ferry across the Olympic peninsula.

If you like Asian food, go to Cheng's. Fantastic Mongolian style cooking with you picking out your own ingredients and spices.

Depending on the time of year you can go to the locks going into Lake Union and watch the salmon heading in on their way to the spawning grounds.

Ditto on Leavenworth, neat little town on the eastern side of Stevens Pass.

If you like to gamble, there's an Indian casino up near Marysville, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

And don't forget Pikes Place Market in downtown Seattle. You know, the place where they toss the salmon around? Lots of great shopping and fresh food there.

You could also run up to the town of Snohomish as they have kind of an antique shops area, plus a weekly car show I believe.

Its been a few years since I've been out that way, pretty close to 20 years now that I think about it. Used to live in Everett and worked in Seattle.

Once crossing into WA, I would suggest US 2 west from Spokane and go to Grand Coulee Dam and watch the laser show on the face of the dam.
I would suggest crossing the Cascades either on US2 or WA 20. US 2 passes through Leavenworth which has a Bavarian motif. WA 20 goes through the north Cascades Natl Park, along the way is Winthrop which has a western motif.
Any plans for Glacier Natl Park/
Not sure what time frame you are planning on trip. Rockies and the Cascades can have shifts in the weather in mid to late Sept.