Welcome back to our series on trips you can take this summer to cross some things off your bucket list. As our friends grandpa used to say, “buy memories while they are for sale.”
We left off in part 1, traveling North and hitting San Fransisco, and needed to make decision–stay on the coast or head inland for some faster travel and different kinds of sites to see.
Another option if you don’t want to drive, you can hike the PCT from the California border to Canada. It’s not easy, they literaly make movies about how hard it is. But If that floats your boat you’re probably not reading this post.
If you want to keep the ocean at your left shoulder, keep heading North. You’ll cross into Oregon, where you can stop in at Bandon and play some of the best Golf you’ve ever dreamed of. (Okay you can ride horses on the beach in Bandon too–its not like you have to golf.)
The towns will get smaller and smaller and the weather will be more and more unpredictable. There’s lots of cool places to discover, but you’re rolling the dice on the weather compared to what you have been experiencing.
If you decide to go this route, before you get to Bandon you’ll want to check out the Oregon Caves by taking a right on Highway 199, then taking another onto the 46. You should see signs guiding you out. The Rangers offer guided tours of some places you won’t believe until you see them with your own eyes.
Newport/Nye Beach
In the town of Newport, has some cool things to do. It sits on Yaquina Bay with an interesting warf and a Rippley’s Believe It or Not attraction that is well worth a visit. Nye Beach has cool shops and great food. Definitely eat at Nana’s Irish Pub. It can be tricky to get a table already, so don’t tell anyone else about it. But it’s worth planning a meal there. All in all Nye Beach is a great little place to stop for the night.
The Oregon Dunes (National Recreation Area)
In the Suilslaw National Forest sits a 40 mile patch of of dunes between the Suislaw and Coos Rivers. This is the largest dunes in North America, with peaks as high as 500 feet above sea level. It’s a site to see–and it’s free.
There will be plenty of sites as you pass along the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, Sea Lion Caves, and Thor’s Well (aka “the drainpipe of the Pacific”).
Cannon Beach/Seaside
Then your could keep going until your reach Cannon Beach/Sea Side where there’s a lot of cool shopping and good coffee shops. Be advised, the roll up the sidewalks in Cannon Beach. The famous Insomnia Coffee is only open between 9am and 4pm. Its a sleepy town and that’s how they like it. Also, there is no parking, as in none. So get a hotel close enough to the beach you can walk. Seaside on the other hand, has more of a beach seen. They get a pretty ruckus spring break crowd and have an Aquarium that is really cool to visit.
Astoria
The next great town to visit is Astoria Oregon, where they filmed Goonies. If you are Gen-X, you know you want to go. They have a tower on the hill as well, called the Astoria Column. You can climb the steps and get really good view…if the weather lets you. (Do not drop marshmellows from the tower–you will be asked to leave–don’t ask us how we know.)
As you leave Oregon heading into Washington via the coast route, you’ll cross the Astoria-Megler bridge. It might not look like it from pictures, but this is one of the most white knuckle bridges you can drive a car across. It’s totally safe…but it won’t feel like it.
However, if you are taking this route it may be time to ditch the Pacific. You can continue up the Washington Coast but the beaches will get more industrial and fishing/crabbing focused. There are sites to see, but we recommend you cut accross to Portland, then up I5 to Seattle.
Portland/Powells City of Books
There’s a couple reasons to put Portland on your list. Known as Bridge Town, you won’t be dissappointed if you hoped to find bridges. There’s a cool tour of the Shanghai tunnels so you can see how people were once kidnapped and forced to work on ships. It has OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) which is unique and fun, and it has a zoo. There is also the Pittock Mansion, a french-renesaunse style mansion built in 1914, which offers a great view of the city. For gardens, the Portland Japanese and Rose gardens are lovely. (Conveniently located next to each other.)
If you can get tickets for the Sternwheeler that can be fun.
One of the few things you’ll find in Portland that is truely unique is Powell’s City of Books. Powell’s takes up an entire city block and contains room after room of new, used, rare, and out of print books. If you love books, you need to sojourn to this mecha of all bibliophiles–you won’t regret it.
Accross the street is the Aladin Theatre–a historic building turned McMinimin’s Pub. The McMinimin Brothers have taken over many historic buildings and given them a new life serving pub food and craft beer. The truth is, micro brews, really are a good reason to visit Oregon.
Portland is the largest city in Oregon. It’s worth noting that Portland has some urban blight as of the writing of this post. Not even the Mayor of Portland lives in actual Portland. Be ready to deal with rampant homelessness and stop and go traffic from 6 AM to 6 PM. There is mass transit available, so if you’ve never seen someone use IV drugs, or get into a fist fight with themselves before, take “the Max,” you’re in for an experience.
Another thing to note about Portland is that there are virtually no places to use a restroom. If you are a customer at a place with bathroom, use it before you leave. Watch the show Portlandia before you visit…if anything they’re going easy on Portland.
Vancouver, WA
Yes if you go far enough you’ll reach Vancouver B.C. but Vancouver USA is in a 3-way tie for the second largest city in Washington State. It’s home of the second oldest operating airport in the US, and Officers Row. General George C Marshall once presided over military training from here as the US went from a 200,000 person to over a million in preparation for the D-Day invasion of Europe when the US entered WWII.
You can tour the officers homes and still see many remnants of the military adacedemy (until Portland makes them knock it down for a new interstate bridge replacing 3 lanes each way with 3 lanes each way + Max.)
Leaving Vancouver you’ll have the chance to stop at Ilani Casino, or detour to Battle Ground for Italian food at Galeottis Wine Celler. (Be warned – only open to the public Thurs – Sat nights.)
Mt. St. Helens
As you drive North on I5, on a clear day, you’ll see the last active valcanoe in the contiguous US. On May 18th 1980 St. Helens sent up a plume of smoke and ashe that circled the globe. The mountain lost knocked over thousands of trees, caused a mudslide that destroyed local rivers, and killed several people. Nature can kill yah, folks.
Chehalis
Chelalis will surpise you. Located outside the Seattle-Tacoma metroplex, Chehalis is known to urbanites as backwater. Out of state visitors will find a converted train station-restaraunt called Jeremies with amazing food. If the kids need to stretch their legs, head over to The Peny Playground. You’ll be surprised at how much fun you have.
Olympia
Olympia is the capitol of Washington. (Salem is the capitol of Oregon, but you didn’t drive through it on the coastal route.) What Olympia does well is events. At any given time you will find something going on. If you don’t follow specific directions you will end up driving endlessly around looking at farmland. BTW It’s hard to find a road with a speedlimit over 35MPH. The other thing Olympia is known for is that it’s where Seattle traffic begins.
Seattle
Speaking of Seattle…perhaps the only city in the Pacific NW that is recognized world around. When you think of Seattle you think of the iconic space needle, couresy of the World’s Fair of 1962. Or perhaps the show, Frasier, or the Mariners baseball team or grunge music. But you get the idea.
The Space needle is interesting to visit, but the area around it holds many more places of interest. The Museum of Pop Culture is interesting. The Chuhuly Garden of Glass is a one of a kind place if you are a fan of blown glass ($37), or for free you can visit the warf and be amazed by the merchants of Pike’s Place Market as they throw fish to each other over the crowd.
The Pudget Sound brings the Ocean right into Seattle so you can find a lot of great sea food, and the weather stay pretty temperate. Plan on some rain most days, but skies will also clear. So bring a raincoat. One thing to note is that its windy and locals seldom use umbrellas. You’ll stick out, and they will mock you.
Perhaps the highlight for vehicle enthusiasts is the Museum of Flight. Seattle is the birthplace of Boing so you know they have the worlds largest place to see interesting planes, like JFK’s Airforce One, or sit at the controls of the fastest jet on Earth. It’s a thing. You should do it.
Isn’t the Spruce Goose up in the PNW somewhere. YES! In McMinville, South of Portland. Hit it up on the way back down if you travel back. It’s easy to find and there’s a great water park for the kids.
A last note on Washington:
What’s above Seattle? It’s not a border town. You don’t have to stop going North, but on I5 you’ve pretty much run out of large attractions. If you head out to the coast again you’ll get to see Forks, of Twilight fame, and rocky beaches that are artfully named like First Beach, Second Beach, and Third Beach. Actually Hole in the Wall is quite a site to see as is the Ghost Forest–a few acres of trees flooded under ocean water by long ago tsunami. I’m sure it won’t happen again…while your there. To get the best view, rent a canoe.
So what’s our hesitation to detail all this excitement? We’ll you’re driving all around the Olypic National Forest, which is a huge rainforrest! It’s beautiful but understand just how much it rains–over 200 inches a year. That’s all but the chimney of a single story house if the water didn’t have a place to run off to. So, if weather is a factor in your site seeing, consider turning back south at Seattle.
Option 2 Head Inland to Sacramento
In addition to being the State Capitol, Sacramento has a long history, and that usually bodes well for things to do that are surprisingly entertaining and educational. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, we think fun, educational, and entertaining is worth prioratizing over gambling/booze, overpriced, touristy, and dangerous–which you can probably find in your home town if you look hard enough.)
Sutter’s Mill brought tons of settlers to the region in the 1800’s but Sacremento has things to see and do that celebrate the early Spanish and indigenous times of the land. You can fill your brain on all this with a trip to Sutter’s Fort. The house, turned Museum is worth your time to visit.
The area known as “Old Sac” has a great mix of old architecture and historic landmarks that you can see for free, and plenty of kitchy shops and restaraunts to entertain the less nerdy among us. They have a great zoo, granted most cities do, but one thing you won’t find elsewhere is the Crocker Art Museum. You won’t see more California art in one place, and since they added a second building they’re showcasing art from around the world. Mickinley Park dates back to 1871, and it’s Rose Garden is something you can’t miss if you’re in town.
One form of transportation we don’t cover nearly enough on the Kicker, is Trains. The California Railroad Museum is in Sacramento. We won’t try to convince you to go–you either love trains or you don’t.
For a unique dining experienced try the Delta king. Its an old paddle wheel turne hotel restaraunt that would make a great date–just say’n.
There’s a tower bridge, not quite as impressive as the one in London, but it’s cool. Naturally, we’re suggesting this entire diversion because of the item. If this isn’t on your bucket list it should be. The California Automobile Museum holds historical vehicles from the 1800s on, as well as vehicles that were used in film. Give it a go.
If you brought kids with you, don’t skip Fairytale Town. Just look for William Land Park with it’s lush gardens and duck ponds and you’ll bump into an imaginative place that brings to life all the childhood stories that a certain celebrity mouse did’nt buy the rights to. If it fell off a wall, lived in a shoe or jumped over a moon it’s here in Fairytale Town. The have activities of every kind, like puppet shows, hands on art projects, theatre performances, and a really cool petting zoo.
There’s a state capitol museum, a scenic path along the river, a farmers market, and the Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and an Aerospace Museum. You need to spend a day or three.
Yreka
Head North on I5 to Yreka, it will serprise you. For one thing, there seems to always be a collection of Goths standing around. Contrary to popular rumor, the town is not named after the reflectoin of a Bakery sign that had lost it’s ‘B’. The name comes from a native word for the Mount Shasta. The main reason to stop in Yreka is the coffee at the Gold Rush. You should probably stop at Mount Shasta on your way by and rent a house boat. It’s a great way to relax and your last chance to feel warm(ish) lake water.
Crater Lake National Park
You may think that if you see one mountain lake up close you’ve seen them all. Crater lake is a cut above anything else you’ve ever seen. The lake sits in the caldera of an “extinct” valcano. The lake is 1935 feet deep, and very clear. The ridge around it rises another 2,000 feet and in the right season you can drive a car around it. The island in the middle is called Wizard Island, and you can get to it via ferry. (Check ahead). If you like to camp, there’s some available nerby but make your reservations in advance.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument/Painted Hills
Further up I97 you’ll find one of the largest natural wonders Oregon has to offer. Layer upon layer of naturally color shifted rock form large hills you need to see to believe. There’s an easy boardwalk from which to view the hills and plenty of activities and information to round out your stop.
The Dalles
With a little backtracking you can get back to 97 and head North to the Columbia. You’ll come out at The Dalles–not just any Dalles, ‘THE’ Dalles. In the right season, this is one of the best places on Earth to buy fruit. Definitely eat at the Baldwin Saloon. If you’re into windsurfing you are in for a treat.
You could head up the Gorge to Portland from here or you can cross the river at The Dalles and continue your reural adventure. That’s not to undersell the Gorge it’s a place of rare beauty.
Maryhill Museum
Maryhill Museum is something you need to see to believe. When they tell you how long ago it was built keep in mind the US is only a couple hundred years old. There’s a replica stone henge and a winery so you can’t go wrong adding this to your list.
On the way to the Museum you should be able to find a local, private, exotic animal reserve called Schreiner Farms that will surprise you and the kids.
Goldendale
Golden Dale itself is a small, rural town, but they have an amazing observatory. The chalenge with big city observatories is the light polution interferance. Golden Dale does not suffer from this and that makes it a great place to visit in the evening.
Now if you are willing to drive the 97 for several hours past miles of farm land, slide just left of the Hanford Nuclear Site, you will eventually land in a neat little town called Levenworth Washington.
Leavenworth
Leavenworth is a small town that looks a bit like an alpine village, so they decided to lean into it. This is cute place to visit, or a romantic place to take your date for a weekend getaway. In the past it’s had a fantastic Octoberfest too, but they’ve been leaning away from it since the pandemic. So look ahead if that’s your desire. (A great back up plan if they’re not having it, is Mt. Angel Oregon an hour south of Portland.)
Aside from festivals, Leavenworth has something to do most of the year around. They’re well known for restaraunts, shopping and arts.
In the end…
If you want to discover the West Coast, consider extending your road trip into the Pacific Northwest. There is more to the left coast than California.
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