Just Back- Trip Report- Oregon

First of all, I just want to thank all the kind people on here who gave me such wonderful suggestions for my trip. As you will see by my trip report, I followed the suggestions given almost to the letter. Without those suggestions, I would have had such a memorable trip. I was able to see the highlights of the Oregon coast in the time that I had. It was just spectacular and your advice was invaluable to the planning. The Oregon coast was absolutely spectacular and the weather was perfect except that it was a bit windy on the top of the cliffs, but I was imagine that to be expected.

I started out driving from the Washington area, and arrived in Florence by 10am. I wanted to picnic somewhere along the coast. I was given the suggestion that Safeway in Florence makes great sandwiches...and they were right. We stopped at the Safeway in Florence and we got to order exactly what we wanted to our specifications. The sandwiches were fresh and very good. We then drove to Sea Lion Caves and took pictures of Heceta Lighthouse and the sea lions on the rocks. We then drove to Heceta Lighthouse. There is a nice picnic area on the beach near the lighthouse. We sat there at the beach area and watched people flying kites. Then we went up to the lighthouse. I was disappointed that the lighthouse gift shop and lighthouse were closed. I really wanted to get some of the great sweatshirts that I had heard about. But the walk was great and the view was awesome, so it was worth it.

Our next stop was Cape Perpetua. We took the drive to the top and got spectacular views of the entire coast. We stopped at two other areas, one with spouting horns and the other for Devil%26#39;s Churn and took several of the trails there. There were several nice areas to walk around right from the parking area. We bought the Oregon Passport here so we could see several things.

I believe the next stop we made was the Ocean Drive which was just before entering into Yachats. It was a short scenic side trip off Highway 101 and had nice benches to sit and enjoy the view.

Our next stop was Yaquina lighthouses. We followed the lighthouse compromise given to us by half-Brit to the letter. Great advice!! We took the first bend after the bridge and saw the Bay lighthouse and only spent a short time there...and then went on to the Yaquina Head lighthouse. I really enjoyed this stop. The giftshop/visitor%26#39;s center was nice and I got a couple things at the gift shop. They had nice long sleeve shirts and magnets. We went to the lighthouse and took the tour. It was a beautiful area and we walked around here for a while.

We then stopped at Cape Foulweather. More amazing views here!! I also saw nice jackets in the gift shop and got a nice mug with all the pictures of the Oregon lighthouses on it. I spent a little bit of time just taking in the view.

Our next stop was that we did the loop around Cape Mears. I was getting weary of driving at this point, but I was very glad that I stopped. We took a tour of the lighthouse...again beautiful views of the beautiful coast. The sun was shining and there wasn%26#39;t a cloud in the sky. We walked around here a bit and just soaked up the sunshine and view.

We then went to Tillamook Cheese Factory. We stopped to eat, tour the factory, and have some of the homemade icecream. I went a bit overboard and got the 3 scoop sampler in a waffle dish, but you are supposed to enjoy your vacation so I was glad that I did.

From there, we went on to Ecola State Park. This was a great park!! There was a nice drive through big tall trees to get there..almost like a tree tunnel making it like an adventure. There are great trails to walk around all the gorgeous views. We sat and just watched the water for a bit and took some nice pictures. This was a beautiful park.

From there, we went to our hotel, the Stephanie Inn. (another suggestion from someone on this forum). We had a bit of a hard time finding it. Pacific Avenue isn%26#39;t that easy to find. We had an oceanfront room and strolled on the beach and watched the sunset. We had a nice Roman tub in the room and the staff was very nice. When we left, they even gave us some water for the road.

I got up early and strolled the beach before breakfast. I got to see some birds on Haystack Rock and since it was low tide, I got to get close and explore around Haystack Rock. We did a jigsaw puzzle in Stephanie Inn%26#39;s sun room before breakfast. Their breakfast was very good. They had apple sausage and yogurt and eggs, I believe as well as this really good coffee cake. We then moved on and made the drive to Columbia River Gorge.

Once again, we followed suggestions given to us on this forum. It was absolutely excellent advice. We stopped at Portland Women%26#39;s Forum to admire the view, then Vista House..again lovely view...then Lautrell Falls, a beautiful high waterfall. Then on to Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls was simply spectacular!! We took the trail to the bridge, but not the top of the waterfall, and stopped at the giftshop to stock up on more treasures.

We had been given the suggestion that if it was clear and sunny to proceed to Mt. Helens and go to Johnston Ridge, but if it was cloudy, go to Bonneville Dam..so that is exactly what we did. It was sunny, so we went to Mt. St. Helens.

The road to Mt. St. Helens was not very awe inspiring at first, but the further, we went, the better and better the views. We stopped at a Forest Learning Center and there were very nice views here. Then we stopped at the Johnston Ridge Observatory. Here the views of Mt. St. Helens was fantastic! It was very clear. I got a nice jacket in the gift shop and I took the trails to several lookouts to see the area. It was great!

We then proceeded on to Seattle. Traffic was horrible, but we managed okay.

Once we got to Seattle, we tried to go to Pike Place Market. We went there briefly, but it was wall to wall people, so we stayed a short time, but it looked like fun. We decided to skip eating dinner at the Space Needle, but instead ate dinner at Elliott%26#39;s on the waterfront at Pier 54 or 55. We had a great meal and they even brought out little bowls to wash your hands after the fish. We took a carriage ride around Pioneer Square which did almost an hour long city tour. We then briefly went by the Sculpture Park on the way to Seattle Center.

We walked around Seattle Center, and then went up the Space Needle to watch the sunset over the city of Seattle. It was a great sunset. Once again, I hit the gift shop and bought Space Needle socks.

We stayed overnight in Everett, and then left at 6am the next morning to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls were all fogged in, but I got to see a glimpse of them. We ate breakfast at the Lodge with a table that looked out on the top of the falls. THe staff was very attentive and gave us great breads, and I had the steak and eggs, I believe for breakfast. It was great. The staff dropped honey on our bread from a spoon held high up, telling us it was honey from heaven..lol. We then went on to Seattle airport to catch our transfer to the cruise.

Once again, I thank you for the wonderful advice. I would like to get back to Oregon/Washington again and see some more of the beautiful area.

Just Back- Trip Report- Oregon

Sounds wonderful, we loved being up in the Space Needle this past weekend at night. We just returned from some time in Cannon Beach, going to the bakery, browsing through the art galleries and enjoying Ecola State Park.

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip and I enjoyed reading about your travels! :)

Just Back- Trip Report- Oregon

What a fantastic trip you had !

It is so good to hear how much you saw and did on your visit, and that you got to see so much.

It was a pleasure to read your report .. Thank you :)

I still remember my evening in the Space Needle .. I got motion sick or altitude sickness or something and had to leave lol ...Isn%26#39;t Vista House wonderful ? did you take a gazillion photos? lol I have ..

angeleyes--your trip report was a wonderful closure to all the posts and replies on TA over the past few months. You started with so many possibilities and worked thru to find the very best of them. Honestly, you have visited several places on the Oregon coast that I take for granted (like the lighthouses) and really need to visit. I was just at the Space Needle and the Seattle waterfront with my granddaughter and saw it thru her eyes (8 year old). I spent so many years working in the area that it took her to remind me how special it is (we fed fries to the seagulls at Ivar%26#39;s).

Thanks for taking the time to report back, and thanks for all those visits to the gift shops...you%26#39;re our own economic stimulus: LOL.

Hope your cruise was great, too--I%26#39;ll check the Alaska forum for your impressions.

Cheers, Linn

Sounds like a really nice trip, and thank you for sharing:) Where did you stay in Everett? We used to live nearby and will be back up there in a few days:)

Thanks for the trip report!! It is always nice to know how our advice actually worked out!! Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation!!

Hi! I%26#39;m so glad that you enjoyed your trip and were ablt to take advantage of so many of Oregon (and Washington%26#39;s) ';best';. You made spectacular use of your time in our area.

Hope you will come back soon!

Thanks so much for your nice TR! I am glad that we all could contribute and that you had a lovely time. Also pleased the weather cooperated - we drove from Gold Beach to Waldport today and the entire coast was foggy :-(

We%26#39;ll be looking forward to hearing from you again as you plan your next visit . . .

I am VERY grateful for all the great advice that I received on this forum. Without it, I could have never been able to know what to do. I had so many ideas in my head. I thought about staying at the Heceta Lighthouse and driving to Crater Lake..it was so hard because I could only get so much time off. If you notice by my itinerary, it was all based on the advice given here. I copied the suggestions and took it with me and followed it. It is so difficult to know what to do without advice from people like you. I would have been on the forest roads or who knows where or scrambling around trying to figure out what to do!! Going to Mt. St. Helens if it was clear, stopping at Safeway for a picnic lunch, the lighthouse compromise, stops along the coast, Devil%26#39;s Churn, etc were all from the people on this forum. THANK YOU!!

I do try to buy as much as I can carry from the local businesses. If the Heceta Lighthouse shop would have been open, I would have gotten a sweatshirt from them as well. We bought 4 decks of Oregon playing cards (2 of the Oregon coast, 1 of the Oregon coast lighthouses, and one of the coastal animals), also about 6-7 magnets of Oregon; 2 long sleeve shirts from Oregon(one was of Yaquina lighthouse); a coffee mug with the Oregon lighthouses from Cape Foulweather; cheese, candy and a video from the Tillamook Cheese Factory; a book of the Oregon coast from Yaquina Head, Oregon lighthouse socks and a number of things from the shop at Multnomah Falls as well as magnets and socks from the Space Needle, a jacket and magnets from Mt. St. Helens, etc. A local told me that there are nice sweatshirts in Depoe Bay and I wanted to stop there as well, but there was only so much I could do. The Space Needle was nice and surprisingly, the line wasn%26#39;t bad to get to the top. It was such beautiful weather and so clear. It was also beautiful at Cannon Beach the night before where I watched the sunset. I will have to post some of my pictures when I do reviews of attractions.

Another place that I stayed at was the Phoenix Inn. It was very nice. I will have to figure out where it was in Everett. It slips my mind for some reason.

As far as photos, between the two of us, we took over 500 photos of Oregon/Washington. And yes, Vista House and all the stops were wonderful. I wanted to stop at the Pelican Pub, but I was anxious to try some of the ice cream at Tillamook so we just decided to eat there.

Just read your trip report and now I am more excited than ever. We leave next Friday for our trip and I feel like I have been on vacation in my mind for the past month, reading all the trip reports and advice. We are going the opposite direction as you, flying in to Portland, spending time at Hood River and then on to the coast, but plan on visiting most of the attractions you mentioned. I dream at night of lighthouses and ice cream!

I want to thank everyone for all the advice as well, even if it was not given to me directly, it has helped me plan what will be a memorable vacation. Can%26#39;t wait to have a trip report of my own.