Trip Report

We returned last week from our ten day trip to your wonderful state. We had a great time.

I did use the forum extensively and read the forum every day. I guess that I may have been intimidated, somewhat, by your lively chatter. Ya%26#39;ll do this so often that it seems second nature, and sometimes we ask really dumb questions. So, instead of asking directly, I found that by studying prior threads and continually keeping up with new ones, and by reading reviews of hotels and restaurants, most of my questions had already been asked and answered.

I do want to say a special thank you to Oregonpappa. He was kind and very generous with his time. Our original interest in Oregon was the PreClassic (tract meet). He was able to get tickets for us in his special seating area, right on the finish line. The meet was once in a lifetime, for us. Thanks again, Oregonpappa.

I did especially enjoy many of the threads and responses from all, including half-Brit, Mistletoe, Oregone, Mtngirl and others.

Here goes.

We arrived in Portland early and drove to the Columbia River Gorge area. Stopped to see most of the falls. Also went to the dam and saw the fish ladders. Quite interesting. The day was overcast and with no wind, was disappointed that we did not see the kite surfers (is that what they are called?),

but had a lovely drive anyway.

From Hood River we drove to Timberline Lodge where we

spent the night. The first room was a view of Mt Hood, but with the snow (second floor) that there was really no view. The front desk was happy to change rooms for us since they were not completely booked. The next room was on the third floor, with a wonderful view of the Cascades. It also had one window that faced West, as well. The room had hardwood floors, fireplace, king bed and also a single bed. Separate sitting area and a good sized bath. A perfect room. We had dinner (takeout from the bar area) and ate in front of our fireplace. We did not experience any problems with noise.

The Lodge is very interesting and we spent lots of time just looking at the interior.

The next day we were scheduled to take the chair lift, but the wind was so high that it was closed that AM. So we headed on down the road.

We went through Sisters and had lunch at the Black Butte Ranch(?). Very good meal and beautiful view from the restaurant.

We then drove to Bend where we stayed at McMenamins. Very interesting place. Another good room, I think the room was named Father Dominic.

From Bend, we visited the Lava fields and headed to Crater Lake. We were very lucky that the North Rim Road had opened only several days earlier, so were able cut off a good deal of drive time.

We had called ahead and were told that we could probably check in early. We got there about one. We were still not checked in at almost four. Not to worry. It was well worth the wait. We had requested a corner room and were rewarded with room 301 (I think) which is a large room with four windows. Two are directly facing the lake (one in the bathroom) and the other two facing more toward Wizard Island and the shore. My biggest decision, while in the room, was which window to choose to stare at the lake.

On our way to the Lake, the weather reports were pretty dicey. Thunderstorms, wind and hail were all on the agenda. True to form, we had them all. Also, it was very cold (the week before, we were told it was in the 70s)

By dinner, which was really good, the wind had died down and most of the clouds gone. We were fortunate enough to experience the Lake in wind, hail, calm, sunset, almost a full moon, and a glorious sunrise. All told, I gazed at the lake for about 15 hours and never tired of it. It is always changing. I do not think that 2 hours is enough (as has been said by some). The only thing we really missed was the boat ride, which is still closed.

After leaving the Lake, we drove through Grants Pass and down to the Redwoods. We drove the Howland Hill Road and really enjoyed it. (We have also seen the Redwoods at Muir Woods) We went from Crescent City to Bandon for the night. Stayed at the Sunset Motel. Very nice room, across the street from the ocean, with fireplace. Decent ocean view. We were in the same wing as the Porsche club reunion. Not only did they close Lord Bennetts restaurant for their private party (which is where we planned to dine), they partied in the parking lot outside our room for hours after. The management was kind enough to reduce our bill for the inconvenience.

We drove up the Coast (lots of looking and turnouts) to Reedsport (saw lots of Elk at the preserve) and over to Eugene for the PreClassic. It was indeed a beautiful drive. We stayed at the Excelsior Inn, where we had another good room (Debussy) and very good dinner. We went to the Saturday Mkt- lotsa%26#39; hippies! We did enjoy Eugene-very pretty parks and a beautiful University.

We next went to Yachats, by way of Florence and the dunes (WOW), Haceta Head Lighthouse, Cape Perpetua, and lots of turnouts. We stayed at the Overleaf for two nights. We chose the Cooks Galley room, which was, yes, another great room. Fireplace and huge balcony directly overlooking the rocks and ocean. We had very good food (I will review meals in the more appropriate restaurant section)

One of my favorite things, among many, was tidepooling. The best was at Seal Rock Beach. This was also a great beach for walking. Also, just south on Quail St (very small parking area). These areas allow you to walk right onto the beach (not steep and not very far). It would have been worth any amount of effort. Beautiful and unbelievable to most, I%26#39;m sure.

Next, we went to Cannon Beach, where we stayed at Tne Waves. I hate to say it, but another great room, fireplace, with an incredible sunset view. We thought that Cannon Beach was a very nice town. We were fortunate to be there before the crowds. Enjoyed the area, more tidepooling and Ecola State Park and up for a quick look at Seaside.

Back to Portland for the night and home the next day.

I know it will seem to many that we missed lots, and I am sure we did. We are a bit limited in the hiking area, with hip replacements and knee fracture. I am sure I have left out some things, but I do feel that we got, at least, an overview of your great state. Thanks for sharing! Also, thanks for this forum. Even though it may be a bit scary, at times, I do think it is the best forum I have seen. Without it, I could not have planned a trip that worked out so well. Keep up the good work.

Trip Report

Sounds like you had a great trip, I enjoyed reading about your travels! :)

Trip Report

Thanks for the thanks. It was a real pleasure to be able to help make your trip the success it obviously was.

Yes, thanks for the report, suzieblue. And nice itinerary! It%26#39;s nice to know that, sometimes in spite of us regulars, forum readers can still find useful information here.

Oregonpoppa, you wouldn%26#39;t have an inside track to the 2012 Trials, would you? ;-)

Nice trip report :-)

When I started reading it, I thought ';hmmm, I don%26#39;t recognize your name'; . . . but then I read why not. Sorry if we all seem intimidating. Next time, just jump in and ask away!

Glad you enjoyed Howland Hill Road. I recently had TripAdvisor add it and plan to do a review with pics on it shortly. It would be great if you did one too:

tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60944-d14鈥?/a>

Sounds as if you made excellent lodging choices (and nice of Sunset Motel to make an adjustment!) and what fun to see Crater Lake with all the weather variation. By ';Seal Rock Beach'; did you mean Seal Rock State Park?

Glad to hear that you had a fun trip and that the forums were helpful. We don%26#39;t mean to be intimidating, and really don%26#39;t mind the ';dumb questions'; (many of them AREN%26#39;T!). Pinky swear! :-)

Dumb questions?? You should see some of mine. We were recently in NC/VA. and we god some good help. going to Hawaii soon and same there, though less dumb since we go there more often.

Nice report I enjoyed reading it, always good to hear that others enjoy their visit here, and why.

Thanks for the report, you hit some of my favorite places ;-). I%26#39;d love to hear about your restaurant experiences when you get a chance.

That%26#39;s a good question, Half-Brit. I just remember that we saw a sign for Seal Rock. The pull-out we used was small, maybe for 8-10 cars. It was not a paved area.

I think that the mile marker for Quail St. was 152, so this area would have been north of that by maybe a mile or so. Pretty vague, huh?

Northwestwanderer. Were you asking for a report here, on restaurants? I thought they should be reviewed in restaurants. I did not want to bore the forum with so much food stuff.

To me, reports on restaurants are an absolutely crucial part of a trip report, LOL.

Not sure why including restaurants in your report would be any different than talking about lodgings or things you saw/did?

And also not sure how we%26#39;d know which restaurant reviews to read if you don%26#39;t post where you went in your trip report.