Aw, margo, we'll make sure to keep you in the loop.
<wondering whats going to happen to the poor, unsuspecting, Pacific Northwest>
I think we've settled on a time frame, finally: March 26 - March 30.
Hey! Just what is that supposed to mean, Terry? It's already been polluted with my various family members, what more could I do to it?
Margo -- full disclosure? What is somebody gonna do, come and hit us over the head? We could always PM a codeword, I suppose. I think the reason for secretiveness may be that PaL remembers last time some of us got together in Seattle, we were filmed by a TV crew and some were featured on the nightly news. (It must have been a slow news day!)
Pueo & Janet together? I have to tell you, Janet must be having a ball, because I got a letter from her and all it had in it were four postcards -- on one card she wrote, "Having a wonderful time! LOL No time to write, apparently. I think she is cruising around New Zealand right now.
LittleK -- That time frame... it is your time in Seattle, or your time in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver?
[quote/]last time some of us got together in Seattle, we were filmed by a TV crew and some were featured on the nightly news.[/quote]
Paparazzi?!
Paparazzi? Haha. PaL can explain better, or Ossobuco. We were just looking at the view. I personally was not on the news!
SeattleFriend is alive & kicking. I will write to her about this later on this weekend.
Do you think this might turn into a gathering?
Sorry to have been out of action for a short while. I'd be happy to suggest a location for a Seattle gathering: The Pike Brewery pub, which is in the Pike Place Market. For those who don't know it, I'll list the advantages:
--Easy to find.
--Large, so no trouble finding seating if we plan, say, a weekend afternoon
--Kid-friendly, in the event someone has a minor in tow
--Decent beer that's brewed there and a good menu (not too pricey)
There are other options, of course, but I think those factors (especially the first, for out-of-towners) make it a good choice.
I hope we can pull this off! But no TV, if we can help it. I used to work with those fools, in a previous existence...
Hey all
Piffka - that is my whole little vacation. Looks like we're ditching vancouver so I can spend more time in Seattle!
Husker - it's looking like it might!
I like that sound of that brew oub, D'art!
I just got a monkey wrench - believe it or not the Mrs is going off to the Oregon Coast the same weekend (been planning for a while but never got conformation until 10 minutes ago). So if I come over it's going to get way more complicated and expensive having a 17 and 13 year old in tow, then I got to board the dog.
Yike Yikes Yikes!
Aye, the precise dates of my departure to the midwest. (Anywho, anywhere I might suggest to gather would likely not be so kid-friendly, so 'tis just as well.)
Feeling piratey today.
lil'k.... have you ever seen the Pacific Ocean, on the US west coast?
You might think about arriving in Seattle, via the coastal route. After crossing the Columbia River, north of Portland, turn left. When you get to the ocean, turn right and find a place to park and walk out onto the beach. The Pacific is not at all like the Atlantic. If you continue north, along the coastal route, you'll pass through the Quinault Rain Forest, which is really awesome. Moss hanging down from the trees. Thick underbrush. Be sure to visit the Quinault Lodge. You can follow that coastal route all the way around the furthest northwest tip of Washington, where you'll find Neah Bay. That's where they were doing the controversial whale hunting. The coastal route will eventually swing down into Puget Sound, and you can catch a ferry across to Seattle.
It would be an all-day drive, but well worth the time. It's really beautiful. What can I say, I love Washington!
Spot on, PaL. I'd even go a step further and urge you to spend two days out there, but that's just me (and you've a good chance of running into tons of rain, it being March in or near a temperate rain forest and all)...
Hi patiodog.... I've convinced myself to take this drive! I need to find a B&B or a cabin or a motel that allows a dog. A very well-behaved Border Collie, who wants to play frisbee on the beach!!
Also, in March, you might run into a kite festival at one of the ocean beaches!!
Yikes, little k, that's not a very long time! Arrive Wednesday, have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and go home on Sunday? Boohoo. I think that, if your sister is anything like mine, she is going to be expecting to show you HER STATE! She may not even be too excited about your spending much time with your cyber friends.
The drive around the Olympic Peninsula, is truly wonderful, but takes many hours. There are also major portions of boredom and there have been some horrible clearcuts around Forks. I was along part of it two years ago and did the whole loop from Grays Harbor and around (in three days) about five years ago. As a child we used to spend every summer near Neah Bay because my dad adored salmon fishing.
It is indeed a wonderful place, but not so good if you don't have time to get out of the car and "BE" there. If you had a week, you would love it. This is what you'd see... Long Beach is OK, but the road situation makes it totally out of the way.... then you'll be sorely disappointed with most of the roadside views, since the old logging and fishing towns along that way are among the poorest in the state. Quinault has a great lodge and a few short trails that would give you a feel for the rain forest. It's an hour or more from Aberdeen to Quinault on a drive through deep forest using mostly two-lane (one way, each way) roads, then another hour to reach Kalaloch, which opens out on the beach and is truly great, a wonderful place to stop. Kalaloch is one of the few bits of Washington coastline that is as nice as the Oregon coast. (BTW, Peace & Love, the Kalaloch Lodge cottages used to allow dogs, I think they still do. You'd love it.) However, you must have reservations and even then, I don't know if you could get them for a weekend. Then it is at least an hour to Forks, and then two hours to Neah Bay on two-lane winding roads along the Strait with some nice views. Neah Bay does have a great native museum, but not a lot else unless you want to bushwhack. Shi Shi Beach and Cape Flattery being totally great, but the roads are mud and muck as are the trails. Backtrack to Sol Duc, for another two hours which I think would be closed; too bad because the hot springs are nice. You could hang out at pretty Lake Crescent... a nice lodge, but also maybe closed. Let's see, once you reach Port Angeles, you'd have to drive in snow for most of an hour up and down from Hurricane Ridge (which I love), Port Angeles being, I'm sorry, ho-hum, though better than Grayland, Gray's Harbor, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Ocean Shores, etc. Sequim doesn't have much either; the Dungeness Spit is amazing, but is many miles long... a gorgeous walk even if you only do a little bit of it. The trail through the forest to the beach is great in and of itself. Then there's Port Townsend, which is arty and has a good waterfront. You could hang a ferry ride from there to Whidbey Island and go up to Deception Pass, which has world-class views or you could go to North Seattle via Kingston. Iin the same amount of time it takes to get from Portland to the tip of Longbeach, you could be in Seattle.
If you wanted to see some of the Peninsula, which I truly recommend, I would suggest going north on Interstate 5 until you reach Olympia, where you could pick up 101. Take 101 north through Shelton and on to the Skokomish Reservation and then either go east along that south end of Hood Canal (where Bill Gates has a summer place), there is a nice boardwalk bird sanctuary on the way, and then to Bremerton and the Seattle Ferry, or (gasp) continue north on 101 all the way to Port Townsend, then back to cross the Hood Canal bridge and go to Kingston and the Edmonds ferry. It would take you an extra three hours (ie. four-five hours altogether), not counting time at Port Townsend or on the ferry, but you'd get to see something of the Sound.
Another idea would be to go on the trip east through the Columbia Gorge (please at least see Multnomah Falls) and then go north to Toppenish, Yakima and meet interstate 90 at Ellensburg (also very arty). Take interstate 90 westbound over Snoqualamie Pass and you'd get to see mountains and skiers. On a clear day it is about 2.5 hours from Ellensburg to downtown Seattle because you're on a fast freeway. You could do that in a long day, leaving Portland early, hitting the Maryhill Museum at lunch, Ellensburg for an afternoon snack and Seattle by dinner. You'd be on good roads all the way except for the road from Maryhill to Toppenish, which is, I think, just a two-lane, but not too bad. (Note, if you're a fan of Sherman Alexie, the Seattle-Ellensburg I-90 route is the one he mentions in his books. Elk Heights is one of my favorite all-time car view spots.) Eastern WA would probably be totally gorgeous, not dried out and brown yet, very sunny and full of trees and fields just starting their spring growth. Could be gorgeous if the pass is relatively clear of snow. Definitely you should make plans and have alternates based on the possibilities of weather! You are going to wish you had more time!
Sure would like to add my .02c worth, but it seems the experts have already provided you with plenty to do. I can assure of one thing: you're going to enjoy yourself and love it! c.i.
The "Insomniac" show (caustic comedian Dave Attell wandering through a different city in the middle of the night each week) did Portland recently. There's some bar/club in the remains of an old school -- multiple rooms, cafeteria, lockers and everything. Weird. Makes me want to get on down there (accustomed, as I am, to just driving through, except for that one harrowing Blazers playoff game I went to a couple of years back).
Sorry to hear that you wont be around Pdog and Husker!
P&L, I've been to the pacific coast from San Diego (as a kid) to Marin County. Never been to OR or WA. I'd love to cruise the coastal route.
Piffka, I'll have to map out your ideas another time......
Oh, and the tix are booked to and from portland, the 25th to the 30th.
