 CNTRSNIPR
"Ammo.. Currency of the Future"
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Posted: 7/25/2012 10:29:30 AM
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT Its 106 here today and very brown, sick of the heat, typically go to Colorado in Aug but want to do something different this year.. GF and I wanting to take a week off late August, flying in (Seattle) and renting a car, see the beach, mountains, maybe Seattle and Vancouver.. Prefer non urban setting, beachfront would be awesome.. Can anyone recommend any specific areas? Nothing fancy, no camping.. Short hiking trips would be nice and forests are the best.. Thx J |
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ScopeScar
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Posted: 7/25/2012 1:16:46 PM
BEACHOcean fishing? Going out of Ilwaco on the Columbia is one option.
Near Ilwaco is Longbeach which has many places to stay and a busy tourist strip. The beach is sandy and flat. Neah Bay is isolated and remote with some nice vistas. Ocean Shores is my least favorite, boring, flat and somehow uglier. A bit north is Copalis, There's a neat hotel in a crook of the road, might be: Echoes of the Sea, Ocean Shores 2898 WA-109, Ocean Shores, WA 98569 | (360)289-3358 You could visit Forks where the vampire series is "set". La Push is scenic. RAINFOREST Drive in a ways and walk on a trail into the rainforest. Try Lake Quinalt Lodge or some others on that lake. Mt. Rainier See if you can get accomodations at Longmire or Paradise. Drive around the mountain on the loop drive. Stop at Grove of the Patriarchs a very short walk amongst large trees. Drive over Chinook pass to Wine Country (hot climate, so maybe not). |
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CNTRSNIPR
"Ammo.. Currency of the Future"
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Posted: 7/25/2012 2:04:59 PM
Originally Posted By ScopeScar:
BEACHOcean fishing? Going out of Ilwaco on the Columbia is one option. Near Ilwaco is Longbeach which has many places to stay and a busy tourist strip. The beach is sandy and flat. Neah Bay is isolated and remote with some nice vistas. Ocean Shores is my least favorite, boring, flat and somehow uglier. A bit north is Copalis, There's a neat hotel in a crook of the road, might be: Echoes of the Sea, Ocean Shores 2898 WA-109, Ocean Shores, WA 98569 | (360)289-3358 You could visit Forks where the vampire series is "set". La Push is scenic. RAINFOREST Drive in a ways and walk on a trail into the rainforest. Try Lake Quinalt Lodge or some others on that lake. Mt. Rainier See if you can get accomodations at Longmire or Paradise. Drive around the mountain on the loop drive. Stop at Grove of the Patriarchs a very short walk amongst large trees. Drive over Chinook pass to Wine Country (hot climate, so maybe not). Thx, no boats,,, GF is easy queasy... lol.. I like the Rainier idea, hopefully this time of year it wont be as dreary and rainy as us flatlanders picture it. Starting to like the forest idea more than the beach... Ill check out the couple of places you suggested, thx J |
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Posted: 7/25/2012 4:56:26 PM
Ohanepecosh if you like campgrounds.
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SirJames556
X Y Z end of Fucking line...
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Posted: 7/26/2012 2:57:24 AM
[Last Edit: 7/26/2012 3:19:20 AM by SirJames556]
Do the Rainier loop, Paradise to Sunrise. Fooking nice up there. Go on a Monday or Tuesday and there wont be as many people. These were taken a couple weeks ago. Still lots of snow.
I know you said no boats, but something I like to do for folks that are not from around here is drive over the Narrows out to Bremerton and catch the ferry around dusk the views of the Seattle sky line from the ferry are pretty cool. Takes about an hour to cross. Sir James... |
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CNTRSNIPR
"Ammo.. Currency of the Future"
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Posted: 7/26/2012 12:10:12 PM
Originally Posted By SirJames556:
Do the Rainier loop, Paradise to Sunrise. Fooking nice up there. Go on a Monday or Tuesday and there wont be as many people. These were taken a couple weeks ago. Still lots of snow. I know you said no boats, but something I like to do for folks that are not from around here is drive over the Narrows out to Bremerton and catch the ferry around dusk the views of the Seattle sky line from the ferry are pretty cool. Takes about an hour to cross. Sir James... That looks awesome, great pics, and thanks for the ferry idea too, that sounds great.. J |
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Posted: 7/26/2012 12:10:57 PM
Another nice option is the 101 loop that goes around the Olympic Peninsula. Basically land in Seatte, drive south to Olympia and head west on 101. Go north to Port Angeles, then west to Neah Bay, then down through Forks (Twilight) and along the coast to Kalaloch (stay here). When you get to Hoquiam, head east to Olympia. The loop from Olympia is about 400 miles, so add in anoth 65 from Seattle. Lots of places to stay along the way, and you would get a taste of the mountains and the coast.
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Posted: 7/26/2012 2:57:32 PM
I can also recommend the North Cascade Loop, with specific stops at Ross Lake, Blue Lake, and Liberty Bell Overlook (I think that's it's name). Also check out Winthrop, Chelan, and Leavenworth.
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Posted: 7/26/2012 10:02:33 PM
if you're doing the 101 around the peninsula, check out the Hoh Rainforest. it's like stepping into the jungle primeval (with nice trails)
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Posted: 7/26/2012 11:05:31 PM
[Last Edit: 7/26/2012 11:06:17 PM by Rossi]
If you like beaches rather than mountains take a look at Sequim and the Orcas Islands. Almost unbeatable this time of the year. You can rent a cabin or a stay in a bed and bread and breakfast.
If you go to the Olympic peninsula, check Port Townsend and take a ferry from there to the islands or drive to Port Angeles and take a ferry to Vancouver Island (Canada) and check Victoria. Drive around Vancouver Island and take a ferry to Vancouver. Plenty of cool stuff to do. Then drive I-5 back south to Seattle. If you decide to do this call the Black Ball ferry line to reserve a place in the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. It gets packed. If you also like German food and mountains try Leavenworth. German food and beer is excellent. This time of the year is the best and make the rainy rest of the year worth living here. |
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Posted: 7/27/2012 1:17:20 PM
Port Townsend is pretty neat. You are only a couple of hours from the Olympic national rain forest, and there is lots of stuff to see in Port Townsend, or you can take the ferry to Seattle for the day. We have stayed at the Chevy Chase cabins, and really liked it. The view from many of the cabins is spectacular ocean view, just like you would hope for. The meadow house was the only one with cable tv, and it looked out onto a serene farm/lake kind of view that was pretty cool. I usually opted for the meadow house and cable TV rather than no TV in a smaller cabin.
Port Townsend is in a weird rain shadow, as is it's neighbor city Sequim. You can easily make it to Seattle for the day and see Pikes place market, the waterfront, and still make it out of the big city and back to Port Townsend for the evening. |
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Posted: 8/1/2012 1:11:14 AM
I second the Olympic Peninsula. If you don't want to drive around past Olympia, you can head toward the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, cross that, head on up to the Hood Canal Bridge, cross that and make your way to Port Townsend and Port Angeles. You can head further west from there and around the end of the peninsula. Lots of great hikes on the Olympic Peninsula. Be careful. You may find you don't want to go back to Missouri. I lived there for the better part of a decade and would be hard pressed to go back.
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Posted: 8/1/2012 8:16:09 AM
If you have time, then Leavenworth is a great place to visit for the afternoon, or stay overnight. It's modeled after a Bavarian village and there are always events going on in the summer on weekends.
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ScopeScar
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Posted: 8/1/2012 3:31:09 PM
Originally Posted By Crazyhorse26:
If you have time, then Leavenworth is a great place to visit for the afternoon, or stay overnight. It's modeled after a Bavarian village and there are always events going on in the summer on weekends. Seriously? The place is a ridiculous phony tourist stop. |
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Posted: 8/4/2012 8:39:58 PM
I thought some of the food in Leavenworth was pretty good. I REALLY enjoyed the beer sampler where I got about 10 different 4 ounce samples of the breweries goods. Walked back to the hotel from there... It was a neat place for Christmas stuff, even if it was touristy...the town takes the Christmas holiday/festival spirit more seriously than most other cities.
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Posted: 8/4/2012 10:32:18 PM
[Last Edit: 8/4/2012 10:33:16 PM by thesystem]
Just did bit of this myself when the inlaws came out.
Check out chinook pass on Mt. Rainier, it's my favorite spot between chinook and tipsoo lake. Mp 164 on sr 101 is ruby beach which is my fav that way. Try to get out there in the morning for low tide as there's more to see and you can walk out to some of the sea stacks. Leavenworth is fun if you want to go to a quasi German alpine village and they have a fun days worth of stuff to wander around and see. Mt st Helen's is nice as long as you can see the volcano with no fog and if you feel like going to Oregon just a bit farther down I like multnomah falls and some of the other spots in the Portland area. They aren't WA but they are very close. |
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Posted: 8/5/2012 4:47:07 AM
[Last Edit: 8/5/2012 6:04:34 AM by Tweak]
North Cascades Highway, Diablo Lake.
  
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Posted: 8/5/2012 1:58:56 PM
If you end up doing North Cascades it should be mentioned that Sauk Mountain is probably the best views for the least effort around. In a few hours you can take in quite a few excellent views.
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Posted: 8/5/2012 6:50:03 PM
drive the cascade loop
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Madcap72
I wish all the ladies, were holes in the road...
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Posted: 8/5/2012 10:54:49 PM
Originally Posted By ScopeScar: Originally Posted By Crazyhorse26: If you have time, then Leavenworth is a great place to visit for the afternoon, or stay overnight. It's modeled after a Bavarian village and there are always events going on in the summer on weekends. Seriously? The place is a ridiculous phony tourist stop. True, it was remodeled as a tourist trap in the 60's BUT... It's still an awesome little town, and a great place to take wives and girlfriends. The Beer and Cheese shop has some of the best bottled beers from all over the world, the scenery is amazing, there are good bed and breakfasts that are especially affordable in the off season. It's a great turn around point for some of the muscle car cruises I've done as well. My buddies and I have some Cabins rented up there for Oktoberfest this year. The amount of young attractive women that show up are amazing. To anyone interested in that, the KOA campground is money! |
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