Seattle Vacation Ideas

Lunch on a raft, with a chance to observe the rugged scenery of the north Cascades?  Stopping off for a picnic lunch and wine tasting at the Glacier Peak Winery? Sounds like a nice way to spend the day to me. 

This 8-10 mile float covers the area where you will be able to view the best scenery. The trip takes about 4 hours and is suitable for all ages (6 and up) as there is no white water.  Bring your cameras for the many photo opportunities.

The trips depart from Rockport, on Highway 20, about 2.5 hours north of Seattle.  Prices haven’t been updated since December, and the web page talks about items from last fall, but I just saw an ad for these guys through a local excursion catalogue, so I know they’re still in operation.

http://www.pacificnwfloattrips.com/Skagit%20River%20Float%20with%20Wine%20Tasting.htm

If it’s been a while (or ever) since you spent quality time with a llama, maybe now is the time. Or rather, the weekend of June 22-24, 2007 is the time. That’s when you can attend the annual Backcountry Llama Rendezvous and Drive-in.

Hosted at the Emigrant Springs Campground in Oregon State Park (26 miles SE of Pendleton just off I-84), the llama lovers get-together is designed to educate folks about llamas in a fun way. If you’re a llama owner, you can bring your llama, but newcomers are invited to come as well. If you have kids who are interested in animals (what kids aren’t?), this could be a fun family adventure.

Some of the weekend’s activities include a movie night (they’re showing a National Geographic flick that’s related to the festivities, I’m sure) with all-you-can-eat popcorn and homemade root beer, a seminar on backcountry camping, a GPS treasure hunt, llama races, and a demonstration on “how to track and locate your pack llama(s) in the wilderness if he/she runs off or wanders away.” I imagine the latter event is most popular with actual llama owners, but it’d be fun to watch even if you’re not planning on bringing any new pack animals home to your suburban backyard.

More information at Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch.

 Ah, the beauties and wonders of Oregon, the beach, Portland, and of course, cheese!  Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but I do like cheese and Tillamook Cheddar is really tasty!  If you want to see a commercial cheese factory in operation, this is a great destination.  They have a thorough self-guided tour complete with maps and kiosks that will let you explore at your own pace.  I know that I’m often the one who wants to spend forever reading placards and the guide is three rooms beyond me.  This way, my friends can speed along and I’ll be able to meet up with them in the Farmhouse Cafe, or atthe Fudge or Ice Cream counter. Where they can sample to their heart’s content.

The cost is free, for the tour at least.  As with most locations, there is a gift shop where, if you feel too rich, you can trade your cash for cow trinkets, cheese for your loved ones back home, or samples of their other products or accompaniments for your cheese.

The Tillamook site also lists some other ideas of places to visit nearby if you want to extend your time in cheese country.  For a complete tour and more, check out http://www.tillamookcheese.com/VisitorsCenter/

If you’re up for a road trip over the pass, or you’re heading that direction anyway, you might want to detour to Gingko Petrified Forest State Park. It is located 30 miles east of Ellensburg.

The 7,470-acre park is a registered national natural landmark because it contains the remains of one of the most unusual fossil forests in the world, including some of the rarest types of petrified wood ever found.

Outside the visitors’ center, the landscaping is made up of dozens of petrified logs. Inside the center, you can find many displays of polished cross-sections of petrified wood, including examples of the more than fifty species of petrified trees that have been found in the park. There are also remains of prehistoric animals that once roamed present-day Washington State.

In addition to petrified trees, you can visit a display featuring Native American petroglyphs, that were cut from the nearby cliffs before they disappeared under waters from the Wanapum Dam, built in 1953. The site included more than 300 separate figures, which were carved centuries ago by the Wanapum Indians. Some 60-odd petroglyphs were salvaged and cemented into place behind the center.

Park hours:

Summer: 6:30 a.m. to dusk.
Winter: 8 a.m. to dusk.

Camping spots are available.

Gingko Petrified Forest

If a vacation where all you have to do is sit back, enjoy the wind in your hair, and keep an eye out for orca whales sounds pleasant to you, then you might look into one of the outfits that offers sailboat tours of the San Juan Islands and other beautiful Puget Sound destinations.

Emerald Island Sailing Charters offers a “Southern Great Bear Rainforest/Inside Passage” tour that sails between Orcas Island and Bella Bella, B.C. This true marine wilderness gives you the chance to see humpback, gray, and orca whales as well as dolphins. Peer landward and you might spot grizzly and black bears.

Some of the other highlights of the tour can include good salmon and halibut fishing, warm saltwater swimming in Desolation Sound, and a chance to experience native culture (you’ll visit the U’mista Cultural Center of the Kwakwak’wakw in the Broughton Archipelago area, where you can see totem poles, longhouse ruins, and other remains from the people who once lived there).

As for the accommodations, staterooms house two, most meals are provided (including wine), and there will be a maximum of 6 passengers, so it’s quite a bit more private and quiet than a cruise ship.

More information at Emerald Island Sailing

While Seaside, OR is a bit further out of Seattle than I choose to write about,  my parents just got back from a vacation down the Oregon coast and talked about what a fun time they had. 

Seaside is the northwest’s oldest destination beach town.  People have been vacationing here since the mid-1800s.  A long time when most of the cities out here were founded in the 1860s or later.  Seaside is located northwest of Portland, west of Kelso and Longview Washington. 

I’ve been to Ocean Shores many times as a kid and guess I expected something similar.  While both have miles of sandy beaches (Seaside boasts 3-miles of boardwalk and great sand.)  However, Seaside definitely has some stuff going on that Ocean Shores doesn’t including visiting an aquarium right on the beach.  If you go on May 25, you can get in for $0.15 if you’re an adult and just $0.10 if you’re a kid (or brought them with you.)  The aquarium is celebrating it’s 70th anniversary and so you can get in for the 1937 prices!

If you’re into golf, biking, hiking, theater, or just want to take in the local sites via helicopter, then they’ve got it for you here. This is also the end of the Lewis & Clark Trail, so if you’re a history buff, check out the local Expedition information.

Seaside’s Visitors Buearu can be found here: http://www.seasideor.com/

Just over 27 years ago this weekend, Mt. Saint Hellen’s erupted, blowing off the north-face in an explosion that is unrivaled by anything else in the lower-48 states in recorded history.  Forests & glaciers were instantly destroyed, and a total of 57 people died.   Spirit Lake, once a popular camping lake was temporarily displaced by the devastation but it recovering well and even has fish in it now!

I’ve seen the City of Castle Rock listed on many a drive south on I-5, and always wondered about the city.  I didn’t realize it was know as the gateway to Mt. St. Helens.  The state of Washington has designated SR-504 the Spirit Lake Memorial Byway.  It’s about an hour and 15 minutes to drive this scenic designation and view all of the disaster and recovery that the area has seen in the last 30 years or so.

The town’s namesake, a 190-foot-high rock, was a landmark for Cowlitz Indians and Hudson’s Bay Company traders as early as 1832. Castle Rock prospered as a Cowlitz River steamboat port and trading center for valley farms. A local sawmill was the first to produce cedar shingles, using the Western red cedar, which grows in abundance in the region.

The city also has a short riverfront park/trail, as well as a skate park and a bike park. 

For more information check out the City of Castle Rock’s website: http://www.ci.castle-rock.wa.us/index.htm

If you’ve got an aviation fanatic in the family, a tour of the Boeing facility might be appreciated.

Seattle Tours runs a 4-hour trip that lets you see airplanes in various stages of flight test and manufacture. The complex itself is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest building in the world by volume. The building encloses 472 million cubic feet of space (13.3 million cubic meters), and its footprint covers 98.3 acres. It houses the assembly for Boeing’s wide-body aircrafts, such as the 747, 767, and 777.

The tour also takes in the educational Future of Flight Center.

Prices run about $60, and tours leave at 7:30 am and 12:30 pm, daily from May through October (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from November through April).

Seattle Tours

Summer is all about free festivals, right?  Well, more and more frequently the festivals are charging entrance fees.  One of Seattle’s oldest festivals, Folklife, is still free.

Every year over Memorial Day Weekend, 250,000 people will flock to the Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World’s Fair. They will be treated to street performers, world music, dancing, singing, a short film festival, and more. World Vendors offer their crafts: sarongs, drums, baskets, masks, furniture and more.

Folklike is also one of the more interactive festivals. Street performers are encouraged to show their skills, impromptu drum circles are not uncommon, dance lessons abound, as do kids activities. This event is aimed at the whole family and runs 11:00 AM-11 PM Friday-Monday, Memorial Day weekend. Parking can be a nightmare, but Metro offers lots of buses to and from the festival. If you park at one of several Metro park and rides, you can avoid lots of the hassle. Cost is usually $2 each way.

It seems that all children go through phases where they love such-and-such animal and can’t get enough posters, stickers, binders, etc. featuring their favorite. Mine was wolves (with horses right up there in the running), but I never did get to visit any in person. There’s always the zoo, but if you live in the Puget Sound area (or are visiting), you could visit Wolf Haven, which is down south of Olympia in Tenino.

The facility rescues captive-born wolves that are on the chopping block (given up by private collectors, roadside zoos, research facilities, etc.) and gives them plots of land to roam and do wolfy things on. Guided tours let you see the wolves and offer educational information on the species, the value of all wildlife, and how to protect the remaining wild wolves and their habitats.

Wolf Haven also has a program where you can “adopt a wolf.” No, you don’t take it home to live on your sofa; you’re basically sponsoring it, but you do get a photo of your wolf, which you can take home and post above the sofa.

Tours run every hour on the hour, every day except Tuesdays:

“Guided tours are approximately 45-50 minutes and cover a variety of educational information on wolves; wolf biology and ecology; and recovery programs and conservation. Information on Wolf Haven’s work for wolf conservation and background information on sanctuary residents is also provided by our trained knowledgeable volunteer tour guides.”

http://www.wolfhaven.org