Pacific Northwest Aug 2019 - Day 21 & 22 Back to Portland, home and final thoughts

[katiebaz]

After a bit of lie in as we knew that today was mainly a driving day we wondered over to the diner next to the motel for breakfast. We all filled up on eggs, bacon, pancakes etc and were sad to think that our trip was coming to an end. We bid a fond farewell to the lovely owners of the Quinault River Inn then drove to the Quinault lodge for one last swim in the lake and paddle board before the long drive back to Portland.

The drive took about 6 hours and Steve and I took it in turns to drive. It seemed to take a hugely long time to reach Interstate 5 as the road was mainly single carriageway and seemed to go on forever. After not finding any towns we eventually stopped for lunch at a Jack-in-the-Box enjoying their cheesy tator tots and various hot sauces for the burgers. We arrived in Portland late-afternoon, back to the hotel near the airport where we had stopped in on our first night which seemed an eternity ago.

We checked in and had a swim in the indoor pool before heading out for the last meal of our trip. Nearby there was a branch of an Oregon chain of diners, called Shari’s Café and Pies so we decided to eat there. We had a really lovely dinner of steaks and burgers, served by very friendly staff and of course had to follow with a piece of pie. Steve and I shared the peach pie and ice-cream which was delicious and wished we had room for more.

Back at the hotel we re-packed our cases, did the online check-in for our flight and got a fairly early night as we knew we had an early start and long flight the next day.

Our flight back was all fine but took a very long time. As with our outward journey, our connecting flights had changed times since we booked so we ended up with a layover of 5 hours at San Francisco. All our flights went smoothly, it was just a lot of hanging around and we certainly would try to avoid such long layovers in future.

Final thoughts and reflections:
We absolutely LOVED the Pacific Northwest and would definitely return. The National Parks and State Parks are stunning and there is so much to do, particularly if you enjoy the outdoors. If we were doing it again, we would stay longer at Bend to explore more of the surrounding state parks, possibly take the Whale watching trip from Seattle and not bother with the trip to Port Townsend. We also didn’t rate the Columbia River Gorge as highly as other areas and would miss this out in favour of longer at Mount Rainier National Park. All in all a great trip and hope you have enjoyed reading along.

[Wordsworth]

I’ve really enjoyed your report, many thanks for taking the time to write it. Definitely somewhere I’d like to visit.

[katiebaz]

Originally Posted by Wordsworth

I’ve really enjoyed your report, many thanks for taking the time to write it. Definitely somewhere I’d like to visit.

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Thank you and I have been meaning to write it for months - the only advantage of furlough is finally having time to get it done

[CrispyA]

What a fantastic trip - it’s an area we’d love to visit so I’ve been making a note of places. Thank you so much for sharing your holiday.

[katiebaz]

Originally Posted by CrispyA

What a fantastic trip - it’s an area we’d love to visit so I’ve been making a note of places. Thank you so much for sharing your holiday.

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It really was amazing and I would go back in a heartbeat. Happy to answer any questions you have and think you would love it there.

[tocpe321]

Thanks for writing this report and for your final thoughts. I'm still reading through it, but not necessarily in the right order.



Please can you tell me how you found the cost of accomodation and flights compared to other places in America at this time of year.

Many thanks.

[katiebaz]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

Thanks for writing this report and for your final thoughts. I'm still reading through it, but not necessarily in the right order.



Please can you tell me how you found the cost of accomodation and flights compared to other places in America at this time of year.

Many thanks.

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We got bargain flights by flying indirect to Portland - around £400pp with BA. I had been searching direct to Seattle which was coming up very expensive but changing airports proved much cheaper.

We found accommodation more pricey than other states, but think this was more due to the poor exchange rate. Seattle was hugely expensive so we went for Air B&B which was great and our cabin at Mount Rainier was around £175 per night. Places like Bend were under £100 per night but the national park accommodation was around £150 -£200 per night.

Hope this helps

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by katiebaz

We got bargain flights by flying indirect to Portland - around £400pp with BA. I had been searching direct to Seattle which was coming up very expensive but changing airports proved much cheaper.

We found accommodation more pricey than other states, but think this was more due to the poor exchange rate. Seattle was hugely expensive so we went for Air B&B which was great and our cabin at Mount Rainier was around £175 per night. Places like Bend were under £100 per night but the national park accommodation was around £150 -£200 per night.

Hope this helps

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Many thanks.

That's really helpful.

[anji]

Thanks for doing this report - and so quickly! Brought back some great memories of our trip from Seattle to San Francisco. which I thought was our best ever holiday. Fingers crossed we go again this year

[katiebaz]

Originally Posted by anji

Thanks for doing this report - and so quickly! Brought back some great memories of our trip from Seattle to San Francisco. which I thought was our best ever holiday. Fingers crossed we go again this year

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We loved the whole area and fingers crossed for you too. Your report really helped when I was planning so thanks to you too