AndiLast summer, we spent 10 days seeing the Pacific Northwest on a road trip. I was able to visit Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and a little bit of California in 10 days! The Pacific Northwest is a beautiful area that you MUST visit! If you are short on time, I’ve detailed my trip so you can get ideas on what is possible. My philosophy for travel is fit in as much as I can, because I never know if I’ll get back to the area. I can always sleep when I get home, lol. I know that doesn’t work for most, but my husband tolerates me.
Day 1: Montana
I flew to Spokane solo, rented a car and then headed towards Whitefish, Montana. One of my good friends moved there a year ago and this was my first opportunity to come visit. Technically Montana is not part of the pacific northwest, but I couldn’t be this close and not visit her!
I stopped for a quick breakfast at Frank’s Diner in Spokane, super cute! It’s in a train car!
I took the scenic route by accident, but it was gorgeous! Of course, I’m from Dallas, so any kind of elevation makes me happy.
Stopped in Libby at Kootenai Falls and Swinging bridge. Very easy to get to, right off the highway. Short walk to a beautiful waterfall in one direction and a swinging bridge in the other. It was perfect. Just what I needed after being in a car and plane for hours.
Finally made it to my friend’s house. So jealous of her, she wakes up to mountains every day now!
Day 2: Montana
First full day of fun! We explored the cute downtown area of Whitefish in the morning.
For the afternoon, we went to Glacier National Park. We rented a small boat and went out on Lake McDonald. Gorgeous!! Unfortunately, it down poured after that, so we headed back to her house.
We had Kobe Steak & Sushi for dinner, Hibachi style, very good!
Sweet Peaks ice cream for dessert. Huckleberry ice cream was hands down the best!!!
Day 3: Montana
My last day in the area, and it happened to be the first day the Going to the Sun road opened in Glacier National Park!!! I had been watching that website daily for the past couple weeks hoping the road would open. It was so awesome, it has its own post.
After the park, I packed up the car and started back towards Spokane.
I stopped at Lake Coeur d’ Alene in Idaho to view the scenery and get out of the car.
Quick note, we decided on a Pacific Northwest road trip so we could visit my son who was playing for a drum corp in the Seattle area. He called while I was in route to Spokane and told me he had a few free hours the next morning to hang out. My plan was NOT to drive all night to be in La Conner, Washington the next morning, so I don’t recommend it!
The original plan included hanging out by Lake Coeur d’Alene longer. If the timing was right I would have loved to kayak around this beautiful lake. Dinner at Capone’s Pub, because I try and hit all the Triple D places I can while I travel (Diners, Drive Ins and Dives). Relaxing in a hotel in Spokane, getting up early and seeing a bit of this city and then driving towards La Conner going through the North Cascades National Park via the east entrance.
A few things to note about Montana:
*Try huckleberry everything!!! I had pie, ice cream and huckleberry lemonade! Seriously, you can’t go wrong!
*Cell reception sucks!!! Have a map, know where you’re going.
*Slow down and look for wildlife. On my way to Spokane, I saw a bear running in a field!! So cool!!
Day 4: Washington
I stopped at Snoqualmie Falls as soon as the sun was coming up….it was an ungodly hour. I don’t even remember the time. Unfortunately, it was very foggy, so I could not see the waterfall at all. I heard it, but the clouds would not lift. It’s supposed to be beautiful, maybe next time.
I arrived in La Conner with some time to kill, so I drove around the area. It’s super cute!! And very small! Nothing was open, because it was still freaking early, so I just headed to wait in the parking lot for my son to come out. I may or may not have fallen asleep….
Anyways, my son had a few free hours and we were going to make the most of it. We drove to Deception Pass and hiked down to the coast. Beautiful area!!! It was still kinda foggy, but it made for some cool pictures with the bridge.
North Cascades National Park was my main goal today after I dropped him back off. It was AMAZING!! Enough to have its own post as well. This is a must do on a Pacific Northwest road trip!
As if the day couldn’t be longer, my hubby had a late flight coming to meet me. So, I drove to Seattle around midnight to pick him up and then drove back to the La Conner area. Needless to say, when my head hit that pillow, I was out!!
Day 5: Washington
Started the day early with breakfast at Frank’s Place on Whidbey Island. Good food and a patriotic theme, you could tell he was a veteran.
Watched Austin play for a bit before heading to the Anacortes ferry.
Took the ferry to Friday Harbor, very cool experience! I’ve been on a ferry before, but not with this kind of scenery. It took about an hour to get there. FYI, very cold and windy! Bring a warm jacket.
We met up with some friends and they took us on a tour of San Juan Island. Post is here. This is another must do in the Pacific Northwest!
Day 6: Washington
Left San Juan island and stopped at a roadside stand that sold huckleberry ice cream! YUM!
Mount Rainier was our top destination today.
After a few hours, we finally spotted the mountain. GORGEOUS!!! I think I stopped at almost every turnoff and took a million photos.
We went to the Paradise visitor center to get my passport stamped and a better look up the mountain. Hiking a couple easy trails was on our agenda, but Patrick’s ankle was hurting so we weren’t able. I’m honestly not sure we would have had the time anyways. It took a lot longer to get there and around the mountain than I thought. This is definitely a day trip in and of itself if you plan on doing any hiking. Mount Rainier must be added to every Pacific Northwest road trip itinerary!
We tried to make it to Mount St. Helens before the sunset, but we were about 30 minutes to late ☹ Not gonna lie, I was disappointed. I also knew that it would have been a miracle to fit everything in as well, so I got over it quickly. One more reason to go back to the area. We did see it from a distance and that was pretty cool.
Portland was our next stop. Powell’s Books and VooDoo Donuts were the must dos here. Powell’s claims to be the largest independent bookstore in America. It was HUGE! I love bookstores, so I just had to check it out and of course buy a couple books!
VOODOO Doughnuts had the weird theme going on. Definitely fit the whole Portland vibe! The donuts we got were huge and delish! I will be back. FYI, cash only!
We drove for a couple more hours to get a head start on our destination for tomorrow.
Day 7: Oregon & California
Crater Lake National Park!!!
I feel like I’ve said this all week, but this place was GORGEOUS!!! It had the bluest water I’ve ever seen. It took about an hour to drive around the lake. We learned so much about volcanos at the visitor center. This volcano explosion was like a 100x bigger than Mount St. Helens! Crazy!!
Apparently, you can drink the water out of this lake, because the lake is enclosed. The water is all from rain and snowmelt. This is also the deepest lake in America. Another must do that should be on every Pacific Northwest road trip!
When we were done, we made our way towards Cali! We stopped for lunch at the cutest quirkiest place in Shady Grove called Mac’s Diner. It’s in an older home by a river.
Redwood National Park was up next! I’ve wanted to come here forever!!! There’s a ton of different Redwood areas and we only saw a little bit, but it was INCREDIBLE!!! We did a couple small hikes, because how could we NOT!!
We headed back towards Oregon and tried to watch the sunset from the coast. Our pizza ended up taking to long and we missed it.
Day 8: Oregon
Most of the day was spent on the Oregon Coast. Click here for all the details. The Oregon coast is beautiful! I could have spent many more days here. It is a must do for every Pacific Northwest road trip!
In the evening we finally made it to Washington. Stopped at the Quinault Rain Forest for a quick hike.
We made our way to Ruby Beach for the sunset. Again the weather was not cooperating and it was very cloudy. However, the area was still beautiful. It was a small hike down to the beach and I was worried we’d be tripping over everything after it got dark, but we were fine. There was a good amount of light to see going back and we stayed down there at least 30 minutes after the sunset.
Day 9: Washington
Forks Washington- Home of the Twilight series! Yes, I was a Twilight fan and you can click here for more details on Forks.
Olympic National Park is huge! There are many different areas of the park with a lot of diversity. I only hit a tiny portion, but I plan on coming back to see the rest. This park should be on your Pacific Northwest road trip agenda!
I got up early to take a hike solo in Hoh Rain Forest. The hubby’s ankle was still bothering him. This place was amazing!
We drove through Olympic National park towards Port Angeles. There was a beautiful lake.
We were going to try and drive to the Hurricane Ridge visitor center, but it was raining, and we didn’t have much time. Port Angeles was such a cute town! I wanted to eat at Bella Italia, but they were only open for dinner and we decided to rush through everything to try and see Austin this evening.
Purple Haze was a must do! Even though I already went to a lavender farm on San Juan Island, I had to see another one!
This one was bigger and sold white chocolate lavender ice cream! Ugh, yes, please! It was good, not as good as the huckleberry but still good. I spent way too much money in that lavender gift shop.
Made it to Port Townsend for the ferry. We walked around town until the ferry was ready to leave.
The rest of the day was spent watching Austin and then driving to our hotel in downtown Seattle.
Day 10: Seattle
Seattle Day! A must see city in Pacific Northwest!
First stop, Biscuit Bi$%#! for breakfast. Yummy! I got there 15 minutes before it opened for the day. By the time it did open, the line was already 20 people long!
Hopped on the monorail and headed to the Seattle Center. Seriously people, Seattle has a monorail! I almost said the Disney phrase when I got on “ Please stand clear of the doors…” Finally got to see the iconic Space Needle. It was under construction, so people recommended not going until it was complete. Plus, it was of course, cloudy.
Chihuly Garden and Glass has been on my bucket list for a while, so I was thrilled to finally be here. Crazy beautiful and amazing. I probably stayed here less than an hour.
Next stop, Museum of Pop Culture. I stayed a little over an hour here, but I did rush to meet back up with Patrick. Favorite exhibits: Marvel, Nirvana and the Fantasy area. You can read more about it here.
Pike Place is overwhelmingly amazing!!! So much to see and eat! And it’s super crowded!! We ended up staying here a couple hours longer than planned since it was cold and rainy.
The rest of the day was spent looking for a Walmart or Target. I bought way too many souvenirs, so we had to buy another suitcase to get everything back home….whoops.
Summary:
Looking back over the whole trip, it was a LOT of driving! Like between 40-50 hours…the Pacific Northwest is huge! But I’m so glad I got to see all that I did! Obviously, this itinerary isn’t for everyone, but hopefully it’ll help some who are on a time budget or some who have a couple weeks and can spend their time enjoying the different areas. The Pacific Northwest is such a beautiful area with so much to do! There’s something for everyone!
Bonus that I got some girl time and hubby time. We haven’t had a vacay with out kids in over 10 years, so this was much needed!
