Seattle, Pacific NW. Oregon and Washington States Road Trip

wongataa

Mount St Helens is worth a visit, especially if the weather is good enough to see it.
If you make it California the redwoods in the north of the state are good to see.
If you like Twin Peaks head inland from Seattle to North Bend & Snoqualmie Falls to see some of the locations.

hyperfish

Thanks. Probably won't get as far as Cali. I'll pick a return route past Mt St Helens. Snoqualmie Falls looks like a good spot on the final leg.

AMc

The Chihuly glass exhibition next to the Space Needle is great - or it was when we visited back in 2013 when it was brand new.
Chihuly Garden and Glass

The Space Needle is also good - can't see it on your map.

I'd check out Mount St Helen's on your way down or back - the visitor centre is OK.
Seeing the trees still flattened across the mountainsides after so many years is quite a sight.
Day we visited there was a lot of low cloud so the actual peak wasn't really visible, still worth the drive.

Crater Lake is beautiful.  We stayed at the Motor Lodge at the bottom of the hill and booked a meal at the Restaurant on the rim.  Frankly the meal was a waste of money and pretty terrible.  We didn't even get seated near to a window.  However there is a terrace and you can just turn up and buy a drink - that would be my recommendation.
We drove the whole rim road.  If I were going back I'd consider spending more time there and treking down to the boat tour.
Boat Tours | Crater Lake National Park | TravelCraterLake.com

Be warned that accommodation there is scarce, we turned up with a prebooked room they were on the cusp of offering to someone else as we were a little late.  The official campsite was fully booked out too.  The main hotel was fully booked months in advance.

hyperfish

Thanks. I've dropped a pin for the gardens, I already have the needle marked. Pinned the boat dock too.
Good call about accommodation, I'll do some research.

AMc

If you can’t get in we had lunch in Bend about an hour and a half north. Cute little town. Might be worth a look.

Most places we just turned up, the only places we had booked between Seattle and LA were Crater Lake and San Francisco.

hyperfish

Yep, Bend is on the list.

No schedule or fixed itinerary is the way we do things. Just a set of options to consider.

Donnacha

Hi mate - knowing you like your music I'd suggest the music museum beside the Space Needle....lots of Hendrix stuff as well as loads about the grunge era and other Seattle bands. I really enjoyed it. Pike Place Market is also good if you like food !! We also did a trip out to Banbridge Island on the ferry....nice way to see the skyline.....and contrary to popular belief it didn't rain that much (but that was probably an exception )

We only stayed a few days before moving on to Alaska, but it was a really nice stay !

hyperfish

Cheers mate. I'll add those to the map.

nabby

The music museum by the Space Needle is the Museum of Pop Culture

I'd also recommend Mt Rainier National Park (the massive dormant volcano that you can see from all around Seattle).  You can drive up to the Lodge there.

Don't overlook that shopping in Oregon is free of sales tax.  That'll make it circa 9% less than Seattle (and Washington state).

DOBLY

Sorry - bit late to the party.

You seem to have Seattle sorted - enjoy!

MoPOP was great - when we were there it wasn't called that but looks similar.

Bend is a great little town to have a wander about in - we stayed there a couple of nights and had great food I seem to remember.

We had a convertible, so driving up to Crater Lake with the roof off was an experience - 20ft of snow at the side of the road in places!  The rim road was mostly closed to vehicles when we were there, so we had a good long walk on the snow - stunning place!