We are flying back to the West Coast in June and have a week to explore OR and WA. What is a must see and do?
Any tips are greatly appreciated. :D

Of course the Pike Place Market the Seattle Waterfront and the Snoqualmie falles they have a beautiful hotel!

we hope to one day MH that direction, so, I'll be following this post!

I'm from Seattle. What Jade said. I suggest you do the Oregon coast. I think it's much nicer than WA coast.

There is a wonderful little quilt shop called Undercover Quilts in Pike Place Market!

There is a salmon cruise (on a ferry) that leaves from the piers just north of downtown seattle, goes over to one of the islands. There is an native american museum and story telling ... and a wonderful salmon dinner. It is a little pricey, but I felt that I got a feel for the place even though I grew up there. And a fantastic dinner ... fresh seafood is the only seafood.

Do you have little ones? The Newport Aquarium in Newport Oregon. They even have indoor tide pools.

For adults and/or children...
2011 World Beat Festival. June 25 & 26, 2011. Riverfront Park, Salem. Ad Rate Sheet. Salem Multicultural Institute. P.O. Box 4611, Salem, OR 97302 ...

www.worldbeatfestival.org/.../2011%20Festival%20Ad%20Rate%20Sheet. pdf

Now if your shopping for fabric...
McMinnville, Or has two LQS Just let me know if you want details. :)

The Oregon Jamboree is a "Do not miss". It is held in Sweet home, OR. google it.

I'm only familiar with the northern part of Oregon ...

Mt Hood & Columbia River Gorge are beautiful, great hiking.

In June the area should be in full bloom, so check out some of the public gardens in and around Portland.

I live in Wash. But as a kid lived in OR. The best Place is 'Silver Creek Falls State Park' near Silverton, OR. It has up to 7- 14 water falls on a hike you can take! One that you walk behind! cool!
Also in the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge theres a lot of cool sites, water falls one that starts with a 'M' I can't spell it but its very well known!
8-)

The falls is Multnomah falls - it's just beautiful!!

Oh Lord! what about Fabric Depot in Portland, OR THE bigest fabric store in the USA LOL can't past that up!!

Oh Rats hit send again!

Yes thats it! glad someone can spell around here!

Multnomah Falls.... yes, beautiful... we camped there and sat at our picnic table in the dark as the woman in the site next to us undressed in the light of her car... dh got quite an eyefull that night. lol! Oh the memories.... that was a fun trip. Go up to Mount Hood - in the Lodge you can get a nice ploughman's lunch upstairs (at least we did in '96 on our 10th anniversary)with an incredible view of the summit of Mt Hood... and the stars at night up in the mountains are incredible!!
And definitely drive down the coastal side of the Cascades - gorgeous!!! Crater Lake is incredible.
(Ok, I just reread this and have to add that we didn't just sit there and watch that woman - it was just all of a sudden that she whipped her top off - we didn't have time to react before we saw it all! lol!!)

I've never been to Washington - yet. But we definitely want to go to the Olympia Rain Forest!

Thank you all for the great info!!!

I live in Southern Oregon. A must see is The Oregon Caves, about 30 miles south of Grants Pass just outside of Cave Junction. The caves are SOOOOOOOOO beautiful. In June, I can't remember what weekend, but on one of them they have Free admission.

Here is the website that you can check out.

http://www.nps.gov/orca/index.htm

Woodland zoo in Seattle is great. Space Needle and EMP are both a must.

The Oregon State Garden is also nearby and not to be missed also! (She meant Multnomah Falls. Spectacular)

Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Ranier, Crater Lake, Columbia River Gorge, all of the Oregon Pacific coast, Olympic National Park, Cascades --- basically just get in the car and drive, drive, drive, and don't stop for the whole two weeks!

In Washington Mt Saint Helen, Grand Coulee Dam, Pikes market Dry Falls overlook, Space needle,Yakima area fruit and hops, lots of wineries in the state, Lake Chelan,If you head into central Washington from the coast the North Cross State Highway (HIghway 20) is a beautiful drive. Just to mention a few.

Fabric Depot, the waterfall tour along the Columbia River Gorge, Mt St Helens (its amazing to see the trees still blown over and all the regrowth), the Olympic Penninsula (my favorite place before the Twilight madness was LaPush (Second Beach has the best tidepools ever) and I loved Cape Flannery, Pikes Place Market, the Newport Aquarium, the Japanese Gardens in Portland....


how long do you have???

Crater Lake is unbelievable! Our vacation last year was a road trip from central California thru Mt Lassen Nat'l Park in northern California, up into Oregon, to Crater Lake, then up as far as Bend/Redmond, then down to the southeastern part back into California, then over into Nevada & Lake Tahoe, then down the Nevada side of the Sierras to Tioga Pass into Yosemite Nat'l Park, & then home.

I think the rose festival is in June. In any case, if you enjoy gardens I can suggest three in Portland - the rose garden, the classical Chinese garden and the Japanese garden. Also, check out the Pittock mansion.

WOW, that is a gorgeous view!!! My husband loves taking pictures, guess Crater Lake will be on my list to do!!!

Totally agree- our visit to Oregon was our favorite vacation---it is just full of awesome places to visit. Each sight we saw kept reminding me of being in a cathredral---it was the most spiritual experience I have ever had!

Both states are so beautiful and have so much to see and do. Too bad you only have a week.

As a quilter, you should definitely go to Fabric Depot in Portland and to Sisters in Oregon.

The mountains (volcanoes), lakes, rivers and waterfalls are all beautiful in both states.

Gardens: Wooden Shoe in Woodburn, Or might still be beautiful with tulips. That's not far from Portland. Oregon Garden in Silverton is wonderful. The gardens previously mentioned in Portland - rose garden, Japanese Garden and Chinese Garden are all special.

Oregon's capitol building is worth a visit. There is a historic old mansion not far from the capitol that has recently restored their gardens. Salem's quilt shop is nice - Greenbaum's.

Most people really enjoy the casinos here in Oregon and Washington. The two or three I have visited do have good food even if you aren't into gambling and/or being drenched in cigarette smoke.

I am a native Oregonian, and we are very proud of our state. Once you are here, most people will be glad to advise you on places to see and help with directions.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

beckydahlias

Always camp with Oregon son and the beaches are wonderful but I love Ilwaco.

Crater Lake.

Powell's City of Books in Portland.

Newport Aquarium

Oregon Zoo.

Do you like to go to plays? The Oregon Shakesperian Festival in Ashland is awesome. Make sure you buy tickets now.

A week is just not enough time. You could spend a week on the Oregon Coast.

But if there is just one thing you can do in Oregon go to Crater Lake. They had over 600 inches of snow this year with a base now of 200 inches. So there should be snow around the lake most of the summer. Take the whole day and do the rim drive. The view changes at each stop you take. Try to get reservations to stay at Crater Lake Lodge. My husband and I did this and got up and watched the sun rise. I have never seen anything more beautiful as the sun coming over the rim of the lake. Believe me you will not be disappointed.

Timberline lodge on Mt. Hood was where Jack Nicholson filmed "The Shining" - I haven't been there but Mt. Hood is beautiful.
If you're going down to Crater Lake or Oregon Caves area, there are also jet boat rides available on the Rogue River. We're planning that this summer with our kids.
If you're up north of Seattle, there's a little town called La Connor WA which several years ago was a great kinda artsy place to shop - I'd bet there's a quilt shop there.

The local OR/SW Washington quilters from the board!! We would love to meet you. There's 16 of us at the beach first weekend in June-what part of June will you be here? If you are in the Portland area we would come to meet you-if we could take you away from site seeing for a bit! PM me if you would.

Barn quilts in Tillamook, OR!

There's a quilt museum in La Connor, too. The Shining was filmed (at least in part) at the Hotel in Estes Park in Colorado.

About Timberline Lodge: my apologies, I just looked it up as I've always heard that the movie was shot there but it seems that has been grossly overstated. The lodge was just used for aerial shots in the beginning of the movie...

SIGH! I'm from the East coast. My MIL lives in Lacey WA. Everytime we get to visit, I feel like I am HOME. I belong there! Even cloudy, rainy days are brighter than here. SIGH! I'm a nature person, just riding around is great. Been to the Olympia Rain Forest and Mt.St. Helen, dug clams in Puget Sound. Fish Market! SIGH! Impressive!

One of my all time favorite views is from Hurricane Ridge in northern WA. The last time I was in Seattle, Gimpy's was the best place to go for really fresh seafood. There are many places where you can see whales, A ferry ride to the San Juan Islands is very likely to go past orca whales. I really love the rain forest, especially the HO valley. We also drove up Mt Baker (I think) and saw hundreds or thousands of blooming wild rhodedendrons. Remember, however, that driving and walking times need to be taken into account. Yes, the Rogue River jet boat trips are marvelous...best to go early in the day IMHO.

I am sure both states have tourism websites to tell you more.

Seattle tips: The island is Tillicum Village on Blake island for the salmon dinner, but it is a 1/2-day excursion. Another fun thing in Seattle is to ride the ducks. It's a fun ride and takes you into Lake Washington, where you'll be able to see the "Sleepless in Seattle" houseboat. The underground tour is also fun. Of course, as everyone said Pike Place is a must. It also the site of the first Starbucks (if you drink coffee).

All the descriptions of Oregon make me want to go.

Wherever you go, Enjoy yourself. :)

All of these suggestions are fabulous. If you are outdoorsie types you have to spend some time on the Olympic Penninsula. There are many short hikes that can be done from the road but if you only have a bit of time to get off the road I would recommend Pt. Flatterly. It is about a 1/2 mile hike to the Northern most point of the the NW. It is amazing and beautiful. Take a lunch and picnic. If you will be in Eastern WA you have to drive through the Palouse it is gorgious in a way that only Eastern Washington will show you.

Travel the Oregon coast! Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence, Shore Acres State Park at Coos Bay, The aquarium at Newport, the fishing village with wonderful fish restaurants at Winchester Bay, very interesting shops and sites in Old Town at Bandon........