Hi friends,

I am so thankful to have found this forum! I am hoping for some help planning an itinerary. I have just gotten buried in research and every time I come up with a plan, something tells me that it's probably not a good idea...so I need expert advice!
We are from Florida and we will be in Portland in July for a family event. We will have from a Tuesday morning to the following Monday morning to travel from Portland to San Francisco to catch our flight back to Jax.
Hubby has a few back issues, so we would like to cut our driving time on any given day to no more than 4 hours approximately - if that's feasible. Driving for too long really makes him uncomfortable.
We have been to the Columbia River Gorge/Multnomah and really enjoyed that.
We love nature/scenery/waterfalls. We also enjoy great food and wine (doesn't have to be expensive or fancy), markets, streams, wildflowers, picnics (this is sounding like a bad personals ad).
We would be fine with the coast or not. Probably nothing too strenuous, although walking up to see a waterfall or something would be fine.
I'd like to see whales...but don't want to spend a ton of money on an excursion. Not necessarily a must.
I thought I'd love crabbing or clamming, but wouldn't know what to do with the 'catch' unless someone knows of an excursion where they would cook it for you.
So...what do you guys think? Any advice for this newbie?
Thanks in advance!!!
Vicki