AZ to WA round trip

[PNW Judy]

Oh, yeah...it's pricey! I suggest you go someplace like Hotels.com to find one. You will want something in downtown Seattle, if you can find something affordable for you. If you're in the suburbs, you will deal with horrible traffic congestion to get downtown to explore. Or near Seattle Center so you can take the monorail into downtown.

I'm not real comfortable making specific recommendations because I haven't stayed in downtown Seattle for about ten years. Our trips there are generally day trips. The few times in recent years that we've spent the night, we've stayed with various relatives who live in the suburbs.

Anyway, ten years ago, the Travelodge by the Space Needle was decent. Not fancy, but clean. And I just checked the prices at Hotels.com and at the Travelodge website. While the chain's own websites are often cheaper, in this case the Travelodge website quoted $120 but $102 at Hotels.com.

Like I said, you can take the monorail to the downtown area and walk to the places I recommended in a previous post.

Check around and see what else you find. If you want, let me know what you're thinking of and what area it's in. I may not know the hotel but I could probably tell you the plusses/minuses of staying in certain parts of Seattle.

Note that if you're planning on doing the beaches in the Kalaloch area (First, Second, Third, and Ruby Beaches), lodging is really precious here. The only place to stay that is close by is at either the Kalaloch campgrounds or at the lodge. That's it. And they are VERY popular. Get your reservations here.

It's been a couple years since we've camped there but I'm assuming they still have the overflow area. Now, this is more like camping in a big gravel parking lot with some patches of grass around the perimeter. Not really a pleasant tent camping location. Especially because the lack of trees/brush means that the wind can really whip through there. But, if you can't get a spot in the campground, it's really your only other option in that area unless you spring for a room in the lodge or one of the cabins. And, when we were there, I think they only charged $3/night for the overflow.

[kathleen kn01]

Whoa, slow down there. I am afraid that trying to see the Falls, Mt. Rainier and MSH all in a day would not work! I just got back from a day trip to MSH with my science students (300 of them!) and we left N. Seattle at 6:45 AM and returned at 7:30 PM, had about 5 hours at 3 different stops at the mountain (including a wonderful hike on the Hummocks trail) but we were exhausted, and we were on a charter bus!

I am a native Northwesterner, and would most definitely pick either Mt. Rainier or MSH over the Falls, if you plan to take a whole day. Try not to go on a Friday because of traffic. Walking in the meadows up at paradise on Mt. Rainier or going up to Johnston Ridge Observatory at MSH are both incredible experiences and shouldn't be rushed. You can take a tour bus to either place, but if you have a car, it's easy to drive to either place. Take a picnic lunch with you if you go to MSH, there's really no good place to eat in the Monument and there is a lovely little picnic spot on Coldwater Lake on the way to Johnston. Be sure and pick a clear day if you go either place. Have a great time, hope this helps! By the way, although they look close on the map, going to Mt. R. and MSH on the same day would really be stretching it! It's a toss-up for me, but how often do you get to see a recently-erupted volcano? And the winding road up to MSH from Toledo on the Spirit Lake Highway is incredible, the views!

Kathleen

[kathleen kn01]

Oops, forgot to mention a few more things. The absolute best and cheapest way to stay in Seattle is to use Priceline.com. Just pick a 3 or 4 star rating in DT Seattle and go for it! You can't miss, they will often upgrade your room for nothing, and it's possible to get a really really nice place for $79-89 a night. You have to pay out front and don't know the specific place until you are approved, but the high star rated places are all fantastic. My sweetie has been flying up from Phoenix since January and we always use priceline. We have stayed at the Edgewater (our favorite!), the Alexis, the Westin and Hilton this way, all for under $100. Good luck!

About the coast: our favorite spot is Ocean Crest Resort. The rooms are a bit outdated but overlook the ocean, and the restaurant is FANTASTIC! Do not miss eating there!!!!! It is not crowded like Ocean Shores, but do drive out to the tip of ocean Shores to enjoy the pounding surf. Also, it is an easy drive up to the Rainforest/Quinalt Lodge from Ocen Crest which is at Moclips. (There really is NO Moclips, though! Just a bar or 2!)

Kathleen

[n8vofaz]

Spirit Lake Hwy? Where's that at? I'll look it up. I didn't even think of using pricline. Thanks for that reminder. It sounds like we should spend our whole 2 wks up there to see almost everything. I guess i'll have to make another trip up there some time. I know weather is unpredictable, but any idea what we should be prepared for in late July, early Aug.?

[PNW Judy]

The map I gave you that has you going up the east side to Windy Ridge is do-able and, yeah, you could do both mountains in one day if you see St. Helens from that side. Going to Spirit Lake Hwy and up to Johnston Ridge adds almost 2 hours driving time to your trip. Johnston Ridge has a fancy visitor center and Windy Ridge does not. But the drive and views are superior at Windy Ridge.

Yes, it will be a long day and, yes, you won't have a lot of time to linger and explore, but it can be done. And, yes, your idea to camp near Mt. Rainier is better than trying to do it all in one day. It would be much more enjoyable and less taxing. But, if push comes to shove and you don't have much time but have the desire, you can do it.

I have done this loop in one day leaving at about 6:30am and getting home about 10pm and this included about 1-1.5 hours caving at the Ape Caves near Cougar, taking a mid-day break for a swim and picnic at Swift Reservoir, and some short hikes both at Windy Ridge and a few other places on the way up to it. The miles for my loop are only about 60 less than if you followed the map I previously gave you. Obviously, you would need to move a bit faster and not do as much hiking/caving/swimming.

The way you are coming and with the time you have to do the Olympic Peninsula and down the coast, I would not advise going to Moclips or Ocean Shores. It almost pains me to say that because this really is my backyard (Ocean Shores is 30 minutes from my house and Moclips only about 50 minutes). I would love for you to explore my area. But I didn't recommend it because it really doesn't fit in well with your plans.

However, you will get plenty of pounding surf on other parts of your trip (especially Northern CA) and the beaches in Kalaloch are superior to those at either Ocean Shores or Moclips. With the time you have, the detour to either is really not worth it. If you had more time, I would encourage you to do it.

The brochure I linked you to in a previous post is of the Lake Quinault area so, yes, this is a must-see on your way south from Kalaloch.

I never think of Priceline either. Good tip!

Late July through most of September are the prime months in the Pacific NW. While rain is always a possibility, especially on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula and the coast including the Kalaloch and Lake Quinault areas, we rarely have rain during those months. A lightweight rain/windbreaker type jacket might come in handy. I keep one of those small ones that tucks up into it's own little pocket in my car all the time in case it's nice when I leave home and I don't bring a jacket and then run into summer showers.

[n8vofaz]

Well since this is going to be new territory for my friends and I to play around at, we are prepared to have many long days. Besides, we can sleep as much as we want once we get home. That's my plan anyway. Part of the excitement of going to new places. Anyways, we want to take in and experience as much as possible. If we have to, we'll skip the coast of SOCAL, being as we've all been there. If anything else comes to mind, please let me know. Hopefully, by this weekend we'll have a list put together of our top 5 things to do from each of us. Thanks for all the help. It's always good to get advice from people who live in the area. I'm sure I'll have some more questions once I go through all the info.

[n8vofaz]

We pretty much have our route figured out. I was wondering how many days should we allow for the trip from San Francisco to Santa Monica? We would be driving along the coast. We want to be back in Flagstaff by aug. 7th., the 8th at the latest. Is $1500/person a realistic amount? I have an idea how gas prices are in the southwest, but no idea in the northwest. I was estimating on avg $4.00/gallon for the trip. About $950 estimate for gas total. We'll be in 07 toyota tacoma (4dr). I believe its a 4x4.

[glc]

I would allow 2 to 3 days from SF to LA, depending on what you want to see. In that vehicle, I'd plan on about 18 mpg - $4 a gallon may be high but better safe than sorry. Gas prices are usually pretty much the same on the whole west coast (CA-OR-WA), but if you have to get gas in a remote area, you may even see $5 a gallon, plan stops accordingly. An example is in Big Sur, the one station I saw there is so expensive they usually don't even put out a price sign. Fill up in Monterey and you should have enough to make it to San Luis Obispo.

[n8vofaz]

The original plan included Rainier & Crater Lake. It seemed that we would be rushed. So this is what we've come up with so far. I'm hoping we will still be able to check out Rainier on this trip.
Day 1: Flagstaff, Bryce Canyon, Salt Lake City.
Day 2: S.L.C., Boise ID, White Salmon River WA.
Day 3: Rafting
Day 4: White Salmon to Seattle.
Day 5: Seattle
Day 6: Seattle to Olympic N.P.
Day 7: Olympic N.P.
Day 8: Olympic N.P., Seaside OR, Lakeside OR.
Day 9: Lakeside OR to Redwood N.P.
Day 10: Redwood N.P.
Day 11: Redwood N.P. to San Francisco.
Day 12: San Francisco
Day 13: San Francisco to ?.
Day 14: ? to Flagstaff AZ.

I was wondering if this plan is realistic for us to do? The times are based off of google maps, and we're trying to account for food/photo/pit stops on our driving days. I realize that the first couple of days are going to be long days on the road. Since the 3 of us can drive, i think we should be ok. I was hoping to be back in Flagstaff on day 13 which would be a Friday, but it looks like Sat. might be better.

From San Francisco, we're debating to continue down the coast to LA, or to go to Yosemite. Which would be more worthwhile for us to see? They have never been that far north in CA. We could leave a day early from Redwood, which means we can leave a day early from San Francisco.

THANK YOU to everyone who has helped with this trip. All the info has been wonderful. Only 6 more wks to go!!!