Portland to Seattle questions - need help

There are two options that fit your criteria, aside from driving straight up I-5 to Seattle (about 3 hours).

Option 1 - East:
Driving along the Columbia River Gorge on 84 to Biggs Junction, OR and then catching 97 N to I-82 to I-90 should be about 6 hours worth of driving. Stop in Hood River at either Double Mountain or pFriem for lunch and a beer. You should be able to get good views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Ranier on the drive. Plus, you should see a couple of dams on the Columbia River as well as some pretty dramatic topography changes along the CRG, as you cross the Cascades.

CRG


Mt Hood


Mt Adams


Mt Ranier



Option 2 - West:
You could go west out Hwy 26 to Cannon Beach (stop at Ebola State Park for some stunning ocean views) and then drive north and stop in Astoria for lunch and a beer at Fort George Brewery. If you want some exercise, climb the Astoria Column for some stunning views. Then take Hwy 101 to Port Townsend, WA, skirting the Olympic National Park on the way. This would also be about 6 hours of driving.

I would recommend staying in Port Townsend and taking a ferry over to Whidbey Island and driving to Deception pass the next morning. You can drive down to Seattle from there. Port Townsend is where the movie An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed. They have plenty of B&B's to choose from, but you can even stay in the Tides Inn, which was featured prominently in the movie. It's a beautiful town.

If the weather is not clear, you may not have great views of the mountains if you go east, but the Ocean views should be spectacular even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Ebola State Park


View of the mouth of the Columbia River from Astoria Column


Olympic Mountain Range


Port Townsend:

If you are going to the San Juans, it would be really easy to just catch a ferry from Anacortes after you go through Deception Pass. I can only imagine that this would be cheaper than flying to the San Juans, and you have the option of taking your car.

That doesn't seem to be a bad deal. Another option is to take the Whale watching trip out of Port Townsend or Anacortes. I know the Port Townsend boat takes you whale watching and then drops you off in Friday Harbor for a couple of hours. You can go back the same day, or spend the night on the San Juan Islands and come back the next day. Some of the other whale watching trips don't don't include a stop.

Just throwing options out there to muddy the waters...

FYI: If the forecast is overcast, you may not get a good view of the mountains on the eastward trip through the gorge. You'll still get some great views of the gorge, but the mountains may be covered up.

The ocean is always visible on the westward options. Don't get discouraged, because sometimes the clouds in the mountains are really cool to see, as well. You have a pretty good shot at having good weather, but you never know.

All this thread does is reinforce my appreciation for the NW and BC.

For those around NOLA who haven't yet visited that area:

Alaska Airways runs a NS to/from MSY-SEA daily.

USE IT! It's relatively cheap, Alaska Airways runs a tight ship and easily getting to Seattle puts you (once there by car) right in the middle of a wonderful region.

Think long weekend trips or you can really see some sights in a week or more up there.

You can drive Columbia River Gorge and their are plenty of stops along that route and short hiking trails you can do several of them to waterfalls and such.