Our 2012 summer trip will be touring the Pacific coast of the United States. We’re flying to Seattle, Washington and driving to Los Angeles, California. Along the way we’ll see sights in three major American Cities — Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles — and bounce between the coast and the interior mountains seeing many natural wonders.
Complete Pacific tour route
The planned route is approximately 3,000 miles over almost three weeks. A bit shorter mileage-wise than our 2010 Western US tour and a bit longer time-wise, so hopefully we’ll eventually find a happy medium.
Among the sights we hope to see:
Washington
- Seattle (Space Needle, Pioneer Square Underground, Fish Market)
- Mount Rainier National Park
- Olympic National Park (Hurricane Ridge, Hoh temperate rainforest, coastal sights near La Push)
- Mount Saint Helens National Monument
Oregon
- Mount Hood and Columbia River gorge area
- Astoria (Goonies yay!)
- Cannon Beach (the coastal rocks that align with the coin in the Goonies)
- Sea Lion Caves
- Crater Lake National Park
Northern California
- Redwood National Park
- Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (Valley of the Ferns)
- Burney Falls
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Lake Tahoe (Emerald Bay)
- Yosemite National Park (Glacier Point, the valley, and the Mariposa Grove)
- Muir Woods
- San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Lombard St., Trolleys, Alcatraz)
- Winchester Mystery House
Southern California
- Drive through Monterey, Pebble Beach
- Mission San Miguel or Hearst Castle
- Pacific Coast Highway
- Santa Barbara courthouse (Psych!)
- Los Angeles (LaBrea tar pits, Hollywood sign, Walk of Fame, Sunset Strip, Santa Monica pier, Venice Beach, Grauman’s Chinese Theater)
