PNW Trip this Summer (Seattle, Bremerton: to rent, houses, theater)

[dav51lin]

visit the homeless city of seattle tents trash displaced humans everywhere

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by scocar

UPDATE:

So I have nixed the idea of driving up the coast. Maybe another time. Tix have been purchased. We fly into Portland on July 26th (this was done so I could attend the Oregon Brewers Festival there the weekend of the 28th-30th. We will be leaving Portland the morning of the 31st and coming up to Seattle, most likely via Flixbus or Amtrak. Then we will be in Seattle area through July 5th. Scoping out Air Bnb's in Seattle right now.

Awesome. You’ll have a great time. It’s a good time of year to be in the PNW.

And you can still take the Bainbridge ferry if you want to from downtown Seattle, and it’s free coming back to Seattle if you’re a pedestrian. Bainbridge has a pretty cute downtown and some small nature areas to explore nearby. There are also bike rentals if you want to do that and have a completely different experience from Seattle proper for a day without having to rely on complicated public transit routes. I do know there are also buses that will take you to places like Poo Poo Point and environs in the Issaquah Alps area for hiking.

There are other ferries like Mukilteo-Whidbey and Edmonds-Kingston but harder to get to (and around) without a car and honestly, not really worth it if you’re just walking on.

[happygrrrl]

Fly into SEATAC. Rent a car, stock up on groceries in Aberdeen. Base yourself in a campground in Olympic NP or a nearby cabin, air bnb or cheap motel in Forks. Soak up everything on the Olympic Peninsula. Return to SEATAC via 101 down the Hood Canal.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

Fly into SEATAC. Rent a car, stock up on groceries in Aberdeen. Base yourself in a campground in Olympic NP or a nearby cabin, air bnb or cheap motel in Forks. Soak up everything on the Olympic Peninsula. Return to SEATAC via 101 down the Hood Canal.

Don’t miss the area around Lake Quinnault, lots to see/explore. Ancient trees, hikes, waterfalls, herds of elk and the restored historic lodge is lovely.

[Angry-Koala]

Originally Posted by leastprime

And just before Olympia, is Tumwater. The Brewery state Park and Falls is next to I-5. The water is natural spring, sweet, soft, and renown. Bring a clean, odor free, very clean jug.

What water are you talking about? Do you mean the river that runs through the park? That's just river water.

Olympia Beer used spring water from wells and, as far as I know, there is no public access to those wells. If there is, can you tell us where to find it, please?

[Diana Holbrook]

The wells are artesian wells, and what makes them different is they just flow all the time, constantly running water.

There's a few of them still around town in Olympia... and a few at some of the local parks that the public can get to... Hopefully still, with everything COVID and otherwise that has been going on the past few years. I have not heard or noticed a change with them and I don't see any new stories. Will try to notice the next time I'm in town!

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Angry-Koala

What water are you talking about? Do you mean the river that runs through the park? That's just river water.

Olympia Beer used spring water from wells and, as far as I know, there is no public access to those wells. If there is, can you tell us where to find it, please?

At the pump station. South end. aka "Brewery Park at Tumwater"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEkZR4wyf-M
unfortunately there is still some piping.
Still pretty good.

Info is not useful to OP now that he isn't driving up I-5.

YWMV

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Don’t miss the area around Lake Quinnault, lots to see/explore. Ancient trees, hikes, waterfalls, herds of elk and the restored historic lodge is lovely.

Lake Quinault is kind of a given, IMO. To me it's the best part of ONP.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

Lake Quinault is kind of a given, IMO. To me it's the best part of ONP.

Maybe to you and me but I’ve heard of many out of towners doing the ONP loop and completely missing Quinnault, or not even know it existed. It may not at first glance be quite as sexy as La Push or Hoh but sounds like you and I agree, it’s not to be missed!

[scocar]

This is our plan. It is fairly locked in, with some flexibility:

SUN 7/31: Take the Amtrak from Portland to Seattle. Check into our Air Bnb (still looking for one) and just explore some food and beer in whatever neighborhood we end up in.

MON 8/1-THU 8/4: One day we want to ride a ferry to Bainbridge Island or the Kitsap Peninsula. One day we want to explore Seattle (Pike Street Market, MoPOP, etc). Two days for hiking, nature viewing.

We fly out early Friday morning so no time that day to do anything. I assume with this being a weekday vacation no day is better than another as far as being busy with the different places we want to visit.

What would be the best options for the most scenic hikes for fairly active, but novice hikers, that are a day trip away.