Scenic ride outside Seattle

[jenlion]

hmm... guess what I'm doing this weekend? Taking a drive to this Larabee park to check it out, looks like. Hopefully there will still be some tulips out too.

Busy season? Not crazy-busy, no. Kenlaws, you should know that summer hasn't started here by the end of May -- it MIGHT be sunny and bright and warm (warm=70s), but you could just as easily find low clouds, some light drizzle, temps in the low 60s. We can get something called "Junuary" -- low clouds due to the difference in temp between the ocean and the land -- you don't get Spectacular Seattle reliably until mid-July! Until then, it's a roll of the dice. So, not as many tourists until then. But, you never know -- and since you usually have until 6pm local time zone to cancel a hotel room without a reservation, why not reserve in advance where you *think* you'll be, and re-evaluate once you're on your drive that afternoon? Cancel if you find someplace better!

[XXclimberX]

Originally Posted by kenlaws

My wife and I are taking an cruise out of Seattle May 30th. We fly in Friday afternoon sail out Saturday afternoon, so not much time. We want to rent a car and see your countryside. We’re from FL and going on the cruise so even though we love the water, we thought we would like to see mountains & forest rather than Oceanside. No time for activities, just viewing scenery. We thought we could start our drive Friday stay the night in some small town and take a different route back to the port Saturday at 1:00. Sorry to be so lengthy any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

If you only have a day to enjoy the Seattle area, then I suggest you take the Mountain Loop drive. Just go east on I-90 to Leavenworth, should only take you around 2.5 hours to get there. Then you can take Hwy 2 back to Seattle. You will be back by Friday night, and you can rest and get up the next morning and go to Alaska on your cruise.

[texastrigirl]

Jenlion, have you been to the Tulip Festival before? Traffic gets a bit crazy. The main Roozengarden field is wonderful but gets really crowded so we opted to drive to some of the fields off the beaten path. Still sat in stand still traffic much of the time so if you can go early, do it for sure. If you have never been, make sure you stop at the Calico Cupboard in Mt Vernon and either eat or get a cinnamon roll to go. There is one in La Conner too but the wait is about 5x as long as the Mt Vernon location. We called and put our name in just as we were exiting off I-5 and it worked really well. The beach route we hiked at Larabee is called the Clayton Beach Trailhead. You can park in the parking lot and then cross RT 11 and go slightly to the left and you will see the stairs down. We were there around 4pm and the tide was just starting to come back in so you will want to check the tide schedule. On way there through Edison, there is an artisan bread bakery called the Breadfarm. It gets raves from the likes of Sunset Magazine, Cooking Light, Seattle Mag, etc. We didn't stop but will next time. Have fun!

[yukiko11]

The true most spectacular drive is to take HWY 20 through the Cascades to Eastern WA. That is a vacation on its own.
If you really want to do this, here is something more simple.
First of all you are arriving on Friday afternoon. You didn't specify the time, but it will take you about two hours from the time you land to actually get into your rental car. Peak commute traffic time which is 3-5pm is complicated on Fridays by the people going north to Canada which many do on the weekends. There is quite a lot of roadwork going on in Seattle right now which could complicate that. If you want to see trees and forest, that is almost everywhere. If you can get out of the airport before 3pm here is my suggestion.
Drive north on I-5 and get off at exit 208. (Arlington) Turn right and follow the highway to hwy 9 turn left and follow highway 9 until you come to hwy 532 (268th st) turn left. This will take you through a beautiful area and over the river and back to the freeway. Go under the freeway and keep going. You will pass a highschool and come to a bridge. Go over the bridge and turn left at the bottom. You will go down a short street to another highway Marine View Dr. Turn right and follow marine view. a bridge will take you over the river and up a hill. In a short distancel you come to Frank Waters Rd. Turn left. When the road ends, turn left. In a couple of miles you will go down a hill where there is a store and a park. At the top of the hill turn right on East Lake Goodwin Rd. Follow East Lake Goodwin for about 3.5 miles and turn left on 46th st. This will take you to a new highway we call Firetrail. Follow this highway until you get to the first stoplight (about 5-6 miles) and turn right. This road will end in a round about that joins 2 streets. Turn right and exit at the first one. Follow the road around, get in the right lane when you come to the intersection. Keep going straight. This is the Tulalip complex. The first thing you will pass is the largest designer discount mall in the world. Keep driving in the right lane and you will come to the Tulalip Casino. Stop there and have a great dinner at their Las Vegas style buffet. If there isn't something there you want to eat, it doesn't exsist and its only about $15 There is a hotel complex there but it will probably be pricey.
Average hotel/motel rates within 5 miles are 87-100 per night but they may be higher after memorial day. This whole drive from the airport to the casino shouldnt take more than 3.5 hrs. You would still have time to go back to Seattle and stay there. What will you see on this drive, The Stilliguamish River, Farms, Trees and forests, lakes, and a great rollercoaster ride down the firetrail road. You can also see how people live in rural WA. On Saturday allow at least 2 hours to get back to your boat. Also when you drive, even during the day keep your headlights on. All roads here are 1 lane in either direction with a ditch on either side so stay in your lane. Also, it is very difficult to stop in most places to take pictures because there is no place to pull over. Keep that in mind. If it is raining, don't bother to do this it is waste of your money. Stay in Seattle and be as close to your boat as possible. You will find something to do there.