PacNW 2011

Quinault Rainforest, Olympic NP WA

In just over two weeks I will be heading to Seattle to do a little cruisin' & campin' with a few of my best girl friends. Let me start by saying that I absolutely loved the Pacific Northwest and would move there in a heartbeat if it weren't for close friend/family ties to Southeastern USA. Perhaps I am partial; it was the first big adventure to be had with my then-just boyfriend, and it was while in the magic and romance of Olympic National Park that my then-just boyfriend became my soon-to-be husband. I love this place, and I am so excited to share in a new adventure with my best friend and two girls I have known since fourth grade.

While the itinerary requires a tad bit more polishing, I wanted to review the plan and projected costs like I did for our National Park Tour 2011, so then I can later do a post-trip analysis.

Itinerary

Day 0, July 26 -- CLT→SEA (for me); TPA→SEA (for A.); TLH→SEA (for J.)
Day 1, July 27 -- Seattle WA→Snoqualmie Falls→Mt. Rainier NP WA
Day 2, July 28 -- Mt. Rainier NP→White Salmon River WA→Portland OR→Cape Lookout SP OR
Day 3, July 29 -- Cape Lookout→[...]→Kalaloch Beach, Olympic NP WA
Day 4, July 30 -- Kalaloch→[...]→Seattle
Day 5, July 31 -- Seattle→Moran SP, Orcas Island WA
Day 6, August 1 -- Orcas Island→N. Cascades NP→Lake Wenatchee SP, Leavenworth WA
Day 7, August 2 -- Leavenworth WA→Seattle
Day 8, August 3 -- Return home to our respective living places

Approximate Costs (for one person)
- Airfare: $247.30
- Car Rental: $0 (our other friend, J2., will be letting us borrow hers!)
- Lodging: $42.33 ($127.00 is the total for camping reservations, to be split between three or four people; I went with three people.)
- Fuel: $75.00 (based on approx. 1400 miles of travel @ 25mpg -- J2.'s car likely gets more -- for $4.00/gal. divided by three people)
- Food: $150 (budgeting $20/day)
- Activites: $172 (this includes a 4hr white water rafting trip down class III/IV rapids, a 3hr whale watching tour, a few museum admissions, and two ferry rides)
--TOTAL: $689.63

With the last itinerary I posted, I forgot to include a Google map -- silly me! Here you are:


View Larger Map

Lastly, photographs of just one day from PacNW 2009: