Come across 90 then down through the Horse Heave Hills and the Palouse. Down to the Columbia. Hwy 14 to Cape Disappointment then 101 north around the ONP down the Hood Canal side to Olympia (Mt. St. Helens & Rainier). Up 5 (minimum time in Seattle). Ferry from Edmonds to Hood Canal and Pt. Townsend. Ferry from Pt. Townsend. Hwy 20 across Deception Pass Bridge. Through Sedro Wooley and across North Cascades. Then if you want you can cross back on Hwy 2 down to 90 and home.
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If you're going to take 20 east, you can join up with Hwy 2 at Ione on the Pend Oreille River and go through ID into MT. There are a few sharp (but very doable) S-curves at the east terminus of Hwy 20 going into Ione. Big RVs and trucks do it all the time and the curves are well marked with speed limitations. SR20 is one of my favorite drives.
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I guess I agree with most of what is said here, especially about avoiding Seattle (I-5) and the Eastside (I-405) during the day. You can avoid this area by what we (jokingly I hope) refer to as the route of the future I-605. Snoqualmie is kind of the pivot point of this on I-90 at exit 25. This all assumes you are headed west on I-90. If you want to go south on I-5, take State Route 18 all the way to Federal Way to pick up I-5. If you want to go north, take Snoqualmie Parkway to State Route 202 and turn left. Take State Route 202 about 4 miles toward Fall City (where I live) and go right on State Route 203 at the roundabout (it is well signed, no problem). This takes you through the little towns of Carnation and Duvall about 25 miles to Monroe, where you turn left on US 2 and about 15 miles on you come out at Everett to head north on I-5.
Now a plug for a stop in Snoqualmie. One of the photos above in a prior post is Snoqualmie Falls, a spectacular 268 high waterfall. It is well worth a visit to the Falls. There is an excellent private RV park in Fall City called the Snoqualmie River RV Park and Campground, right on the river. I would get set up at the RV Park, unhook, and come back to Snoqualmie to see the Falls (parking your 5er at the Falls might be an issue, there is a large parking lot across SR 202 but not sure how they handle RVs), visit the Northwest Railway Museum (an 1890s depot and operating trains), and eat lunch at Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom on Falls Avenue. If you want dinner out, Woodman Lodge in Snoqualmie or the Roadhouse Grill in Fall City are both excellent. Snoqualmie and Fall City are both so small you will not have any difficulty finding anything!
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While in Eastern WA, especially Lake Chelan, come back out to Hiway 97 and go south to Wenatchee, WA. There is a jewel of a state park on the Columbia called Wenatchee Confluence State Park you might like to try. A small park, only 50 sites, it has wide sites spaced far from each other. Only problem with any WA. state park is...during the summer months you have to reserve (1-888 226 7688) for a site as the premium sites are snapped up nine months in advance. .
Lots of great ideas here. I live in WA state and am still exploring. So many great things to see all over.
I agree with comments about the coast, OR coast is very nice, probably nicer than WA. Deception Pass and the islands are great. US 2 and WA 20 are both great routes (if 20 is open), scenery is very nice. Leavenworth is worth stopping, as is Winthrop (Old School House Brewery is great!).
I enjoyed camping at Alder Lake to see Mt. Raineer. We stayed at a private park, River Bend RV park in Twisp when we went to see Twisp & Winthrop. Lake Wenatchee state park is very nice and is near Leavenworth.
So much to see...
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Wow! Now I have to go to BC, whale watching, ferry riding, and look at all the spectacular scenery! Love it! When we travel we just tour from interesting area to interesting area, which might include a museum or two. We have a diesel too, so not worried about power, just worry about the driver too close to the edge of the mountains, 'cause driver can't keep eyes on the road. Keep the info coming! Can't wait to get there.
OK, a few more recommendations as you wind your way north on I-5 from Everett to the Canadian border!
Snohomish County Parks and Rec has a wonderful system of County parks, including Wenberg (a former state park), Kayak Point and Flowing Lake. They use ReserveAmerica.com, and you really do need to make a reservation during most of the summer. If you are looking at a map, these will mostly be accessed from I-5 Exit 206 or that vicinity.
At Exit 230, head west on Highway 20 and stay at Fidalgo Bay RV Park for your base of operations for exploring Anacortes. This is a big-rig friendly park right on the water, and there is a great bike path to downtown Anacortes. This exit is where you pick up the North Cascades Highway, the highway is only open part of the year due to snow, to head east to North Central Washington. Anacortes is also your jump off point for the San Juans. Take the Washington State ferry to San Juan Island, visit Friday Harbor and take a drive to English Camp (Google "Pig War" for some background on this most fascinating incident in American history - the book "Pig War Islands" by Richardson is highly recommended).
At Exit 270, it is about 5 miles west to Birch Bay State Park. They have a limited number of sites up to 60' and you absolutely will need to make reservations as soon as they open, this is so popular. The big draw is the beach, which is great for clamming when it is not red tide. It is just a wonderful spot.
You probably want to time this part of your trip for the last two weeks in July or the first two weeks in August, which is what we laughingly call "summer" here, although all of September and sometimes October can be great depending on when the rain starts. It ain't called "The Evergreen State" for nothing!
* This post was
edited 04/28/12 09:43am by Pat Anderson *
mockturtle wrote: If you're going to take 20 east, you can join up with Hwy 2 at Ione on the Pend Oreille River and go through ID into MT. There are a few sharp (but very doable) S-curves at the east terminus of Hwy 20 going into Ione. Big RVs and trucks do it all the time and the curves are well marked with speed limitations. SR20 is one of my favorite drives.
That would be my recomendation coming back through. The east leg of 20 gets looked over, but is also a great drive. Lots of NFS campgrounds, but most are primitive. There is a cool old railroad museum in Ione. I would stop in Sandpoint ID and then south on US-95 to Coeur d'Alene and across I-90. There are a ton of really nice spots to see in north ID, great old mining towns with lots of museums and history.
BootS: By reading all of the previous contributors most (at least many) of the cool sites in this State have been touched upon, so I will not add my 2 bits other than to say that I do not agree with Rolexx concerning the Washington coast. The Long Beach Peninsula, north of Astoria on the Washington side, is beautiful..."The Longest Beach in the World" is how it is billed. It is my favorite beach in the Pacific NW, long, wide, and flat, it is ideal for kite flying. The beaches in Oregon get steep heading into the water.
Pretty much the entire Washington coast is not observable from US-101, you have to take State highways to see the coast, but the 3 separate stretches: the Long Beach Peninsula, around Grayland/Westport, and from Ocean Shores to Moclips are truly beautiful. The Washington coast is "different" than is the Oregon coast. I love them both.
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Hey and if you're out here in August,you can meet some of us at the PNW RV.net mini rally in Port Townsend. And that's also for all of you Washington folk that responded to the thread. Go to Rallies and look for the mini. Still have some room at Point Hudson.
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