We two 50-somethings are leaving Denver 4/19 & ending up in Olympia, WA for a family visit 4/25 or 26. Probably spend a couple days in Ashland and would like a couple of nights on the coast. Need to drive from the coast to Olympia in no more than 7 hours. Have been to Newport, Astoria & Cannon Beach in the past for short day trips, so would probably like to see someplace new to us, though the Cannon Beach Ecola Creek Lodge in Cannon looks like our style...



Want: 1) Walkable beach and residential areas 2) Gourmet organic markets & restaurants/brew pubs 3) Comfy bed/room for 6'5" husband 4) No highway or (sorry) kid noise 5) refrig & MW 6) Off season/weekday rate around $100 or less 7)Gardens even better than sand dunes 8)Minimal t-shirt & souvenir shops...



Suggestions?

Cannon beach is great but Highway 26 is slow and two lanes for awhile,it during the week you would have to leave early to miss rush hour in Portland. I would think going thru long beach and coastal hwy to washington and across would be real slow.. You could take hwy 30 from astoria and take the bridge across where Trojan used to be again real slow.. Cannon beach has great places to stay in your price range you are right on the beach unless you go on a weekend spring break is over so lots of places to eat and stay for under 100. 00 . Lots of shops too.. Nice restaurants and brew pubs. Haystack rock is right there to explore.. Nice little beach , nice people.. most people with kids go to seaside about 20 minutes north so not to many kids...

Even from Florence, you can easily make Olympia in 6 hrs. I suggest you check into Yachats. The Overleaf is without a doubt one of the top ten or so places to stay on the entire coast. From the Overleaf, it is a 1/2 mile walk on the Historic 804 Trial to one of the nicest sandy beaches on the central coast. It's set back from hwy 101, so all you will hear is ocean sounds. There are several very small organic markets and 2-3 very nice restaruants. The only thing this misses on is the cost. Pretty sure the Overleaf is gonna run ya $170. The Adobe, just up the path from the Overleaf, may be a bit less.

Instead, since you are coming from Ashland, have you considered Bend, which area has much to see and to do. Also, warmer, sunny.

You can easily drive from Cannon Beach to Olympia in 3 hours.

Drive to Astoria, take Hwy 30 west to Rainier, OR (1 1/2 hrs) cross the river to Longview/Kelso, WA and drive N on I-5 to Olympia (little over 1 hr.)

Spend some time looking around Astoria--great Maritime Museum, Astor Column (a must see!) Fort Clatsop. The Ships Inn in Astoria is a great place to eat.

Thanks to everyone for the great info! Haven't made our final decision yet, but this forum has really been beneficial