PNW Bucket List

I never really saw myself living in the Pacific Northwest.  I was born in California, raised in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, then university in Virginia.  The PNW was kind of "off my radar" and never really crossed my mind.  Now that we live here, I can't believe I never was adamant about visiting the area.  There are so many things we want to explore!  It's such an amazing part of the country with lots to do and beauty to see.  Most of these places I had never heard of before moving here, but now, I have a new appreciation.  Take, for example, the Oregon coast.  It is a completely different beach experience than the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  In July and August, you may find yourself wearing a fleece and eating s'mores by a fire on the beach in Oregon, definitely not putting more than your toes in the water (if you're like me).  At the same time in the Outer Banks, you are laying out with a little bathing suit in the heat of the day, diving in the ocean throughout the day, and still hot outside by 6pm.  I used to look at ads with people wearing cute sweaters on the beach in summer wondering, "where are these people...clearly not in North Carolina!"  Both are beautiful and fun, just so different.

(Mount Hood)

(Leavenworth, WA)

(Portland Saturday Market)

Close by:
Visit Lake Oswego Farmer's Market
Visit Portland State Farmer's Market
Pick berries/explore on Sauvie Island
Go to the Woodburn Tulip Festival
Go to Multnomah Falls, Oregon
Tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory
Explore downtown Portland-Rose Garden, breweries, Pittock Mansion, Forest Park
Shop at Powells Books (oldest used bookstore in the US), Portland
Drive across the Astoria-Megler Bridge (longest continuous truss bridge in North America)
Visit OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), Portland
Visit the Oregon Zoo in Portland
Go to the Portland Saturday Market (fun outdoor arts and crafts market)
Take the kids to Enchanted Forest Amusement Park in Salem, Oregon
Ski/snowboard at Mt. Hood
Take the kids to Oaks Park ("Coney Island" of the Northwest here in Portland)
Go to Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach, Oregon
Hike Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon coast

(Pacific Rim National Park)

Further away:
Visit Bend, Oregon (mecca for all outdoor activities!)
Spend a sunny weekend in Seattle
Visit Pacific Rim National Park, Canada
Ski/hike at Mt. Bachelor
Hike at Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, BC
Visit Crater Lake
Drive down the Oregon coast
Visit Leavenworth, Washington (little Bavarian town)
Hike near Colchuck Lake/Dragontail Peak, Washington
San Juan Islands
Hike at Mt. Rainier
Hike up Mt. St. Helens
Hike at Deception Pass, Washington
San Juan Islands
Tulip Festival in La Conner and Skagit Valley, Washington
Visit the little town of Langley on Whidbey Island, Washington

(Colchuck Lake)

Further dreaming:
Go on an Alaskan cruise
Visit Denali National Park, Alaska
Go on a plane ride in Alaska
Visit Hawaii
Go to a luau
See the sunrise at Haleakala, Maui and bike down the mountain
Road trip to Banff and Lake Louise, BC
Attend the Calgary Stampede (Canada) (one of the largest rodeos on the planet)
Road trip to Whistler, BC
Visit Victoria, BC

(Denali)

(Hawaii, of course)