Pacific Northwest trip help

[Professional]

Hi all,

I am planning if can get my vacation from work as soon as possible to visit USA again, and i decided i will take that direct flight to Seattle so i ca be on the North/West states there, i am thinking i would like to have about 18 days up to 3 weeks if possible, so my few questions:

- Which areas i should be around there for photography?
- How much is the transport if available to national parks around there?
- Can i get some restaurants with international cuisine because i am not much with meat food specially with forbidden meat and trying to have very very similar food to what i eat in my country [Arabian, indian, middle eastern or turkish...etc]

- If you can help or give some guides, are there some cheapo hotels there so i can move around as cheap as possible?

I am thinking to be in Oregon and Washington states and not planning to go to another many states very far, even California i m not looking for to visit which is not that much far by flight, but i am thinking to use buses or trains and those lands transports than air.

I appreciate any help here to plan my trip at best i can.

[Brian C. Miller]

Let's see: You can rent a car, and drive all over the place. There's nothing for public transportation out to the parks, though. The US really stinks for public transportation, and out west here it's abysmal, but just look at the wide open spaces! You can go north to Mt. Baker, south to Mt. Rainier, there's the Cascades Loop highway circuit, there's the Olympic peninsula with the old forts out there, all of eastern Washington, and of course plenty in Oregon.

For restaurants, there's plenty of choices. You can probably walk down the street in Seattle and just ask one of the Muslims strolling the sidewalk for recommendations. We do have a very good selection of restaurants. The local population has Iranians, Iraqis, Arabs, all the countries of Africa, Egyptians, and on. I eat occasionally at a local place that serves halal food and part of the menu is in Arabic, and I live out in the "wilderness" of Everett.

The cheaper hotels (motels) are a bit outside of Seattle, though. Cheap is as cheap is found. You may not want to go totally cheap, but opt for something a bit better.

[Peter De Smidt]

We really enjoyed the Olympic Peninsula, especially the pacific beaches, such as Rialto. Hurricane Ridge has some terrific alpine views. The Hoh rainforest was a letdown. Orca watching off of San Juan Island was a neat experience. Mt. Rainer is also not that far from Seattle.

You might check out some of the photo guides at: http://www.photographamerica.com/

[Professional]

Cool, i know those places, i asked this on different sites and got many answers, but it is all coming to the point that i must rent a car to enjoy the trip, then i have to add that renting expense as well.

I am not keen in driving overseas, but i will see if i can do it at the end when i arrive there, but from where should i rent a car? and where i can get a cheap hotel say for the first 2-3 days until i sort out my things then i can change anytime?

[Keith Fleming]

The biggest question is "When are you visiting the Pacific Northwest?" The summers are generally dry, but by mid-October things will start to get rainy. November is the wettest month, and then the number of rainy days gradually tapers off until mid-July when the skies clear and the dry season begins.

Your preferred foods will be easy to find in large cities such as Seattle or Portland. It will be much more difficult out in the smaller towns. However, it may be manageable by reading the menus carefully and asking questions of the waiter or waitress in a restaurant.

Do a Google search on the American Automobile Association in Washington State or Oregon. You will see the name abbreviated as AAA, and often pronounced "Triple A." AAA members can order free travel guides that include approved hotels and motels, along with prices. AAA also will provide you with maps of the roads and highways.

The previous advice about renting an automobile is good, but you will need an international drivers license. The UAE's embassy also may be of help, and UAE consulates out here on the West Coast are an obvious source of information and help.

Have a great visit!

Keith

[Jac@stafford.net]

The US really stinks for public transportation, and out west here it's abysmal

While not Washington state I find Portland, Sea Side and Canon Beach, Oregon to have AMAZINGLY good, economical and sometimes free public transportation. Is it that different in Seattle? In Sea Side my wife became ill and a trolly-like bus went out of its way to take us to the nearest hospital for treatment, waited for us, and returned us.

To Professional, there are some very good internet resources that automatically map out facilities (lodging, auto rentals, restaurants) based upon where you are (using radio-tower and GPS). They can compare and direct you to what you wish. I will leave it to the more traveled to recommend some and can follow up if nobody else does. For an auto rental, all major airports have such facilities on site. You can reserve an auto before you leave A.E., or even from the aircraft.

[Brian C. Miller]

For cars, there's Avis, Hertz, and a bunch of others. Actually, I wonder if you could hook up with somebody and go all over the place. Huh: from a Google search, I got the Arab Center of Washington. (I didn't know there was going to be an Arab festival this weekend!) Anyways, I bet you could find a fellow countryman who would drive you around for cheaper than a rental would cost.

There are actually a lot of cheap places to stay, but you find them by driving up old Highway 99. Before the freeways were built, that was the only road from Portland, through Seattle, to Canada. There are lots of cheap places to stay along that route. Otherwise, there's Expedia, and other travel sites.

Just realized: what kind of camera are you bringing? LF? MF? B&W film can be processed locally, both in Seattle and Portland.

[Brian C. Miller]

While not Washington state I find Portland, Sea Side and Canon Beach, Oregon to have AMAZINGLY good, economical and sometimes free public transportation. Is it that different in Seattle?

There is no public transportation out to any of the national parks, so yeah, it stinks for that. Otherwise the local transport around the place is pretty good, and I use it all the time. That's what I figured that Professional wanted. The Seattle bus system, King County Metro, even has a smart phone app that tracks the buses in real time.

[Professional]

The biggest question is "When are you visiting the Pacific Northwest?" The summers are generally dry, but by mid-October things will start to get rainy. November is the wettest month, and then the number of rainy days gradually tapers off until mid-July when the skies clear and the dry season begins.

Your preferred foods will be easy to find in large cities such as Seattle or Portland. It will be much more difficult out in the smaller towns. However, it may be manageable by reading the menus carefully and asking questions of the waiter or waitress in a restaurant.

Do a Google search on the American Automobile Association in Washington State or Oregon. You will see the name abbreviated as AAA, and often pronounced "Triple A." AAA members can order free travel guides that include approved hotels and motels, along with prices. AAA also will provide you with maps of the roads and highways.

The previous advice about renting an automobile is good, but you will need an international drivers license. The UAE's embassy also may be of help, and UAE consulates out here on the West Coast are an obvious source of information and help.

Have a great visit!

Keith

Thanks Keith!

I hope i can do it, if not it is not a big deal, maybe another time, who knows.

The time or period i want to come is all the key, if i can get my vacation from work on time then i am planning to arrive there either 16 or 17 Sept 2013 until say 06 Oct 2013, so i think i will be at late fall and almost beginning of winter, i like to have rains time to time, also sunshine, whatever the weather it will be it is ok for me, i have been to NYC and LA back in 2009 October and it was changing between sunshine to rainy days, same in Scotland and New Zealand before in the past, so i am aware of the weather and i can do in those conditions.

I will not worry much about food as i was in difficult situations before when i traveled to Scotland and NZ before, so i am more experienced about what kind of food to find over there, i just asked because it will make it easier for me to know before i arrive there if so.

While not Washington state I find Portland, Sea Side and Canon Beach, Oregon to have AMAZINGLY good, economical and sometimes free public transportation. Is it that different in Seattle? In Sea Side my wife became ill and a trolly-like bus went out of its way to take us to the nearest hospital for treatment, waited for us, and returned us.

To Professional, there are some very good internet resources that automatically map out facilities (lodging, auto rentals, restaurants) based upon where you are (using radio-tower and GPS). They can compare and direct you to what you wish. I will leave it to the more traveled to recommend some and can follow up if nobody else does. For an auto rental, all major airports have such facilities on site. You can reserve an auto before you leave A.E., or even from the aircraft.

Thank you very much!

I will give that a look and see which company to rent from and what prices i can get, in all cases even if expensive i want to make this trip as good as possible.

For cars, there's Avis, Hertz, and a bunch of others. Actually, I wonder if you could hook up with somebody and go all over the place. Huh: from a Google search, I got the Arab Center of Washington. (I didn't know there was going to be an Arab festival this weekend!) Anyways, I bet you could find a fellow countryman who would drive you around for cheaper than a rental would cost.

There are actually a lot of cheap places to stay, but you find them by driving up old Highway 99. Before the freeways were built, that was the only road from Portland, through Seattle, to Canada. There are lots of cheap places to stay along that route. Otherwise, there's Expedia, and other travel sites.

Just realized: what kind of camera are you bringing? LF? MF? B&W film can be processed locally, both in Seattle and Portland.

Thanks for the links.

I hope to find cheap accommodations to save little for my entire trip, few bucks saved here and there could help me to move more, but who knows what i may find or get when i arrive there, in all cases, i will have enough budget and little more room for safe side of any additional costs/fees here and there.

Well, i really would like to bring my LF to use it for first time in travel and outdoor, i used my LF only for 5 sheets so far back in 2011 i think then never used it, but i bought a new lens for LF this year, and i have that lightweight folding camera, but the problem is that i will carry a lot of digital gear as well, and if i know a friend there who can take me around then definitely i can bring my LF gear, about MF also i am not sure which body to bring out of 5 cameras i have, and also i have digital MF which is something unmatched in digital and it is one must to use for outdoor then comparing to 35mm DSLRs. If i bring film gear then i will buy film from there in PNW and process it locally there, i can't trust the X-Ray checking systems in the airports even it will be fine for some films, just i didn't decide yet on film gear to bring.

There is no public transportation out to any of the national parks, so yeah, it stinks for that. Otherwise the local transport around the place is pretty good, and I use it all the time. That's what I figured that Professional wanted. The Seattle bus system, King County Metro, even has a smart phone app that tracks the buses in real time.

Yes, i want to access to NPs and getting to wilderness, this is my main purpose/goal of my trip to PNW.

[Brian Ellis]

I lived in central Oregon (about 4 hours east of the Pacific coast). Also photographed in Washington. I can't imagine how you'll get around those two States without renting a car. As for food, you can find that kind of food in any major or medium-sized city in Oregon (Portland, Salem, Eugene, etc.). For smaller areas, which is what most of Oregon consists of, it might be a problem.

As for areas to photograph in those two States, they're too numerous to list. For Oregon I'd suggest buying the book "Photographing Oregon" by Greg Vaughn. If you can't order it from where you live order it when you arrive and have it delivered to your hotel. There's another book that's also good, "The Photographer's Guide to the Oregon Coast" by David Middleton. But if you can buy only one I'd get the Vaughn book because it isn't limited to the Pacific coast.

You more or less dismissed California but if you're in the southern part of Oregon on the Pacific coast - e.g. Gold Beach area - which is where some of the best coastal photography in Oregon is located - you're only a relatively short distance from the California redwood parks in northern California and they'd be worth at least a day or so I would think.

I'm not sure about "wilderness." Unless you really know a particular wilderness area well I would think you could spend a lot of time just wandering around looking for something to photograph. But I'm not an expert on true wilderness photography.