Roadtrip help! San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver

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Vanigan

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A little tired of my sheltered life, I decided I need to travel on my own for a while this summer and the window of opportunity for Summer travel is almost over.

So, I decided to go on a road trip up the US West coast to visit San Francisco, CA; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, Canada.

While I had been tentatively planned my trip for August 1st ever since Summer began, that date is rapidly approaching and I haven't made any concrete plans and exact dates. More importantly, since I've lived shy and sheltered, I don't know what to do when I reach these places. Literally I don't go out much where I live, let alone cities I've never been to.

Can I enlist some fellow forum goers to help me find things to do along the way and places to stay? My trip plan is for 1-3 weeks with some leeway time. I'm booking hostels and hotels this week as I figure out more details about my plans.

I'm also using this trip as my big journey as an artist, every step of the way I've sworn to document with drawings and paintings of places, people, landscapes and more. That's part of the reason why I'm driving, despite the gas costs, I can lug whatever art supplies I want with me in my trunk. So any good locations for drawing or photography is great.

I'm hitting the books and web, I've already got a travel book for Vancouver. But, more local help would be great. I'm open to different cities too.

My current plan is this:

Day 1-2 - Drive up from Orange County and visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Day 3-5 - Drive to San Francisco sight see, visit family and friends in the area.
Day 6-8 - Drive to Portland, visit a friend on a horse ranch along the way, sight see and maybe stop by Eugene, Oregon?
Day 9-11 - Drive to Seattle, see if it's not raining, sight see
Day 12-14 - Drive into Canada, see if they have poutine on this side, explore.

This leaves me about 3-4 days leeway before the 2 day trip back home.

Some family are trying to convince me to take a rental up, leave the car there, then fly back home and I'm considering it.
 
Sounds like a good time. If you're a baseball fan, be sure to take in a Giants game in SF. The team stinks, but the ballpark is one of the best in the game. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a lot of fun to visit, as is the rest of Cannery Row. IMHO, the best clam chowder around is from The Fish Hopper right up the street from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. If you're staying in that area for a night, I highly recommend trying to stay at Asilomar. It is a really cool resort located a few miles outside of Monterey.
 
[quote name='Vanigan']
Day 12-14 - Drive into Canada, see if they have poutine on this side, explore.
[/quote]

I live on Vancouver Island, just across the water from Vancouver. New York Fries has good poutine lol
 
I wouldn't mind hearing places to hit up (or things to do) in Seattle and Vancouver from locals, as I'll be heading there myself in August.
 
If you're into Thai food, there's a place called Tup Tim Thai's in Seattle, I think north-ish and near sort of to the ferries.

Hit it up, delicious foods.
 
[quote name='mav451']I wouldn't mind hearing places to hit up (or things to do) in Seattle and Vancouver from locals, as I'll be heading there myself in August.[/quote]

Burgermaster in Bellevue, and Dick's (no, bad Hex) in Seattle are both quite tasty burger joints around here.

Also, ths Sci-Fi museum is always fun.
 
There's not much to see here in Eugene unless you have some affection for college towns or are interested in stalking me.

When you're in Portland you might wanna hit up Voodoo Doughnut, if only to say you did. They have some pretty wacky stuff.
 
Everything, well almost everything is set and I'm leaving Sunday the 3rd.

I've added my itinerary to my blog at vertrucio.blogspot.com. Just be careful, I do have some risque paintings up on my blog too. However, you can look forward to drawings, paintings, and photos of my trip as I find time to upload them. One of the benefits of a road trip is I can bring my laptop and scanner. ;)

Edit: Oh and thanks to everyone. All of you really helped me with this trip.
 
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Check out International District (China town) when you're in Seattle. There's a retro/import gaming store located near Uwajimaya. There's also some pretty nice Asian restaurants/stores around the area. Let's see, what else...if the day is nice, check out Gasworks Park or Greenlake. Don't forget the obligatory Pike Place Market and Space Needle visits.
 
[quote name='y2kenjination']Check out International District (China town) when you're in Seattle. There's a retro/import gaming store located near Uwajimaya. There's also some pretty nice Asian restaurants/stores around the area. Let's see, what else...if the day is nice, check out Gasworks Park or Greenlake. Don't forget the obligatory Pike Place Market and Space Needle visits.[/quote]

Sigh, I forgot my p/w, and didn't have much access on the road. Space Needle = most expensive elevator ride in the world, haha (Rock in NYC costs less -_-).

Uwajimaya was cool, though seeing the 'alternative lifestyle' manga was a bit startling, lol. My friend suggested I pick up a 1-up keychain thing, but I ended up not doing that. Pike Place was beast though. The Ocarinas selling with Zelda references right next to it - that was beyond hilarious. Had some Turkish delight, that was pretty cool though (don't think I've seen it in Maryland). Nothing like eating the same stuff that appears in Narnia hahaha.

Also King crab legs were awesome. Maybe I sound like a noob, but I've been allergic to shellfish basically my whole life, and only recently tested shrimp/crab/etc. out (shrimp I can only handle one or two). Anyway, my friend tells me not to get used to this luxury cuz I can't get it here in MD :(
 
Did you only go up to the observation deck or eat at the revolving restaurant? Although the restaurant is overpriced for what you get (depending on meal...but it's at least $30), but typically you get to see 2 full revolutions while you're sitting.

Also make sure to check out the stores in pike market that are "below". There's this cool one that sells lots of comic books, star wars stuff, bobble heads, etc. Make sure to check it out.

Gasworks park is kinda meh (imo). It used to be a refinery and as a result the ground is still contaminated. The 5 second rule does NOT apply there (well technically you shouldn't eat anything you drop...but there they have signs telling you not to).
 
[quote name='Danil ACE']Did you only go up to the observation deck or eat at the revolving restaurant? Although the restaurant is overpriced for what you get (depending on meal...but it's at least $30), but typically you get to see 2 full revolutions while you're sitting.

Also make sure to check out the stores in pike market that are "below". There's this cool one that sells lots of comic books, star wars stuff, bobble heads, etc. Make sure to check it out.[/QUOTE]

Hah I was just there a few weeks ago. Totally cool shop, lots of collectibles also (lunchboxes, cutouts, posters, etc.).
 
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