A good guidebook is a perfect companion for the budget traveler. In the travel guidebook world, Lonely Planet tops the list as the best shoestring guide for a whole bunch of global destinations– for pretty much anywhere in southeast Asia to hot destinations like the Czech Republic. So when I saw one of their latest titles was for our neck of the woods, Pacific Northwest Trips, I was intrigued to see how it would stand up as a travel guide for a budget-minded local. So I asked them to mail me a copy for review, and they did. And they included an extra one for you, too. But more on that in a minute. First, about this book. It’s been on my coffee table for the past three weeks, and I dare say, it won’t be put away anytime soon.
Pacific Northwest Trips isn’t much organized at all like a destination guidebook. Instead, it leads you on hundreds of journeys and experiences. I think that’s what makes it such a fantastic coffee table find for a Pacific Northwesterner. Whether you’ve got just one Saturday free to journey along Chuckanut Drive in Washington, or a whole series of Saturdays to explore the eleven destinations that comprise “Oddball Oregon” (care to tour the world’s only museum of velvet paintings, anyone?), the guide will keep you traveling locally for a long, long time.
There are 52 themed “trips” in the book. I think the themed trips are quite a nifty way to organize the 1000+ suggested places to see, eat, and sleep. The theme categories for the trips are as follows: Iconic Trips, Routes, Food & Drink, Outdoors, History & Culture, and Offbeat. The eleven “Iconic Trips” are definitively Pacific Northwest, designed to plunge you into the heart and soul of the region, so expect to drink microbrews, gaze at totem poles, and explore an active volcano on these. Again, this book is all about experiencing your trip. The guide even includes a list of suggested songs to load onto your iPod for the Northwest roadtrip, and includes such tunes as Elliott Smith’s “Rose Parade” and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Posse on Broadway.”
The trip ideas have maps, driving times and directions and all offer detour ideas, places to eat and sleep, and fun things to do along the way. And, they’re totally clever. Here are a few of my favorites:
Trip #5: Whistle Stop Brewery Tour (Iconic Trip) Sure, I like coffee and wine. A lot. But it is Pacific Northwest microbrewed beer that stole my heart. This trip takes you on a tour of some of the Pacific Northwest’s best breweries by train – no designated driver necessary! Start in Eugene and make your way north with whistle stops in Portland, Centralia, Olympia, Seattle, La Conner and Vancouver. You’ll be sipping at fifteen brewpubs in all.
Trip #23: Cowboys & Kerouac: The North Cascades (Outdoors) Care to sample “Cascade Mountain oysters,” proudly served on the menu at the Buffalo Inn Restaurant in Marblemount? These “oysters” are actually deep-friend buffalo testicles. Which I will not be eating. This trip also takes you to an organic farm, one of the best campgrounds for families in all of Washington state (Colonial Creek), and gets you to roadside views of Desolation Peak, where Jack Kerouac spent 63 days holed up in a fire lookout practicing Buddhism. Before your trip ends in Winthrop, a detour takes you up to Hart’s Pass at 6197 feet, the highest point you can drive to in Washington.
Trip #37: Prehistoric Oregon Trip (History & Culture) The painted hills and fossil beds of central Oregon are one of the coolest, most beautiful landscapes in all of the Pacific Northwest, yet many locals have never made the trip there. But you must go, because this place is spectacular! (See my former post on this area here.) This trip begins in Clarno and ends in Mitchell, with an optional trip extension to the town of John Day. The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument comprises 22-square miles of prehistoric goodness and fabulous scenery. Great cheap sleeps are sprinkled throughout the area, with decent camping opportunities, too.
Pacific Northwest Trips goes well beyond the typical guidebook in providing road trip opportunities for exploring hidden fun and offbeat experiences. I love the way it is organized and have been dreaming up trips ever since I got the book. Not all of the trips are practical, though. One trip, called Washington Roadside Curios, outlines a road trip past eleven funky roadside attractions, from what I call a “tacky art” residence in Ellensburg to the World’s Largest Frying Pan in Long Beach. The thing is, the trip is 690 miles long! So in practice, you may want to combine elements of several “trips” on your excursions in order to save time and gas money, or just do bits and pieces of trips.
Now, about that free book. What are your summer vacation plans? Leave a comment on this post and tell me where you are headed this summer. On May 22, I’ll select a comment at random and if it’s yours, I’ll send you a brand new copy of Lonely Planet’s Pacific Northwest Trips!
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m headed to Las Vegas next week to see some Cirque du Soleil, and in August am having a mini-reunion with some old friends in a cabin on Lake Wenatchee.
Great blog!
Planning to take the kids to the Oregon coast for a week, and then hopefully a trip to Lake Chelan with my husband (since we haven’t had a kid-free getaway in years) before he heads off to fish in Alaska with his dad.
Excellent blog – bookmarking it now!
I’m spending a week in Seattle to help with the final plans for son’s wedding, then in August I’m heading to San Diego for a few days of relaxation before I have to go back to work in September.
Headed to Oregon, and hope to make it as far as Seattle, so this book will be helpful.
Sequi again, to see the things I missed last time.
Lithuania here I come!
A pal and I are heading to Jackson Hole, WY for a week-long mountain bike ride along the Pacific Crest Trail. The relatively thin air is going to hurt us coastal-dwellers a bit, but we’re hoping the views make up for it.
Whoops, make that Continental Divide Trail, not the Pacific Crest Trail. Some trail names are hard-coded into my brain!
Heading to Vegas first week of June for friends graduation – hoping to see Valley of Fire and Grand Canyon – lots of NW camping on the summer weekends coming up also – love warm windy nights in eastern Washington.
We’re off to France in August…can’t wait!
Cama Beach, Baker Lake and whatever else we can come up with with a limited budget!
Headed to Poland for the month of June with my wife. Krakow, Gdansk, Zakopane, and the Tatra Mountains are just some of the locales we will be visiting. Maybe a quick train ride to Prague if we have time.
Heading to Scandinavia in June. We’ll explore Norway, Denmark, and Sweden and then cruise to Tallinn and St. Petersburg.
I’m going back to Ohio for my family’s 4th of July reunion. Other than that, I’ll be spending a day or two here and there exploring more of the Pacific Northwest. We have only lived here for a year and a half and there is still so much to see!
We’re going to Whidbey Island for 3.5 weeks! lots of time to check out the Pacific Northwest (or at least the parts that interest 5- and 2-year-old boys).
In June we’re taking a short Whidbey trip. The only part of the state (North – South) I haven’t ridden my bike is from Seattle to Deception Pass. So I’m pedaling and Matt is driving to meet me there and we’ll camp and hike the weekend away.
Later in the summer we’ll visit the San Juans but we have to wait until Matt accrues some vacation. (Taps fingers impatiently).
Hoping to start my round-the-world jaunt at some point this summer…if all goes accordingly. First stop: Hawaii, then continue west. Sure wish I had that LP guidebook a few years ago while a friend and I explored the PNW living out of a car! But I’ll be back…
Thanks for the detailed overview of the book!
First, it’s off to Anaheim for the International Convention of the Barbershop Harmony Society (and maybe a quick day at Disneyland) in July. A week of harmony, fellowship and “the Mouse”.
Then, in August, we fly to London to board the NCL Jewel for a cruise to the Baltic capitals; 12 days of sightseeing, culture and cruising.
Lastly, back home to the Vancouver, BC area and forays down into Washington state to visit family and friends. Growing up on Whidbey Island means I’m never far from home when I travel through the area.
The best trip has got to be the uniquely scenic highway around the Olympic Penninsula and up the West Coast rainforest valley of the Ho River, Gray’s Harbor, Long Beach and the many treasures in and around Seattle. Don’t miss the Ballard Locks!
I’m filling up the gas tank on my first (still sort of) new car in 25 years and driving around the Northwest. Looking forward to seeing my ‘old friends’ – the World’s Largest Egg in Winlock, Wa. and the World’s Largest Hairball at the monastery in Mount Angel, Oregon.
My summer plans are wildly boring, they involve restocking the wallet so more travel can happen in the fall. But because I live in the PNW, I’d love to get my sticky paws on the short trip heaven offered up in that PNW guide, all I have is a wildly out of date Moon guide.
I want to see what LP has to say about the Lavendar Festival in Sequim – love lavendar!
We returned from Jacksonville OR to see the Moody Blues at the Britt Festival. Great area we had never explored before and would consider returning to since we were there for only one afternoon. Would love to know what else is w/in a day trip from that area – enough to do for say a long weekend. We know about Ashland…