Going to Oregon
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Going to Oregon
Re: Half-way vacation spot for SF and Seattle families (October 2006)
Bend Oregon is a nice spot between Seattle and SF - although it
is east and over the Cascades from the mid-way point (which may
be somewhere around Medford). Bend has a wide variety of hotels,
cool parks with volcanic geology near by, the outdoor/indoor High
Desert Museum (see their website), the Deschutes River, the
Deschutes brew pub. Some folks like to stay south of town at the
Sun River resort. If you want to stay west of the cascades along
hwy 5, I'm sure Medford or Eugene or other central Oregon towns
have a lot of great parks and playgrounds
Travelin' Mom
June 2004
We're taking our sons aged 8 and 12 to stay at Sun River Resort
in Bend, Oregon, the first week of July. Aside from enjoying
biking and the pool, we'd like recommendations about other
places to see, activities to do, things we should take up with
us (we're going by airplane), and places to eat.
nancy
Oh man, Bend is awesome!! If you all have bikes, I would
suggest riding them! If you don't have bikes, you should rent
them. I don't know the names of the trails, but any bike shope
in town (and there are a few) will be able to get you pointed
in the right direction for trails that fit your skill level.
Also, there's a restaurant on the main drag in town called (I
think) Alpen Glow. Great place for breakfast! Have fun!
Jen
I have visited relatives in Bend a couple of times. We went to Petersen
Rock Garden and Museum in Redmond, a 4 acre park of gardens,
towers, and bridges that Petersen made over a number of years from
rocks that he found. Lava Land Visitor Center has short hikes in a very
different landscape. The High Desert Museum is a great learning
opportunity re the pioneers, and also has some great landscape
dioramas with live animals. We have also gone to Operation Santa
Claus, where there is a reindeer ranch. These are also all listed in the
book, Fun With the Family in Oregon, by Cheryl McLean, along with
other ideas.
jewel
March 2005
anyone have recs. for inexpensive hotels or motels in Corvallis-
my husband's family is having a mini-reunion- well his parents
and several siblings and us, all of whom have families are
going up for youngest brother's college graduation in June. My
mother in-law currently has reservations at the (only?) motel
in Philomath where the college is, but is worried it's ''boring''
there and thinks Corvallis would be a nicer place to stay. Also
any recs. for fun things to do for kids and/ or adults of a
range of ages welcome. and, does anyone have a favorite
restaurant or health food store around the area? Thanks!
anon
I grew up in Philomath, OR and yes, I believe there is still only
one motel there. If you can, take bikes, there is a wonderful
bike path from Philomath to Corvallis. Once in Corvallis, the
area along the river has great kid friendly restaurants,
bakeries and coffee shops. Avery Park is also a nice destination
(also on the bike path) which has a train engine for kids to play
on. If you do stay in Philomath- tour the ''old historical
college'' there.
dnahoy
Corvallis is a great town (just 5 minutes from Philomath)! We
visited last summer, and actually plan to move there in two
years. Check out the website www.visitcorvallis.com for
detailed info about lodging, restaurants, attractions, etc. We
stayed in the Best Western Grand Manor Inn, in a very large
suite with one separate bedroom (two sleeping areas), for about
$99/night with a AAA discount. You can find regular
hotel/motel rooms for quite a bit cheaper than that, if you
don't need the two sleeping areas in one suite. There's a
really nice-looking, new hotel on the OSU campus. You will
probably need to book soon, since the area fills up around
graduation time. Philomath isn't much--it's a town of about
8000 people, and there really is only one motel (The galaxie).
We drove past it and said ''glad we're not staying there!''. It
looked fairly run down from the outside. We are outdoor types,
and enjoyed visiting the numerous parks in the area. I also
recommend driving out to the coast through Newport. It's a
beautiful drive, about 45 minutes, and it's not the windy
carsick road to the beach like it is here. The beaches are
really nice and not crowded at all. We had a great dinner at
the Big River restaurant inCorvallis, and enjoyed walking along
the new Riverfront Memorial park. There is even a large
fountain there that all the kids can play in when it's hot.
The downtown area is cute, with hanging flower baskets
overywhere and lots of small shops. Eugene is a larger town
(over 100,000) that's about 35-40 minutes to the south, and it
has many attractions, cute shops, and good restaurants. Have
fun! Feel free to e-mail me if you need more info. We really
love the area.
Gayle
Re: Half-way vacation spot for SF and Seattle families (October 2006)
We find plenty to do in Eugene. Lots of parks and skateparks, restaurants. We like
the bikepath along the river. But the highlight for my kids is the wavepool in
nearby Springfield (a 15 minute drive). Its an indoor pool with a lap pool, a shallow
baby/toddler pool, a large wavepool, a slide and a 3 foot pool area.
have fun
Jan 2006
I'd like to visit my niece who lives in Shady Cove near Medford
for a weekend. I don't have a close relationship with her mom so
I need a place to stay with her, my son and husband. We also
need something to do while we are there. Something related to
winter sports and snow (if there is any) would be great. Can
anyone give me some suggestions?
anon
The closest ski resort is Mt. Ashland Ski Resort south of Shady Cove. It's about an hour drive away.
Cathy
Re: Half-way vacation spot for SF and Seattle families (October 2006)
The Oregon Coast offers tons of great places to vacation! The
State campgrounds are fabulous (grassy, rather than dusty like
California's, and well maintained) and there are nice vacation
rentals available in the small coastal towns. Both beach and
mountain forest/lake type country are readily accessible all
along the coast, and most towns offer antiquing, local specialty
produce, historic sites and museums, etc. Plus, outlet malls
and no sales tax. :-) We once met my Seattle-ite sister in
Lincoln City, OR and had a fabulous time, for a really
reasonable price
Holly
June 2004
We are headed for the Oregon Coast in mid-July for a camping vacation.
We have booked two nights at what seems to be a big-and-busy campground
in southern Oregon (Sunset Bay State Park) but would like to hear if others
have recommendations for smaller, more intimate/secluded campgrounds along
the middle or northern part of the coast. Any recommendations about what to
do and where to go on the Oregon coast with a 2-year old would be great.
Thanks!
Anna
Oswald State Park is lovely, right by the beach in northern
Oregon.
jennifer
April 2002
We'd like to take 2-3 weeks late this summer on the Oregon coast
(preferably closer to Astoria than to Eureka).
We have a daughter who will be ~ 1 year old at that time, and two dogs we
want to take with us. In the past, we've
rented a motor home and stayed in the (fantastic) Oregon State Parks
system. But this time, we'd really like to rent
a house and stay in one spot. Does anyone have a particular spot/rental
agency, etc. that they can recommend on the
Oregon coast?
Bobbie
Check out the properties rented by OceanEdge Specialty Rentals in Manzanita
Oregon--two of them are
pet friendly. Here's their website:
http://www.oceanedge-vacation-rentals.com/index.htm.
Juli, who manages these properties, is my husband's second cousin, but
we've never stayed there.
Just FYI.
Sorry--I forgot to mention I saw a letter recommending OceanEdge in the
Sunday Chronicle's ''Follow
the Reader'' column a while back. Here's the link:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/12/31/TR109510.DTL
.
Since I don't have any firsthand experience with the place I thought you
might be interested in this
person's experience!
Christina
Re: Vacation rentals in Oregon
Your best bet would be to go on the Internet and look for the "Oregonian".
That is Oregons biggest paper. They have vacation rentals in their Rental
Section. If your kids want to do "Dune Bugging" and etc. The best bet would
be to go to Coos Bay or Newport. That is where the biggest Dunes are and
they rent the Dune Buggies also. There is the Sea Lions Cave right on the
coast. I hope this helps.
Raye (4/99)
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