Family Travel Ideas
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Vacation Rentals with Kids in BC, WA and OR
Imagine creating a gourmet spread in your temporary house: warm Seattle-baked bread, locally-crafted cheese, and tiny strawberries from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. After lunch, your toddler naps in the house’s second bedroom while you catch up on your reading. She wakes and you head to the local playground. There, your family exchanges a hello with newfound friends. It’s like a little slice of Northwest life. Or perhaps you’d rather stay on the San Juan Islands, where water laps the shore outside your door. Then again, how about a condo in Portland’s Pearl district? If only to be closer to the  neighborhood pub – which welcomes children, of course. Vacation rentals…
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5 Funky Places to Sleep in Oregon
You’re bored with hotels and bed and breakfasts and inns and tents. You want something different. Oregon offers quirky stays, from lighthouses to lookouts, suitable for a variety of ages. Take a look at these sweet sleeps — and if you go, let us know! (Photo above: Quail Prairie Lookout, elevation 3,033 feet, photo courtesy of USDA Forest Service) 1. Oregon teepee in Warm Springs, Oregon. At Kahneeta Resort & Casino, bring your own inflatable air mattress and comforters – you’re sleeping in a Central Oregon teepee!  This 21-foot canvas arrangement allows you to enjoy the resort’s waterslides, pool and lovely weather for less than a hotel stay, and each teepee…
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Camping with Kids in Washington State
Recently, a reader requested an article on family-friendly Washington campgrounds. You ask and I deliver! I pestered the Washington State Parks Department for insider hints and tips on finding great Washington State kid-friendly campgrounds. Of course, all Washington campgrounds welcome families. But we want the best campgrounds for kids in Washington. Campsites that the kids will remember, and beg you to reserve next summer — even if the mosquitoes ate you alive and the water was too cold to swim in. (Photo at right, our family’s annual campground destination, Penrose Point State Park) Here’s our Q & A with Linda Burnett of the Washington State Parks. Please note, these…
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Tips and Hints: Finding a family-friendly hotel
Kid friendly hotels – whether in Portland (Oregon) or Portland (Maine) — are blessedly similar. Sure, the landscape changes, but a great hotel offers both respite and recreation to vacationing families. Here are questions we ask before we go, we or read over hotel websites to find the answers. Any of these points are equally valid if you’re looking for family friendly New York City hotels or kid friendly Las Vegas accommodations. And of course, you’ll want to take into account customer reviews or guidebook recommendations (I recommend dozens of kid-friendly Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and Portland hotels in my book Northwest Kid Trips). However, it’s rare to find a hotel…
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A Stop-By-Stop Guide to the Oregon Coast with Kids
A friend recently told me about her upcoming Oregon Coast trip, and asked, “Where should I stop along the Oregon Coast?” So I’ve made up a quick itinerary of where I’d go and what I’d do if driving the Oregon Coast, from Astoria to the California-Oregon border. This stop-by-stop guide down Hwy 101 along the Oregon Coast shows great stops and kids activities. Plan frequent stops into your day, and you’ll discover less complaining and more cooperation. Drive along the Oregon Coast’s Hwy 101 with my Google Maps directions. (But always double-check directions and open hours, etc. before going anywhere) Stop 1. Start your trip in Astoria. Pick up…
