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Hot Springs in Oregon and Washington with Kids
If you were a miner back in the 1880s, how did you get really clean? You planned a trip to the closest hot springs. Hot spring trips have long been a traditional pastime in the BC-Washington-Oregon region, says Jeff Birkby, author of Touring Washington and Oregon Hot Springs, a history-rich guidebook to hot springs in the Pacific Northwest. Hot springs are formed when ground and rain water sinks below the Earth’s surface, then heats in volcanic pots deep below the surface. The mineral-infused water springs back out once it’s at a boiling point, then cools in pools. “Hot springs were social centers,†Birkby says of olden-days hot spring spots. The hotter…
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Harvest Days: Farm tours, family celebrations and pumpkin patches
Get out into the autumn weather: pick pumpkins, catch leaves and attend an Oktoberfest or two. If you’re planning to travel to another city (or nearby) this season, check out these fantastic events: If you live near Seattle, grab a light jacket for this weekend’s families-welcome harvest celebration. Can’t make it? Find farmy goodness (markets, stands and u-picks) at Puget Sound Fresh website, including the always-popular Remlinger Farms. Further from Seattle, this weekend (September 25), the party-hearty Leavenworth offers a Leaf Festival. Leavenworth also hosts an Oktoberfest that runs through three weekends in a row. A more sedate time may be found at the Skagit Valley Festival of Family Farms, on October…
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Peak Escape: Timberline Lodge, Oregon with kids
Sleeping in your overstuffed bed at Timberline Lodge on Oregon’s 11,239-foot Mount Hood, you may feel like you’re the only mama on the mountain. Yes, despite your children snoring in their beds. Knotty doug fir paneling wraps you up in a cabin-like interior  — and whether rain or snow falls, it’s cozy and silent inside. We recently visited Timberline Lodge for an overnight stay, and I can’t recommend it enough. The lodge offers ski lifts right outside the door  and 1930s-era history inside the somber stone walls. Built as part of a WPA project to put the unemployed back to work, the lodge’s timber frame still stands solid at 5,960 feet (right…
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5 Reasons to Travel in Fall
Fall’s official, folks. The leaves are drifting, the winds are blowing and besides, the calendar says so. Autumn’s a fabulous time to travel in the Pacific Northwest and Canada with kids, and here’s why: 1. Value. Prices in the “shoulder season” tend to be about 25-30% less than in summer. Look for discounts in popular, expensive summer destinations — Washington’s islands, Oregon’s coast and Vancouver Island. Whistler, in BC, is between ski and summer seasons and hotel prices reflect that reality. City prices drop, too. Even if it’s raining, there are always scores of kid-friendly indoor museums and attractions to keep you warm and dry. 2. Leaf-peeping. Much of Cascadia’s…
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Museum Madness: Free Northwest museum entry on September 25
On September 25, 2010, you and a guest can gain free entry to one of the Pacific Northwest’s fabulous museums, thanks to the Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day. Go to the site to see the complete list, but for family-friendly options, here are my picks and why you should go: Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, Washington, for general fun. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, in Tacoma, Wash., for pioneers. Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, for two floors of hands-on history. KidsQuest Children’s Museum in Bellevue, Wash., for more little-kid options. Nordic Heritage Museum, in Seattle, for vikings and a Lego warrior ship. Seattle Art Museum, for oddball modern art…
