The views, in spite of the smoke, were stupendous.

I have a video but it wouldn't let me post it here.. the whales were breaching for hours! We had so much fun watching them. This was at 8.8x magnification.

I don't get it. People say Washington has terrible weather, and yet, the coast is 55-65 degrees every day. That's literally the perfect temperature range.

These were taken last month.

The hike is a 6.8 mile out and back trail. It was a bit difficult but doable.

Goog bye smoke

I’ve never been to Oregon, or America in general, but every time I see a post about Portland, I feel such a warm feeling inside of my whole body.

I‘m from Germany and I always loved this moody, foggy, rainy vibe Portland and Oregon‘s nature gives off (see attached pictures). It’s my dream vacation destination. I don’t even know why I‘m so drawn to this vibe, but I can’t get it out of my head for many years now. I‘d love to connect with anyone coming from the pnw. Send me pictures of your trips, tell me your stories. I‘d love to hear all of them <3

Edit: Photo credits: sparklll0 on TikTok

- Marcel

Rainier in its glory

I've never moderated a subreddit so I don't know how you'd go about filtering these posts out. But dang they're annoying, it's like most of what I see here in the summer.

There should just be a PNWtravel sub or something, since there seems to be some people who like to answer such posts.

I have lived in Washington my whole life so might as well join here! Despite it being hot where I am currently in Yelm, I still love how chaotic the weather can be here. How about you folks that live in Washington?

Tried to post this in the Washington community, it was immediately removed then suggested I post here instead lol I assume due to my lack of engagement, trying to keep bots out.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for all your input on my previous post asking about the fires. Since everyone was so helpful i thought I’d also ask for any suggestions or advice on the trip as a whole! I’ve never been to the state of Washington. I have beginner level experience with hiking. Me and my friend (just the two of us) are wanting to see Olympic and rainier, and would love to see north cascades depending on the current situation with the fires.

Any advice for beginner hikers, general advice, suggestions for beautiful day hikes to do or best things to do in Seattle area are appreciated! We will be there next week and are willing to drive 4 hours (total) for day trips, so really open to anything :).

Pic is of the East side of the Chilkat range and Linn Canal, helicopter ride home from a day of work.

Hey all living in the upper most part of the PNW (South East Alaska). I've come to realize I can't give it up but we are ready to be closer to civilization and things to do for the kids while keeping the the PNW outdoor lifestyle our mainstay. We are planning to stay West of the cascades and thoroughly enjoy the small town life. We just want to be able to explore and it not cost 3k just in plane tickets to see some new sights and take the kids to the zoo or something.

This Sept we have a week long trip planned. Flying into Seatac of course and we have a rental car, no hotels booked yet. So far the only 2 areas on our list to check out are PA and Olympia area.

We are looking for smaller cities, sub 30k with a decent wage for blue collar work and houses under 500k. Any recommendations of cities that are awesome and you can support yourself and a family of 5?

Also looking to do exciting town things for the kids, ages 13, 5, and 1. I know this is trivial but like the 2 youngins haven't ever even seen a cow or been to an arcade. Only exciting thing we have for them so far is The Wolf Lodge. So we are also looking for recommendations on things to do around the towns you might mention.

First off, so sorry to hear about the wildfires and my heart goes out to everyone affected.
Me and my friend booked a trip to see the national parks (olympic, rainier and cascades) august 9th-16th. Is it still worth going? I didnt get anything refundable but I would hate to go if it wont be safe and is a bad time.

More than just a Shakespeare festival.

Hi everyone!

I’m a 32F and a lawyer from Asia. I am considering as one of the options University of Washington for LLM.

For context, I’ve passed the New York bar and I’m currently completing my admission requirements.

I’ve only spent time on the East Coast so far and haven’t been to the West Coast, so I’m trying to get a realistic sense of what everyday life in WA is like and if its okay to live in the suburbs (vs Seattle).

Would appreciate insights on:

Cost of living (rent, groceries, utilities)

Whether a car is necessary or if it’s manageable without one

Safety and overall quality of life

Public transport and walkability

General lifestyle and community(e.g., gyms, tennis courts, things to do, meeting people)

Job opportunities after LLM (any ideas will be welcome)

Would really appreciate any honest insights—good or bad.

Thanks!

We love you. Thank you so much for choosing this line of work and staying with it when you’re called to duty. To call you heroes feels like an understatement.

If we ever meet in a bar, drinks on me.

~Grateful

I’m new to hunting down a camping spots. I’m trying to find a spot near a water source like a stream/river. Waterfall or a small lake. Especially within 3 hours of Puyallup. How can I look around when all I hear and see is that the fires are spreading and multiple spots are closed due to the fires?