Oregon Coast road trip ideas needed

My husband are I are visiting my parents in Portland later this month and then driving down the coast on the way home. I had planned lots of fun things like hiking in the forest and scrambling around in the tide pools. DH fell off his bike last week and broke his leg so he will be on crutches for a couple of months and hiking is now out of the question. Does anyone have ideas for fun places to visit that are easily accessible? We are planning to visit the aquarium in Newport and the air museum and cheese factory in Tillamook. Weather permitting we will sit on the beach and read some books. Any other ideas?

This message was edited Apr 3, 2009 9:03 AM

One of the best towns along the coast is a village called Manzanita. There are lots of towns along the coast but some are definitely more picturesque than others! There are a lot of beach houses for rent and are usually reasonable.
Have fun!

Here in Silverton, we have the Oregon Gardens. You could come visit on your way up to Portland. Silverton is at most 30 min east of Salem off 101.
The park has a tour tram that can take you around the park to see everything if walking is not possible.
http://www.oregongarden.org/

Cooley gardens (Iris grower) is in town also. http://www.cooleysgardens.com/

The Wooden shoe tulip farm in woodburn is beautiful this time of year.The grounds are flat, but the fields can be muddy . May not be the best place for a cast...but if we have a dry spell..worth the trip!
http://www.woodenshoe.com/index.html

Astoria is also an option on your way down the coast - it's interesting to see where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific. There are beautiful sights all over Oregon - that's for sure!

The air museum is huge!! Might be pretty tiring on crutches. Whale watching tours are wonderful and relaxing and usually not to expensive. Shore acres botanical garden outside of Coos bay is a treat any time of the year and should have some great things blooming.And whatever you do don't miss the redwoods as you go farther south. This is a great time of year to drive down the coast, the heavy tourist season hasn't hit yet and most motels still have view rooms available in case the weather isn't at it's best. Have a great trip.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. We borrowed a wheel chair for him so the aquarium and museum won't be too tiring. We will be staying in cabins and yurts at state parks for most of our trip. I love the fact the Oregon state parks has so many cabins available. We would postpone the trip except that I have already paid for the cabins and would not get a full refund at this point.

We will spend a full day in the redwoods and probably plan another trip there in the fall when DH can do some hiking. Darn, it looks like we are going to just miss bonzai day at shore acres but the rhodies should be blooming by then.

I think they have an elevator at Sea Lion Caves now - it's cool even if the sea lions aren't there.

And be sure and check out the Tillamook Country Smoker when you're in Tillamook. Yummmmmmm.

or the Tillamook Cheese factory

The Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria is also an intriguing stop-over. The lightship probably isn't accessable by wheelchair, but that is only a small segment of the collection.

http://www.crmm.org/index.htm

Z

How far down the coast do you have to go?


jack

We are planning to start at Cannon beach and drive down to Arcata, CA. Astoria wouldn't be that much of a detour.

You can drive over to Astoria from Portland and then start down the coast. Have a great time!

I was going to suggest the Tacoma Glass Museum, but it's farther from Portland than I remembered.