YOSEMITE & PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST

DAY 1 - Burlington to Sacramento (8/29 Tuesday)

Today your Pacific Northwest adventure begins in the sunshine state! Fly with Champlain Tours into Sacramento International Airport where you will meet your Local Tour Guide and transfer to your hotel at 3:30 pm. After settling in, join back up with the group for a welcome dinner!

 

Hyatt Regency Downtown, Sacramento, CA (D)

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DAY 2 - Yosemite National Park (8/30 Wednesday)

Depart Sacramento this morning and enter Mother Lode country, home of the California gold fields and some of the West's most exciting history. The Mother Lode (gold-bearing quartz veins beneath the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada) was the cause of one of the most amazing population explosions in history. Enjoy a taste of the wild-and-woolly goldrush days as you visit Columbia, one of the few surviving mining towns from the 1850's. Now a state historical park, the town showcases actual buildings from the period, including the Wells Fargo office, the fire and schoolhouses, and of course, several saloons! You'll also visit Sonora, named by Mexican miners for their home state, before you exchange gold for a jewel, Yosemite, "the jewel of the Sierra." This was the nation's first state park, set aside by Abraham Lincoln in 1864; today, Yosemite is still one of America's premier natural wonders. Enter the park via Big Oak Flat Road, and enjoy a tour of its most breath-taking highlights including El Capitan, towering 7,569 feet above the Merced River; Bridalveil Falls, where roaring torrents cascade over the cliffs in lacy grandeur; Yosemite Falls, the second-highest in the world; and the geologically-fascinating Half Dome. Overnight just outside of the park.

 

Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite*or similar, Fish Camp, CA (B)

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DAY 3 - Mariposa Grove – San Francisco (8/31 Thursday)

After breakfast, we’ll stop at Mariposa Grove. The Mariposa Grove contains about 500 mature giant sequoias. Giant sequoias are perhaps the largest living things on Earth. Although the oldest giant sequoias may exceed 3,000 years in age, some living specimens of the ancient bristlecone pine (found in the mountains east of Yosemite and at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, among other places) are more than 4,600 years old. Then depart through the fertile farmlands of California on our way to the "Golden Gate of the West", San Francisco. You will see the beautiful Civic Center, Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, and the Presidio. After this delightful chance to become acquainted with San Francisco, you’ll check into your hotel where dinner is on your own.

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Hotel Zephyr *or similar, San Francisco, CA (B)

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DAY 4 - Redwoods – Eureka (9/1 Friday)

After leaving your heart in San Francisco, cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito traveling on highway 101. Soon you are in the heart of California's wine country. Stop at one of the wineries and enjoy some of California's best wines. Ninety-seven percent of the world's Redwoods grow along U.S. Highway 101, California's famous "Redwood Highway." Redwoods! "Sequoia sempervirens," will soon appear and dominate the landscape. You will have your first chance to appreciate the sheer size of these giants as you enter Humboldt Redwoods State Park 50,000- acre preserve. A highlight of the afternoon is sure to be your stop at the Founder's Tree, a 365- foot-tall redwood... so snap on your wide-angle lens and remember to bring plenty of film, this is sure to be a day of scenic delights that you'll want to capture forever! Your next stop is also where we will overnight, Eureka.

 

Red Lion Inn, Eureka *or similar, CA (B, Wine Tasting, L)

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DAY 5 -  Redwood National Park - Oregon Dunes NR (9/2 Saturday)

The high point of your time in Redwood Country awaits you today in Redwood National Park, one of the largest collections of these majestic trees in the world. As you leave the redwoods behind, you cross the border into Oregon, "The Beaver State". The beauties of the Pacific Northwest beckon as you travel along the magnificent Oregon coast, famed as one of the top ten scenic drives in all North America. Enjoy seascapes and rugged hillsides while the roar of the surf casts its spell on you. All too soon, you'll arrive in Coos Bay, where you'll have a chance to enjoy lunch on your own and do a little souvenir hunting. This afternoon our highlight is a dune buggy ride on the Oregon Dunes National Recreation area. For nearly fifty miles, this is the largest are of dunes between the Pacific Ocean and the Coast mountains. We’ll learn all about as we embark on a one-hour tour of this incredible area. Then continue up the coast the short distance to Florence and your overnight accommodations. Join the group this evening for dinner.

 

Driftwood Shores Resort *or similar, Florence, OR (B, D)

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DAY 6 -  Depoe Bay – Portland (9/3 Sunday)

Continue sightseeing along the Oregon Coast today as you travel north to Portland. Stop first at the Cape Perpetua, visitor's center, with its impressive displays on oceanography and natural history. Next, visit Depoe Bay, where you will very likely see a seal or a sea lion (and perhaps even a whale!) from the observation building of the Depoe Bay State Park. Your stop at "D River" State Park offers you a chance to photograph breathtaking shots of the rugged Oregon coastline before continuing north into some of Oregon's most fertile farmland, arriving at Tillamook Cheese Factory. After the tour your destination today is Oregon's largest city, Portland.

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Holiday Inn Express *or similar, Portland, OR (B)

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DAY 7 -  Mt. Hood Loop - Downtown Dinner Cruise (9/4 Monday)

Today we enjoy an exciting day of touring in the Portland area. First on the agenda is a stop at Timberline Lodge, nestled on the slopes of Mt. Hood. This National Historic Landmark, built of timber and stone in the 1930's, is a skiing museum, as well as a year-round resort for skiers, hikers, and tourists. Continue to journey the Mt. Hood Loop where we’ll visit a local farm and enjoy lunch in this beautiful area around the Columbia River Gorge. We’ll we see Mt. Hood, Oregon's highest peak, dominating the horizon of the forest-covered slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Next, we will visit Bonneville Dam and see its fishlocks and ladders. In the spring and fall huge runs of salmon, steelhead and other migratory fish use the ladders to continue upstream and spawn. Next stop we’ll see spectacular Multnomah Falls, tumbling some 620 feet. Afterwards, we will head back to the hotel to freshen up before boarding the beautiful Portland Spirit for a Downtown Dinner Cruise. You can expect a vibrant setting enhanced by dazzling city sights and city lights. An evening filled to the brim with festive cuisine, locally sourced and prepared fresh on board, entertainment, and live performances.

 

Holiday Inn Express *or similar, Portland, OR (B, L, D)

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DAY 8 -  International Rose Test Gardens – Seaside (9/5 Tuesday)

This morning we’ll tour the International Rose Test Gardens. Founded in 1917, Portland’s International Rose Test Garden is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States. You’ll hear secrets, fun facts, and behind-the-scenes mysteries of the Garden. Then we are on to one of the latest agricultural ventures in the heart of the Oregon wine country which is growing – olives. Red Ridge Farms, a well-known vineyard and herb farm, now has over 17 acres and 13,000 olive trees. We’ll enjoy a tour of the Oregon Olive Mill with its state-of-the-art Italian Olive Press followed by an artisan olive oil tasting and wine tasting. We will then make the quick drive to lunch after spoiling our taste buds. Next, we will head back to the coast in the picturesque town of Seaside, Oregon’s first resort town to overnight. Check into your hotel with the evening free to wander on the beach and have dinner on own.

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Holiday Inn Express *or similar, Seaside, OR (B, Olive Oil & Wine Tasting, L)

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DAY 9 -  Astoria – Seattle (9/6 Wednesday)

Fort Clatsop National Historic Park. This is the site where the 33 member Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered from December 7, 1805, until March 23, 1806. The facility includes the reconstructed fort, a visitor center/museum, historical exhibits, canoe landing, spring and trails through the rainforest of young Sitka spruce and western hemlock. Next it is on to Astoria with a stop for lunch on own and an amazing view from The Astoria Column. Our next stop takes us out of Oregon as we visit Mt. St. Helen’s Visitor’s Center at Silver Lake where you will witness nature’s awesome destructive power along with its incredible ability to recover. Mount St. Helens is most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am PDT which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Then we will continue to our hotel where we will be staying for the next two nights. Dinner is on your own this evening at one of the many restaurants Seattle has to offer.

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Executive Inn by the Space Needle *or similar, Seattle, WA (B)

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DAY 10 -  Pike Place Market - Space Needle (9/7 Thursday)

This morning head north to the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour. Watch the world’s largest jets assembled in the world’s largest building by volume. Begin in the Boeing Theater by viewing an amazing film about how the Boeing Everett aircraft assembly plant has changed the world. Then return to Seattle and stop at the Pike Place Market, the oldest continuously operating market in the United States. You will have time to shop and have lunch on own at this fascinating multi-level bazaar, where you can buy anything from an old clock to an octopus! This afternoon enjoy a visit to the Seattle Center, sight of the 1962 World's Fair, for an experience high above Seattle in the world-famous Space Needle. There will also be time to wander through the Chihuly Garden and Glass. World famous Northwest glass artist, Dale Chihuly, presents a comprehensive collection of his work in an Exhibition Hall, a Garden installation and a Glasshouse.

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Executive Inn by the Space Needle *or similar, Seattle, WA (B)

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DAY 11 -  Home (9/8 Friday)

Today you will transfer you to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to fly home. What an amazing trip through the Pacific Northwest!

 

(B)

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