Pacific Northwest?

What kind of stuff does he like to do?

Orgeon is stunning. I love a road trip through Oregon. So many different things to see. Are you into road trips? Do one that includes Crater Lake, Bend, Portland, Ashland, (and see a play while you're there), and anywhere else the road takes you.

I am in total bliss while driving through Oregon.

I think this question would do with a bit more detail: as the Pacific Northwest is three states: Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

I live in Portland myself, and am rather partial to our city. Portland has a LOT to do, fun city history tours (used to be an old logging town), with the Oregon Coast about 2 or so hours away west and the gorgeous Columbia Gorge a nice hour's drive or so out east, where you either hit the highway and stop at Multnomah Falls, or take the old scenic highway and stop at several beautiful waterfalls including Crown Point, a great viewing spot, before rejoining the highway and heading out to Hood River, where the windsurfers and kiteboarders go to have their fun. (We know more than one Portlander who summers in Hood River for these sports.) In town, both the Chinese Scholar's Garden (a beautiful treasure of a city block) and the Japanese Gardens in Washington Park, which overlooks the city-- these are wonderful spaces to walk through and experience. LOVE them! Washington Park also has their Rose Test Gardens where you can stroll through hundreds of varieties of roses. The Oregon Zoo is close, thre's a Children's Museum next to it (if you have little ones) and our science museum is on the east side of the Portland waterfront.

Ultimately, it really depends on what you would like to do as a family. Eugene is a nice university town with a still-provincial atmosphere-- on a Sunday, many businesses are still closed. Ditto with Corvallis... both are also about 2-3 hours from the coast as well. While these are both popular university towns, they don't offer as much in the 'sightseeing realm'.

Seattle, up north on I-5, has a lot of neat attractions as well. We plan on taking our summer family trip there this year. It's a 'city' on a much more intense scale than Portland is, far more people and loads of hills to walk. If you've ever been to San Francisco, the terrain is similar, so bring comfortable shoes. There are certain swaths of the downtown area we tend to avoid (there are a larger homeless populations in both Portland and Seattle), just as we do in Portland, but also plenty of fun things to see and explore. Seattle has a well-developed waterfront area with ferry rides, curio shops, a neat aquarium, Pike Place (the complex of small shops and restaurants which overlook the waterfront) and a lot of other places we ourselves have yet to explore ( their art and interactive science museums are on our list); nearby in Tacoma their Point Defiance zoo and aquarium was a fun visit (that was in my teens, I'm in my 40s now) and I think Seattle may have its own zoo and botanical gardens.

I know that's a lot of information, it sort of depends on what your family likes to do and the ages of your kids.

If you prefer a city vacation there are definitely plenty of interesting things to do around Seattle and Portland or go up to Victoria, BC or Vancouver, BC. Museums, tourist attractions and entertainment.

Living here (I will focus on Washington state, since this is were we live) however I would probably only plan a few days of city activties and spend the rest of the vacation time outside. You can take your pick here whether you prefer mountains, coast or steppe all of which are beautiful!

Hike the temperate rainforest on the olympic peninsula, or along the wild coast (most beaches here are NOTHING like they are on the east coast, think wild untamed beauty).
Or if you prefer the mountains spend a few days camping or in a cabin in the cascades - there are plenty of well maintained (and popular) trails, alpine and subalpine meadows, passes and amazing views. If you want sun and heat together with some mindblowing geological formations take a trip to eastern Washington.
Explore the Columbia river gorge or drive out to Dry Falls. It will likely be hot and dry, but if you go early enough you will get amazing wildflower displays.
Then there are also our Volcanoes: Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. Absolutely worth either a long daytrip or an overnight stay.

In western Washington your chance of finding great summer weather (70+ degrees, light breeze, no rain) will be greater towards the end of July and through August. The eastern part of the state usually gets higher temps and plenty of sunshine all through the late spring and early summer.

Many outdoors activities that I have mentioned are within a few hours drive of Seattle and could be made into daytrips.
For choosing interesting trails or parks check out:
Washington Trail Association (www.wta.org)
Washington State Parks (www.parks.wa.gov - this website also allows you to make reservations for state park campgrounds and cabins)
and the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/state/wa/index.htm?program=all)

Have fun.

If you make it to Bend, Oregon, you have to float the Deschutes River. You can rent big inner tubes at the boat ramp at the Bend Parks and Rec building. A real hoot and it seems like half the town is floating down and taking the bus back to the starting point on a hot weekend in July or August.

Other things to do in town. Shop the Old Mill or Downtown. Hike up Pilot Butte, an inactive volcano right in town, one mile up and a great view from the top. Walk the River Trail. Come the first Friday of any month and do the Art Walk - shops and galleries in town have live music and hors d'oeuvres. Ride the chairlift at Mt. Bachelor. Horseback riding in Sisters or Sunriver. Sharc waterpark in Sunriver. Mountain biking on Phil's trail. Hike in the National Forest. Tumalo Falls. Self tour of the Lava Cave. High Desert Museum. Eat great food at one of the many restaurants in town. I like Joolz, High Tides. Watch a cheap movie and eat sweet potato fries at McMenamins while sitting together on an old fashioned couch.

Places to stay... Riverhouse, Oxford Suites, Shiloh Inn, Ameritel in the Old Mill I think it's now a Hilton Garden something.

About a 3.5 hour drive from Portland. Worth the trip.

The summer before my senior year my family went to the Pacific NW. Because we lived in Wyoming we did a road trip across Idaho and Washington, spent time in Seattle, drove down the coast to Portland and then back across Idaho and home. It was one of my favorite trips. I fell in love with Seattle. We (husband, MIL, daughter) went back about five years ago.

Seattle has the Space Needle. The Experience Music Project Museum is in that same area. Very cool museum that I think any high school kid who listens to music would enjoy. There is a zoo and an aquarium. The zoo has outdoor concerts during the summer that can include some pretty big names. Pike Place Market is fun to walk around. Look for the Post Alley Gum Wall. There is also a ghost tour. The original Starbucks is across the street. The Fremont Troll is a giant carved troll that hides out under a bridge. There is a Museum of Flight and a science center. There is Seattle Mariners baseball. There is a Japanese Gardens and an arboretum. We also took the ferry across to Bremerton, Washington and did some hiking in one of the only non-tropical rainforests in the world. We also drove up Mt. St. Helens. You can tour the Boeing factory, too.

If we were to go back, I would love to take the ferry to Vancouver, B.C. You might need passports or at least birth certificates to do that.

Man, now I want to go back!! I think you would have a great time in Seattle. It is a quirky city with lots of "off the beaten path" kinds of things to do. This is a great web site for ideas. Or do a web search for crazy things to do in Seattle. There is an unofficial memorial site for Kurt Cobain. You can also find memorials to Jimi Hendricks and Bruce Lee.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United...

Have a great time!

I LOVE the PNW! We almost moved up there but ended up in VA instead. I love the Bellingham area of Washington. It's so beautiful there. You can go whale watching, visit the San Juan Islands, there are a lot of cute little towns there. You are also only about maybe an hour from the Canadian border so maybe that would be an option also.

If you end up in Oregon (I lived there for 2 years), you can always go to Portland. There is also Canon Beach there which is beautiful.

Don't forget British Columbia. Vancouver Island.

You'll get some great ideas on here. Good question. I haven't been there either but I'd like to suggest tripadvisor.com. Great source. Have fun!!