Hmm, lots of outdoors stuff, at least from my interests. National parks and forests, as an example. The cultural scene's fun, and it's practically a ritual for tourists to hit up the Pike Place Market. Good food and stuff there, too - remember it's not just a tourist trap, it's a local shopping center.

The Olympics have some killer temperate rainforests to check out, so it could be worth a couple days to detour through them - though the nearest places to stay have some "odd" tourist stuff for the nicer forest areas - Forks. They're also in the process of tearing down some dams on the Elwa river, history in the making as they're hoping to restore some of the salmon runs that were cut by development. As the dams aren't even functional anymore, makes sense to me.

Remember, though, that summer here is a bit cooler than you're used to... sometimes cooler than you're used to in winter. 70's to 90's is most common. Personally, I live on Whidbey Island, it's a nice place, big enough to have three distinct regions. North's mostly a military town called Oak Harbor... they call it a city, but it's not what people would think of as a city. I mean, we have a wally world, but that's about it. It tries to be touristy, but fails... You want nice restaurants in the area, check out Coupeville in centeral whidbey. Historic town, blah blah blah, superior education, cow tippin' we'll never admit to, etc.

South Whidbey is scenic, good place to settle and that stuff, but the kids seem to get real bored. More so than a town where you look out the school windows to watch the farmers fertilize their fields with giant shit sprinklers.

Anyhow, I'd highly suggest checking out Mt. St. Helens, it's just a cool volcano. On a clear day (hey, every now and then...) you can catch it steaming a bit. The rest of those really pretty mountains, by the way? Also volcanoes, most are considered active or at least closely watched!

All in all, really... enjoy all the green in the area. I think it's about as peaceful as I ever get just... smelling the forests and enjoying the atmosphere. Away from Tacoma.

Oh wow, you're heading just passed me! Lol Vancouver can be fun if you find the right places, but I do suggest a trip to a club in Portland, I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me at the moment, but from what I hear from friends it's a really fun spot :)

the  bcfurries need to arrange a welcoming get-together!

If you like ocean life the aquarium at either Seattle or Vancouver is a great stop with tonnes of variety showing the diverse life just off shore. I lived in Vancouver for year and a half and, well, Granville Island has to by my favorite place. It's the richest in artsy culture that defines Vancouver with cute shops and GREAT food. Stanely Park, Capilano Bridge, Grouse Mountain, Cypress, and Garibaldi Lake are just a few of the awesome nature places along the highway. For shopping there's plenty unique stores downtown and go to the Night Market in Richmond for some cool asian festival cuisine!

I live in Vancouver!

Depends on what your interests are. You can hit Pike Place Market, Visit Broadway (Basically the gay side of town with all the fun shops lol) and checkout the art store there with the Jimmy Hendricks statue out front called BLICK, Take in the Night scene at places like The last Supper Club, mess around at the Space Needle, and various other things. I live in Lakewood below Tacoma, and my mother and I head up to Seattle every other weekend or I go up there with my friends to hang out. Beautiful city. You should check the underground too, but be warned the driving in Seattle is scary! haha

I really hope to live in Seattle one day it's really cool place to live :)

:o! Nice! You should drive through kentucky ;D haha

been there before youll have a blast washington has a lot of great things to do my personal favorite was kayaking up the washington coast if ya got the time i highly recomend it.

... dude, whenever you're coming through Vancouver let me know. I'd be more than happy to take you out and about to the UBC Research Forest if nothing else. A lot of stuff in the Vancouver area is very outdoorsy, but we also have a nice art gallery (Vancouver Art Gallery), Science World (or... Telus World of Science), the largest Aquarium in Western Canada, and the second largest mall in Canada (Metropolis at Metrotown). I have this feeling you might enjoy Granville Island, too... it seems to be sorta the go-to spot for artsy folk. Granville Street, of course, also has it's attractions. Lots of art shops and the like.

Depending on when, prescisely, you're in Vancouver, we also have the Pacific National Exhibit (which is basically a really massive fair) and the Night Market (Giant outdoor mall full of really cheap stuff and foreign foods and things)...

I hope at least some of this helps!