Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

We had a wonderful trip to Washington State. Our goal was to see a bit of Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula. After consulting with Sheri, she recommended we also take time to see the San Juan Islands, which wasn’t on our radar. We spent three days in each place (9 days total) and felt like we saw the best of Washington.

We particularly enjoyed: (a) Savor Seattle Food Tour around Pike Place Market in Seattle, (b) Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching Tour and sea kayaking tour with San Juan Outfitters; and (c) hiking in Hurricane Ridge, Rialto & Second Beaches, and Lake Crescent in the Olympic Peninsula.

In addition to booking accommodations and tours, Sheri also provided us with tons of options for additional sites, tours, hiking trails and restaurants.

My husband and I just returned from a three-week trip to the Pacific Northwest planned by Sheri. This was the third trip to the PNW that Sheri has planned for us and once again, she did not disappoint. She is so incredibly knowledgeable and the itineraries she prepares are full of personal anecdotes and recommendations for places, all of which she has been or eaten or stayed. Her lengthy “activities” notes about each place we visited were invaluable.
The personal attention she takes to each aspect of the trip is exceptional. On our last trip to the PNW planned by Sheri, she was able to join us for dinner. The only disappointment this time was that she was out of the country! We cannot recommend her highly enough!

View from Cape Flattery, Neah Bay, WA.

Travelers Robert and Lina Grabill hiked the winding Cape Flattery trail at Neah Bay. Photo: Traveler Robert Grabill

This was our first experience using a trip planner. Overall, it was very good though we learned a lot for next time. And yes, there will be a next time. Sheri, our trip planner did a wonderful job with all of her recommendations.

Our trip was to Olympic National Park—a gorgeous park and area that can be a bit overwhelming. Sheri found us a great vacation rental in the 3 Crabs area of Sequim (pronounced Skwim) for the first half of the trip. It was absolutely lovely—highly recommended and one we would like to return to. The house sat right on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so we could watch the tides, birds and ships. And Mt. Baker sometimes showed itself, though other times it was shy and hid behind clouds/fog.

We hit the majority of the highlights of Olympic National Park. We hiked along Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent/Marymere Falls, Sol Duc, the Hoh rainforest, Kalaloch and Lake Quinault. Dungeness Spit, while not in the park, was amazing though we hit it late in the day and so didn’t have an opportunity to see it in all of its glory.

We drove out to Neah Bay and spent time in the Makah Museum at the Makah Cultural and Research Center. The museum is a fascinating look back at Makah culture from 500 years ago. We also hiked to the furthest NW corner of the lower 48 via the Cape Flattery trail. A gorgeous view awaited us at the end, though the trail itself wound through beautiful forests. It had rained that day so the trail was a bit rough and wet.

Despite it being the off season (which was a great time to go to the park), the Hoh rainforest was very popular and was the busiest of all the locations we visited in the park. The Hall of Mosses is as impressive as everyone says it is—a must-see! Our only sighting of Roosevelt elk was by the roadside as we were leaving Hoh. They are beautiful animals!

Kalaloch Lodge and the Pacific coast area was another favorite of ours. We spent 2 nights there and even came back the next day to further enjoy its beauty. Our cabin had a great view of the ocean and sunset. It’s a place to absorb the power of nature.

A must-do drive is the loop around Lake Quinault, though drivers must be prepared for rough roads once the pavement ends. (High clearance vehicles only.) However, the route is like a drive-thru Hall of Mosses. Absolutely amazing…

Sheri recommended Cedarbrook Lodge for our last night close to the Seattle airport and that recommendation was spot-on. The hotel is luxurious in a beautiful and unexpected setting. While meals are on the expensive side, they are worth it.

Lessons learned for future trips and using a trip planner:
• Think about your preferred style of travel—go, go, go each day or a more leisurely pace?
• Be as specific about your have-to-haves, wants, and “we ain’t doin’ that!” as much as possible
• Carefully evaluate all recommendations with your trip planner.

Wild fires are so unpredictable but thankfully when the smoke was impacting the Bend Oregon area we planned to visit, Sheri rerouted us. She looked at the fire maps, talked to hotel management in Bend to make sure no repercussions for cancelling, rerouted us so we could still visit Crater Lake National Park, booked reservations at 3 hotels for us, and updated our itinerary with driving and restaurant suggestions. She did all of this while we were out enjoying our day of flying and riding dune buggies. There was no stress involved for us at all, and we still got to enjoy all the items that were on the wish list for our trip. I am so thankful we had used Sheri for planning this trip and for her handling of all the changes.

Sheri had listened attentively to my wish list and planned a perfectly paced trip to Oregon. We started in Portland, where we also took a day trip to visit waterfalls and Mount Hood. Next we stayed at the beautiful, peaceful Stephanie Inn beachfront property in Canon Beach. Took a day trip to Astoria followed up by attending a kite festival in Lincoln. Next we spent time in Yachats where we watched the waves crash on the rocks from our room. The surrounding area was full of activities. Other locations where we stayed with unique rooms and lots of things to do were Grants Pass, Eugene, and Willamette Valley. We finished our trip with a wine tasting afternoon and made a toast to another great trip planned by a WOW List specialist.

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