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National Parks Of The Northwest
Land tour from $2599.00 HURRY, TOUR CLOSES MAY 25! Join us next summer for a wonderful national parks tour
in the northwest section of the United States. Parks visited include
Olympic National Park,
Mount St. Helens
National Volcanic
Monument,
Mount Rainier
National Park, and
Glacier
National Park. Train rides include Amtrak’s legendary Superliner,
the
EMPIRE BUILDER;
Fine hotels are used throughout including the Mayflower Park in downtown Seattle, the Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic N. P., the lovely Inn at Port Hadlock on Puget Sound, and the famous former Great Northern Railway Izaak Walton Inn at Essex MT, gateway to Glacier National Park. Sightseeing highlights historic Port Townsend WA; a cruise on Lake McDonald in Glacier N. P.; and activities in all the parks noted, including a ride on the famous Red Buses over the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier N. P. Your tour manager is Wil Doak, who lives in Washington state and is President of Rail Travel Center. Won’t you join us on this great itinerary and experience the beauty of the Pacific and Mountain Northwest in the heart of summer? All aboard!
Day One, Saturday, July 14 (D) Arrive Seattle; “Spirit of Washington Dinner Train”. Participants arrive independently into Seattle, Washington today. Our hotel is the lovely Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle, located near shopping, mass transit and the end of the monorail line. This European-style hotel includes a beautiful art-deco bar and a fine Mediterranean restaurant. At 5:00 p.m., our motorcoach transfers us to Renton to board the excellent “Spirit of Washington Dinner Train”. We enjoy a Welcome Dinner in the dome car as we travel through the Seattle area to the Columbia Winery at Woodinville. Here there is a chance to shop and stretch our legs before returning to our dome car for dessert and coffee on the return trip. The route follows the scenic former Northern Pacific line along the shores of Lake Washington. Day Two, Sunday, July 15 (L,D) Amtrak TALGO; Whidbey Island; ferry to Port Townsend. We begin today with a ride on Amtrak’s fine TALGO train on the scenic former Great Northern route from Seattle to Bellingham WA (near the Canadian border). This line closely follows the shores of the Puget Sound and ends with a spectacular run past the San Juan Islands in the shadow of Chuckanut Mountain. Our motorcoach then takes us through Anacortes and drives us onto lovely rural Whidbey Island. We make a photo stop at Deception Pass to view the thundering currents, then continue south to the lovely village of Coupeville. Here we have an included lunch at the Mad Crab overlooking the water and free time to stroll or shop in this quaint Victorian village. In mid-afternoon, we board the Keystone ferry for a short crossing to historic Port Townsend. A Welcome Dinner is included at our hotel this evening, the Inn at Port Hadlock, located in an old alcohol plant renovated into a lovely boutique hotel on the waters of Puget Sound.
Day Three, Monday, July 16 (B,L) Port Townsend tour; Hurricane Ridge in Olympic N.P. Following an included buffet breakfast at our hotel, we make the short drive back to Port Townsend for a tour of the Victorian neighborhood on the hill and a visit to two of the historic homes. Our tour leader, Joyce Cox, will enlighten us with all the history and gossip related to this town, which is a National Historic District. The railroad (or lack thereof) figured prominently in the history of Port Townsend, as you will see. Leaving town, we stop in Sequim to enjoy an included luncheon at the 3 Crabs, which specializes in Dungeness crab caught right off the Dungeness Spit nearby. We then travel into Olympic National Park for our first visit. Today we drive up to Hurricane Ridge, located a mile high and so named because of the howling winds in winter. The views are spectacular, comprising mountains, meadows and ocean. We may spot deer, marmots and a variety of birds. Here we also can see one of the anomalies of Olympic National Park: On the east side of the mountains, the climate is fairly dry. In fact, Sequim is in a semi-desert because it lies in the “rain shadow” of the high Olympic Mountains. Tomorrow we will explore the other side of these mountains and experience something very different. Departing the park, we make a short drive to Lake Crescent Lodge located on the lakeshore in the park. Day Four, Tuesday, July 17 (L) Hoh Valley in Olympic N.P.; to Chehalis. After breakfast at the lodge, we drive around the Olympic Peninsula through a sparsely populated area where the major industry is logging. We notice the increasing denseness of the forest as we travel. We are now in one of the few protected temperate rainforests in North America, where annual precipitation can be 180 inches a year! In mid-morning we reach the western entrance to the park and drive into the Hoh Valley and Visitors’ Center. After seeing the exhibits, there are loop walking trails through the spectacular rain forest which definitely should be experienced. Returning to the entrance of the park, we have an included luncheon at Kalaloch Lodge before turning inland for the drive to Chehalis, Washington. Here we spend two nights at the Best Western Park Place.
Mount St. Helens; Chehalis-Centralia Steam Railway charter. Much of today is spent at Mount St. Helens, with box lunches included for the noon meal. During the course of the day, we visit all four of the visitor centers: Mount St. Helens, Hoffstadt Bluffs, Coldwater Ridge and Johnston Ridge Observatory. At our first stop at the Mount St. Helens visitor center, we can see a film on the 1980 eruption and walk a short trail to the overlook of Silver Lake and distant views of the volcano. At Hoffstadt Bluffs visitor center, there is an overlook of the Toutle River and the valley leading to Mount St. Helens. Further on, the Coldwater Ridge visitor center provides information on the return of life to the region after the explosion and provides a view into the crater and dome of the volcano, still seven miles away. At Johnston Ridge Observatory, we have the closest view of the volcano and panoramic views of the area. Returning to Chehalis, we ride our charter of the Chehalis-Centralia Steam Railway before returning to our hotel for the night. This pretty line follows portions of the former Milwaukee Road route to the Pacific Coast. Day Six, Thursday, July 19 (CB) Mount Rainier N.P.; Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. Morning and early afternoon are spent in the south area of Mount Rainier National Park and at Paradise. Paradise Lodge is closed for renovations, so luncheon is on our own at the Jackson Visitor’s Center cafeteria, with free time for the visitors’ center and to explore the area. Cameras are strongly recommended. This time of year some of the wildflowers are in bloom; and views of this 14,410-foot mountain, covered in glaciers, are absolutely spectacular! We leave the park and drive to Elbe, where we ride the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad on a 28-mile round trip across bridges and through the forest to Mineral Lake. Our lodging tonight is a few miles up the road near the entrance to the park at the Nisqually Lodge. This small lodge is built in chalet style and includes a great room with stone fireplace.
Mount Rainier N.P.; to Spokane. We begin this morning by re-entering Mount Rainier N.P. and driving into the eastern side of the park, which provides us with very different views of the mountain. We cross Chinook Pass leaving the park and travel through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest en route to Yakima, Washington. Here we have an included lunch at the Depot Restaurant before continuing across the dry interior of Washington state to Spokane, the “capital of the Inland Empire”. Tonight we stay at the Oxford Suites in downtown Spokane near the river. Day Eight, Saturday, July 21 (B,L,D) Manito Park; Riverfront Park; drive to Missoula MT. We begin today with a visit to the conservatory and beautiful gardens of Manito Park; then travel to Riverfront Park (site of Expo ’74) to see the falls of the Spokane River and ride the carousel and tour train. Our included luncheon is at the Steam Plant Grill, located in a National Historic Landmark former steam power plant. After lunch, we drive to Missoula, where we stay at Ruby’s Inn. Dinner is included tonight in Missoula. Day Nine, Sunday, July 22 (B,L) Drive to Kalispell; Conrad Mansion; drive to Glacier N.P. We depart this morning by motorcoach, driving along beautiful Flathead Lake en route to Kalispell, where lunch is included. After lunch we visit Conrad Mansion N.H.S., the home of the founder of Kalispell who earned his fortune trading and freighting on the Missouri River. We then continue on to Essex, MT where we overnight at the Izaak Walton Inn, built by the Great Northern Railway. This hotel is much-loved by rail fans because passing trains can be observed from the property. Day Ten, Monday, July 23 (CB, L for all; D for sleeping car passengers) A day in Glacier: Cruise on Lake McDonald; lunch at
Lake McDonald Lodge; Going-to-the-Sun Road; Amtrak’s EMPIRE BUILDER.
Following an included
The EMPIRE BUILDER was the flagship of the Great Northern Railway and continues as Amtrak’s premiere train in the Pacific Northwest. Luxurious double-decker Superliner cars are featured with a choice of leg-rest reclining seat coaches at the basic tour price or Pullman sleepers for the supplements listed below. Passengers who purchase Pullman sleeper upgrades enjoy an included dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow in the diner. Coach passengers purchase these meals. Day Eleven, Tuesday, July 24 (B for sleeping car passengers) Arrive Seattle; tour ends. Dawn finds us ascending the Cascade Range and traversing the 7.9 mile-long Cascade Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in the United States. We follow thundering rivers down to the shores of Puget Sound, which we follow closely to our Seattle arrival. We arrive at Seattle’s King Street Station in mid-morning, where our wonderful tour of the national parks ends. TOUR PRICES include all hotels; sightseeing and meals noted as included above; all boat, ferry and train rides; luggage handling during the program; and the services of a full-time tour manager. Not included are other meals, alcoholic beverages, souvenirs and items of a personal nature. $2599.00 per person, double occupancy $2999.00 single occupancy Sleeping car add-ons for the EMPIRE BUILDER July 23-24 $ 77.00 per person, double occupancy, in an Economy Bedroom $ 154.00 single occupancy in an Economy Bedroom
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Last modified: May 21, 2007 |
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July 14-24, 2007 
the
Please note some of the hotels used do not have
elevators. It is necessary to be able to walk on some paths in the various
parks and climb stairs in order to fully and comfortably participate in
this tour. You sometimes will be at elevations over a mile high on this
trip. Some of the hotels are totally non-smoking.
Day Five, Wednesday, July 18 (CB,L) 
Day Seven, Friday, July 20 (CB,L) 
breakfast, we depart on our chartered motorcoach for
