Hellobee Boards

I'm not from the Seattle area, but I'd recommend Deception Pass. I've camped there and it's beautiful. It's about 1.5 hrs north of Seattle.

There were beaches and easy hiking trails.

http://www.visitwhidbey.com/Whidbey-Sight-Seeing.html

ETA: or come to Canada Vancouver is about a 3 hr drive from Seattle

Depending on where you are in the Olympic National Park, Sequim shouldn't be too far away. They've got the Dungeness Spit, which is a really great beach, and that should be a good time of year for it. We loved going there as kids!!

@bluestriped bee: I will have to remember to wall you later on bc we are planning for a Seattle and Portland trip in the summer!

@snowjewelz: You could wall me, but even though, I've lived here for 5 year, I still don't know the area. I'm learning about new things about the area all the time. I can definitely give you my experiences.

@bluestriped bee: if you go at an off-peak time, the ferry isn't so bad. During the summer, the wait times suck, but we went over to Port Townsend for one of the fall long weekends (Columbus Day or Veteran's Day? I can't remember) and basically drive right on. We've been there and also to Lake Crescent haven't gone any further around because the drive takes so long.

@Dagny: I second Whidbey Island or one of the San Juan Islands! Portland is a cool town and the drive isn't too bad, or you can take Amtrak if you don't want to drive. I go down for work occasionally and always take the train -- it's between 3 and 3.5 hours and both stations are pretty conveniently located.

@Dagny: I second Hoh Rainforest and Second Beach. Also Rialto Beach & Ruby Beach. I went to Olympic National Park with a few friends and it was so gorgeous. We stayed at a tiny fishing cabin on the Bogachiel River. Also, if you're a fan of the Twilight books at all (or even if you're not, it's kind of fascinating!) you should drive through Forks. The whole town is capitalizing on Twilight, even the Chamber of Commerce, haha.

@bluestriped bee: I really like San Juan and Whidbey. For San Juan, you can just leave your car in Seattle and walk on the ferry, the town is completely walkable right off the dock (Bainbridge is too). For Whidbey, I like taking the ferry one way, and Deception pass the other, on a clear day its a beautiful view!

As for other Seattle-area attractions, Snoqualmie falls is nice (if its not winter!) Also Vancouver and Victoria are fun cities to visit. Or if you're into wine tasting, driving around on the other side of the Cascades can be fun.

@Mrs.Someone: I had typed out a post that mentioned looping east to Snoqualmie Falls, wine tasting, driving back west through the Columbia River Gorge, and spending a day or two in Portland but I erased it because she said she wanted to limit car time! But yes to your reccomendations for anyone who doesn't mind a bit of driving -- the landscape on the east side of the mountains is amazing and so different from western WA!

@bluestriped bee: For us San Juan was our favorite of the islands- it had the most versatility. We did a few days in Seattle, then went to Orcas for a day and spent the rest of the week on San Juan. Orcas was nice, quieter, had great hiking. San Juan had a great brewery, lots of places to eat, hiking, GREAT whale watching, we saw multiple bald eagles while hiking. Being history buffs, we also LOVED touring The Pig War "battle" sites. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War)

The islands, northwest trek, snoqualamie falls, point defiance, Leavenworth, clamming, cherry picking, mt. ranier, UW rock climbing structure and bike trail were all great outdoor childhood memories. If you venture into the city, walk around the space needle area and children's museum. It is huge!!!
This thread is making me want to go up this summer!!