Yes, Crater Lake can be done in 1 1/2 days. I grew up near there and when I was the age of your DS, I found Crater Lake, and the drive in and out, and even around the lake, to be really boring. Definitely take the boat ride though, you can get reservations now, but there isn't a lot to do there for a pre-teen unless your kid really likes hiking.
Oregon is a huge state and your agenda (Crater Lake, the Coast, Mt. St. Helens, Eugene and Portland) will put you in the car a lot.
Also, I might have been a weird pre-teen but I did like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland at that age.

Canon beach was nice. Astoria was depressing.

I really like Multnomah Falls in Portland. And Salt and Straw for ice cream.

Drink as much local craft beer and wine as you can.

I was the OP of this thread

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/531366.page

and got some awesome responses from the DCUM community. I will be following your thread too for more ideas to add to our itinerary. We're going in early August. I found a beautiful VRBO in Cannon beach. I'm curious how the whale watching is that time of year. I understand there are some resident gray whales that we might be able to see.

A few highlights
Ashland Shakespeare Festival
Rogue River (wild and scenic, fishing, jet boat tours)
Crater Lake
Sisters (mountain wilderness area west of Bend)
Umqua River particularly fishing (Steamboat Inn),
that river comes out at Reedsport/Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area at the coast
The coast is scenic IF IT IS NOT TOO FOGGY, otherwise you could drive down the whole coast and not see anything but the iceplant by the side of the highway.
Sea Lion Caves/Heceta Lighthouse,,,further up Seal Rock
People in my family like Lincoln City/Lincoln Beach for some reason
Bagby and Breitenbush Hot Springs, Bonneville Hot Springs in WA
if you happen to be down by the border w/Calif. you can often watch sea otters playing and hunting in the mouth of the Smith River, which is also a good place to fish for salmon.
Mount Hood of course

Anonymous wrote:These threads are a good start:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/531366.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/454897.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/466777.page

Is there Simpsons stuff in Springfield? It's been some time since I've been there (since before Matt Groening revealed that Springfield, OR was The Springfield). There was nothing particularly special there, and if that hasn't changed, I'd give it a pass.

OP here. Thanks for the links. I'll check them out for sure.

Supposedly, there is Simpsons stuff in Springfield, at least according to RoadSideAmerica.com -- hopefully this link works, http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/45983

It's only a few miles from the UO campus, so not out of our way.

Anonymous wrote:There's a really nice outdoor amphitheater in Bend that has concerts in the summer evenings. Well known bands like the Alabama Shakes. There's a mix of people, including young families. The calendar isn't out yet for this summer, but I recommend buying tickets online.

Also, we did the bewery tour in Bend

There's a really nice outdoor amphitheater in Bend that has concerts in the summer evenings. Well known bands like the Alabama Shakes. There's a mix of people, including young families. The calendar isn't out yet for this summer, but I recommend buying tickets online.

These threads are a good start:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/531366.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/454897.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/466777.page

Is there Simpsons stuff in Springfield? It's been some time since I've been there (since before Matt Groening revealed that Springfield, OR was The Springfield). There was nothing particularly special there, and if that hasn't changed, I'd give it a pass.

We (DH, DS - will be age 12, and I) are planning a trip to Oregon this coming August. I'm in charge of the arrangements. We can stay from 10-14 days. We’ve never been, so we want to make as much of this trip as possible.

Currently, we are looking at going out there on a Friday (nonstop flight from DCA around 5 pm) so we’d be able to get up and go Saturday morning (day 1). The last time we did a trip to the west coast, we all woke up around 5 AM (PT) and decided just to actually get up and start our day instead of trying to go back to sleep.


These are the stops we were planning:
Portland (including day trip to Mount Saint Helens)
Oregon coast (Astoria, Cannon Beach, Tillamook, maybe Newport and Florence)
Eugene (to see UO for DS) and Springfield (for “The Simpsons” stuff)
Crater Lake National Park (Reservations are set for that Friday of our trip at the Lodge. Can’t change this. Check in Day/night 7 and leave Day 8.)
maybe Bend / Sisters / Lava tubes / bike ride or raft on Deschutes
Mount Hood/The Dalles/Columbia River Gorge waterfalls
Depart from Portland

The Portland stuff could be done at either the beginning or end. I’m thinking doing it at the start gives better flexibility, esp with our fixed date for Crater Lake. I’d like to at least see some of the things unique to Portland, such as Powell’s Books and the rose garden at Washington Park and maybe Japanese Gardens. I’ve made notes of Voodoo Doughnuts and Moonstruck Chocolate, as well as Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House. I can’t remember where I heard of Moonstruck Chocolate, but it must have been a travel / food related show.

A few questions:
How much time would you recommend for Portland? Is the trip to Mount Saint Helens a full day?
How much time to devote to the Coast?
I’ve gotten the impression Crater Lake can be done in 1.5 days, but I need to time our arrival correctly.
How much time would you devote to Bend / Sisters and even the Lava Tubes? Would you recommend renting bikes for a ride or doing a raft on the Deschutes river?

If you’d like to plan our trip for us, please do! If you know a great place for a meal or snack, please comment. DH loves wine and beer, and we understand there is a lot to choose from in OR. We are an active family and are looking for fun, outdoors things to do.