Pacific Nw Vacation

I LOVE The Pacific Ocean and the drive up the coast line, and there are SO many wonderful places for you to stop and see along the way, @Daniel B Cooper ! I know you will have a wonderful trip, and be sure to plan enough time for stops along the way.
Just the drive up the coastline on Highway 101 is magnificent, with all of the ocean views; but there are a lot of places that are worth seeing as you go.

The first place would be the Oregon Vortex, which is just into Oregon after you leave California and the Redwoods. I have been there several times, and it still amazes me the way it can distort what you are seeing.
You can stand with your wife at each end of a long level board, and one end makes you short and the other end makes you seem taller, and you can see the difference even in photos that you take.
The old mining building has stuff that will roll uphill, and broomsticks that lean crooked. The history of the place is fascinating, and it is one of the few such vortices in the world.
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/oregon/vortex-or/

When you get to Florence, Oregon, then you will want to see Ripley’s famous Believe It or Not, and the Wax Museum, and have lunch at one of the seaside cafes.
After that, there are the Sea Lion Caves, and several lighthouses along the way.
As you get closer to Washington State, you will go through Seaside, which sits right on the ocean and has the promenade where you can walk along between the ocean and the town, and see the famous Haystack Rock.
https://www.seasideoregon.com/haystack-rock/
Also, you will want to tour the Tillamook cheese Factory, watch cheese being made, and have some samples, when you get to Tillamook.

The Columbia comes to the Pacific Ocean right at Astoria, and that is one of the prettiest towns you will ever see !
If I could live anywhere, it would be in Astoria, there are so many of the magnificent old homes and mansions there, and several movies have used the location, too.
The movie Short Circuit was filmed mostly in Astoria. There is a huge tower, which you may or may not want to go to the top; but it is an amazing view over the whole landscape if you do go up there.

Going on up the Washington coast, there are several nice ocean-side towns as you work your way up to Seattle and on north to Canada. Be sure to see the Seattle Waterfront, have clam chowder at Ivar’s, see Sylvester the mummy at the Old Curiosity Shop, and have a cup of coffee at the original Starbucks.
Oh, and maybe a trip up in the Space Needle, although that is not as exciting now as it was back in 1962 when they built it. Seattle is also famous for its Underground Tour, which goes into the city beneath the city, where it was before the big fire burned most of Seattle down and they rebuilt over the top of the ruins.

Also, if you do not want to fly back, you can always take the train, and they have a West Coast Starlight Special that runs from Seattle to Los Angeles and you can see the ocean from the Vista Dome observation car.
https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train