RE: Ok....what would you do?

[Giffster]

 
Well...here s the situation.  
 
 I m letting the x-dw take over the sub shop.  I ve put in $10000 the last couple months or so because everything has been breaking (walkin cooler...etc).  On last Friday, the a/c broke.  The fan got replaced (245$).  Came to work this morning, a/c dead again.  Now the compressor bit the dust.  My friend works in the a/c business and can put a new Trane in for $1345 (a bargain).  So....pretty much everything that can break........has.  Alittle behind on rent, taxes, etc.  X-dw will give me some $$ when she gets a loan, which will help.  You guys will understand this next part about " pride" .  
 
 I called my Dad, explained the situation and the $$ probs.  Talked about all the options, and he just said........" been there done that" , and told me not to worry.  
 
 So, bottom line is......I don t think I m going to have to work for 2 months or so.  I ll still have income from my Air Force retirement and some from the sub shop.  I already have a camping trip planned for the end of July, but......where to go from there?
 
 Key West, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, .............?
 
 I guess it s time for a vacation to see some of the United States.   (look out Ian, my sis lives in Missouri)  Go West young man?...........
 
 So much to see........so some points of interest, what would you do in my situation, what would you like to see.....etc would be nice.  Personal opinions only please.  
 
 Cheers all
 
 Doug

[Starcraft Dad]

 Giffster
My personal choice would be Yellowstone.  It is a park that I believe every person in the country should see at least once.  The beauty of the mountains, gysers, lakes, wildlife and other things are something that should not be missed.  I have been there several times and it is one place that I just can t get enough of. To put it simply, probably the  most wonderful park I have ever been in.[]
 
 Also, should you decide to go to Yellowstone you can always circle down toward the Gran Canyon on your way back.

[Giffster]

 Starcraft Dad
Yellowstone - 1
 Everywhere else - 0
 
 Thanks for the input Mr. Harold or Ms. Debbie

[birol]

 Giffster
I surely would see the Grand Canyon ! And the Hoover Dam ! And that place with the faces of presidents (sorry forgot the name, and don t want to risk guessing)

[Giffster]

 birol
hmm.......good idea mr. birol
 
 Mt Rushmore is added to the list.  
 
 Thanks
 

[tlhdoc]

 Giffster
Acadia NP in Maine.  The ocean (the same one as Florida, but a lot different).
 

[cyclone]

 Giffster
A can t miss is the Grand Ole Opry.   (just kidding).  I would do the West trip, too, and spend time in Colorado.  
 

[Rocky Mountain Sue]

 Giffster
Yellowstone, without a doubt! Hit Rushmore on the way to Yellowstone and then after Yellowstone head to Colorado and do Rocky Mountain National Park. Three fabulous places and a loop back around toward going back home.

[MommaMia]

 Giffster
If I had no other obligations, right now I would be standing on deck of my Catamaran (mythical one), with my crew, taking tourist to see humpbacked whales off the coast of Maui.
 
 Have fun...

[g-whiz]

 Giffster
I have not been to Yellowstone, so I can t compare it to what I m about to say.  California... Pacific Coast Highway... Start at San Luis Obispo and head North until you run out of time.  I ve seen ALOT in the United States and I have seen nothing more beautiful or awesome than Big Sur.  If you have two months, you have the time.

[brainpause]

 Giffster
We just saw the Grand Canyon. We didn t camp, but it is a sight that everyone must see!
 
 Larry

[SactoCampers]

 Giffster
1.) Yellowstone: As Starcraft Dad said, everybody must go there at least once in their lifetime. Nowhere else can you explore as much geological activity and wildlife in one place.
 
 2.) Oregon/California Coast:  If you have time, take a week or so and leisurely cruise the coast. If you re fortunate to get a few sunny days it s extremely therapeutic to drive Highway 1 from Leggett, CA all the way down the coast. In Leggett you start off in the Redwoods then the Pacific Ocean bursts onto the scene and takes your breath away all the way down the coast.
 
 3.) Yosemite: Tends to be crowded but the valley floor is definitely awe-inspiring.
 
 Is my Western bias obvious? []
 
 I would also say Grand Canyon, though I ve never been, and I m not really interested in going to Arizona in the middle of the summer! []. I also can t get the vision of Bobby and Cindy Brady getting lost at the bottom. Don t want that to happen to me.
 
 Have a great time and I must say I m quite envious. Regrets for your circumstances, though.

[AustinBoston]

 Giffster
It isn t what would we do, but what did we do.
 
 In the summer of 2001, PJay and I took eight weeks off work and we took the kids on one heck of a trip.  More about that later.
 
 Opportunities like yours do not come along very often.  Take careful advantage of it.
 
 First, I would eliminate anything and everything that is close enough to easily visit in a one- or two-week vacation.  You can visit them any time.  I would guess that for you that would eliminate anything in Florida and much of the Deep South.
 
 Next, get yourself a map of the US, and start sticking pins in it.  Put a pin in every time you hear of a place you d like to visit.  If they start to cluster, then you know where to go.  You may also want to take careful note of things along the way, and of course you have time to make sure you return by a different route than you traveled out.
 
 On our trip, we visited:
 * The Jefferson and National Expansion Memorial (St. Louis Arch), MO
 * Crater of Diamonds SP, AK
 * Lake Colorado City SP, TX (big mistake in hot summer)
 * Carlsbad Caverns NP, NM
 * International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, NM
 * White Sands NMon, NM
 * Painted Desert/Petrified Forest NP
 * Meteor Crater (a.k.a. Beringer Crater), AZ
 * Grand Canyon NP, AZ (South Rim)
 * Grand Canyon NP, AZ (North Rim) - worth the 250+ mile drive (one way), IMHO
 * Bryce Canyon NP, UT
 * Zion NP, UT - We only drove through.  That was a mistake.  Plan on at least a full day.
 * Las Vegas, NV
 * Death Valley NP, CA - DO NOT camp here in summer.  Temps hit 124F, which will utterly overwhelm your A/C.  We re still glad we were camping elsewhere.
 * Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, CA - This may have closed since our visit.  Very few people remember Roy and Dale any more and so there are very few visitors.
 * Joshua Tree NP, CA
 * Disney s California Adventure in Anaheim, CA
 * Sequoia NP and King s Canyon NP, CA
 * Fisherman s Warf and other sights in San Francisco, CA
 * Yosemite NP, CA
 * Redwood NP and SP, CA
 * Crater Lake NP, OR
 * Newberry National Volcanic Monument, OR
 * Farewell Bend SP, OR
 * Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Flagstaff Hill, OR
 * Antelope Island SP in Great Salt Lake, UT
 * Yellowstone NP, WY
 * Grand Teton NP, WY (Going to Yellowstone without visiting Grand Teton should be a felony)
 * Little Bighorn Battlefield NMon, MT
 * Wind Cave NP, SD
 * Custer SP, SD
 * Mt. Rushmore NMon, SD
 * Wall Drug in Wall, SD
 * Badlands NP, SD
 * Rocky Mountain NP, CO
 * Indiana Dunes SP & NL, IN
 * I am sure I ve forgotten a few...
 
 In order to pull off a schedule like that, you have to be willing to put some serious time behind the wheel.  We typically had one day of driving out of three, and those one-day drives were often up to ten hours in length.  In all, we towed about 10,400 miles, with another 3,100 miles in side trips.  We stayed in 29 campgrounds in 17 states, changed the oil three times, changed the transmission fluid once (as soon as we were done with the mountains), and adjusted the trailer brakes three times.  We have no idea how many campfire meals were cooked or how many restaurants we visited.  Temperatures ranged from a low of 31F at Flagg Ranch, WY (between Yellowstone and Grand Teton) to a high of 124F in Death Valley.  We had at least 15 days over 100F, including ten in a row.
 
 The five of us are unanimous in our favorite...none of us can choose between Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, or Grand Canyon.  Crater Lake runs a close second.
 
 I have said before that every American should visit the Grand Canyon.  Currently, somewhere near 6 million people visit the Canyon every year.  At that rate, it would take about 45 years for everyone in the US to visit the canyon.  Unfortunately, only about half to two thirds of the visitors are Americans!
 
 That can be said about many other parks, though.  Yosemite has a waterfall that is nearly a half-mile high and the spectacular Sierra.  Yellowstone has remarkable waterfalls and more than half of the world s geysers.  Grand Teton has one of the strongest contrasts between a flat plain and 12,000+ foot mountains - with no foothills in between.  Of the over 70 species of animals & birds we identified, nearly half were seen in Grand Teton.  Crater Lake is the deepest freshwater lake in the U.S. and bluest lake you will ever see.  Even so, the bottom of the lake is over 4,000 above sea level.  The color contrasts in Painted Desert are stunning.  The size of Carlsbad Caverns is breathtaking.  I could go on and on.
 
 Those who have spent any serious time in any of these parks will tell you that the few days we spent in each were only scratching the surface.  Believe them, because it is true.  I have been to Acadia NP in Maine at least six times since my early teens.  Acadia is one of the smaller parks, but each time, it is a different park.
 
 If you come to the Northeast, don t miss Acadia.  It s smaller than most, but on this one island there are so many habitats it has as much as 5-6 larger parks.  From open ocean to tidal pools, ocean cliffs and sea caves, to old, dense conifer forests to deciduous woods to bald mountain peaks to quiet woodland ponds to bridal trails on horseback, bicycle, or rented carriage.  All against a backdrop of small, quaint fishing towns filled with antique shops and world-class restaurants.
 
 Some other places to visit in the Northeast:
 * Cape Cod National Seashore, MA
 * Niagara Falls, NY (and Canada)
 * Lechworth SP, NY
 * Gettysburg National Battlefield, PA
 * Washington, DC
 * Franconia Notch, NH
 * Olde Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT
 * Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA
 
 Some other things to consider that are a bit closer to home:
 * Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky
 * Great Smoky Mountain NP in Tennessee and North Carolina
 * Stone Mt. in Georgia
 
 The most important advice I can give is to take in all that you can see.  You have an opportunity to see much more in two months than most Americans will see in their entire lives.  Only about 1.5% of Americans visit the Grand Canyon every year.  Most other parks have even lower attendance.
 
 When we go back over the big map we used to plan our trip, we end up aching for the places we were forced to decide not to see.  Places like Mesa Verde NMon, Arches NP, Capitol Reef NP, Pike s Peak, Lassen National Volcanic Monument, Glacier NP, Theodore Roosevelt NP, Big Bend NP. There is far more to see than most people will see in a lifetime.  Beyond the National Parks, there are other attractions.  Mall of America in Minneapolis, The Space Needle in Seattle, places too numerous to mention in Chicago.  We live in a grand and beautiful country.  Most of that beauty was given as a gift from God.  I haven t even mentioned Alaska, Hawaii, or Canada.  (If you bring your pop-up to Hawaii, we all want to know how!)
 
 Some of us have set about to see some of it.  Most of us on this board are miles ahead of those stuck in front of their TV sets (or um, uh, their ah, their computers), afraid, unwilling, too lazy, or too unimaginative to go see anything not fed to them electronically.  By making the most you possibly can of the two months you have, you could find yourself, like we do, dividing your life in three parts.  There is " Before the Trip,"  " On the Trip,"  and " After the Trip" .
 
 Austin
 

[Kelly]

 Giffster
[font=" comic sans ms" ]Places I ve been ~[ul]
 

• Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (MT) ~ especially Going to the Sun Road.  (Also the Flathead Lake region in MT ... aw heck ~ all of the northwestern part of the state!)
• Rocky Mountain NP (CO)
• You can t miss Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and the Badlands (SD)
• Great Smoky Mountains NP (TN/NC) ~ gotta drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.
• Yellowstone is something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
• Northern CA along the coast
• White Mountain National Forest (ME/NH)
[/ul]
 
 Places I d like to see ~ [ul]
 
• Grand Canyon
• Arches NP (UT)
• Canyonlands NP (UT)
• Mesa Verde NP (UT)
• The coast of Maine ~ including Acadia NP[/ul]
   
   Sounds like a great opportunity, Doug.  Wherever you decide to go ~ I hope you have an awesome trip![/font]
   

[CampNfan]

 Giffster
Wow! Wish I could take off for a couple months an not be sick or recovering from something.....I would do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail, To get away from it all! Heck Doug, I will meet you on the trail next spring if you like! I plan on doing some backpacking then if my health stays good? I am working hard to make it happen.