Same. I'd probably hurl myself overboard if I ever got on a cruise ship. Trying to plan a beach vacation to Miami right now for the wife. She has been begging for one since we got married. At least Miami has some good breweries. And the Everglades are not far, so that could be cool. But the part where we just sit on the beach...ugh.
Beat the summer heat and go West for some mountains - you will not be let down. Any of the big mountain ranges will do...RMNP/Estes Park makes it easy for any first timer with tons of well marked trails and roads. I like what many suggested and flying out, get car, and make your way around to many destinations... Too bad she won't tent one night...I convinced my wife last year to do 1 night in tent for our trip to CO...and she searched/chose to hike to Conundrum Hot Springs outside of Aspen (first overnight backpack for either of us)...one of the coolest things we'll ever do together... ...hard to beat sitting alone in a 100+ degree natural hot tub at 11,200' surrounded by snow capped mountains, 9.5 miles from any road...and having cocktails consisting of filtered water, vodka, and raspberry drink mix Of course, if was only 4 star hotels for remainder of trip!
Compromises. 9 days total Thanks for the insight. Looks like everyone has their own personal desires for travel (as I had imagined). A lot will depend on on a baby situation if it happens as well (won't be wanting to road trip it as much if that's the case). I have family in Missoula and my wife has family outside of Denver. I have friends in Idaho and Oregon as well, so I have people to visit and places to stay if I wanted, but we don't want to just park ourselves in one spot if we're sight seeing.
We did a vagabond trip to Colorado last year. We had no reservations anywhere. We started in Colorado Springs and just moved around the state from there as we please. Put lots and lots of miles on the rental car, but not having the stresses of an itinerary was pretty awesome. We ended up making an impromptu trip up to RMNP which we hadn't even considered since we had been there the year before on our way back from Yellowstone. Had some great wildlife encounters with some Moose, Elk and Mule Deer. It was a good trip. We are thinking about doing something similar, but flying into Salt Lake City or Las Vegas and hitting a bunch of the National Parks in that area like The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Craters of the Moon.
If you have the time, there is a lot of neat things across the Peoples Republic of Minnneeessotah and Sodak, especially Sodak. There is even a National Park that consists of an underground ICBM launch control facility 90 or so miles east of Rapid. Also, the Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB is pretty neat. If you go there you will see a EC-135A 61-0262 and it was one of the few -135's "de-modded" by "an act of god" because it does not have its A/R Boom Flood Light sticking off the tail of the Rudder fin. The crew chief that was hooked up to the ground interphone cord woke up in the Minot AFB Hospital after lightening struck the tail! Hence the name of "Rolling Thunder ", complete with a storm cloud and lightening bolts as the nose art. Oly
Our dollar is pretty strong in Europe right now. We have really enjoyed out trips there. Lots to see and do. Just another thought. As far as state-side goes......Bend, Oregon may be one of the nicest places I have ever been. We rented a house there for a week once and I have actually considered buying property there. Beautiful weather and everything outdoors to do that you can imagine. Hiking, road biking, mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, trout fishing, 26 golf courses, horseback riding, paddle boarding right through town on the Deschutes River, rafting, and the list goes on. In the summer, its less than an hour drive up the mountain to snow. A couple of wineries and a brewery there also. Nice place to get lost for a while.
