some recent trips that were fun. Last August we flew into Vegas, went to the Hoover Dam, to Valley of Fire, Death Valley,
sequoia National Park to visit General Sherman, then drove into LA and stayed in Redondo Beach and flew out of LA, great trip and DV was on my list to see and it was absolutely beautiful. Stayed off the interstates as much as possible. Made it to LA and visited Bobs Big Boy in Burbank Friday Night.

In another trip with my wife’s company we went to San Diego and stayed in Del Mar again and visited The Zoo, Coronado Island, Point Loma, caught a Woodies show in Moonlight Beach, Lo Jolla all beautiful places, headed back there again this year.

Previous Year we flew into Seattle and drove to LA using the 101 then picked up the PCH from the northern mist point and drove to LA. On that trip visited Olympic National Park, Hoh Rainforest, Mr Rainier caught a cars and coffee at the Microsoft headquarters, drove into Oregon and drove the Oregon Coast and visited Indian Beach, Rockaway Beach, Gold Beach and stayed in Yachtas, beautiful little town. Drove to Crater Lake then drove through the Redwoods to the Trees of Mystery, then visited several spots along the way to San Francisco. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge very beautiful and very windy and cool that day, fisherman’s warf, drove and walked all around the city, then hit the coast again and drove the PCH to Carmel, Big Sur, Morrow Bay, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Malibu back into LA and visited Bobs Big Boy in Burbank Friday Night.

A few years ago on another company trip with the wife we visited the Grand Canyon and Sedona, drove down to the Saguaro National Forest, Tombstone etc. and the following trip to Scottsdale we drove fromSctootsdale to Joshua Tree in early spring and caught the desert in full bloom. All beautiful places.

Before that we flew into Denver in late spring and went to Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Aspen, Vail, Central Coty, Boulder then drove up to Estes And drove the Trail Ridge Road amazing and beautiful.

Another beautiful trip was driving the US 1 from Miami’s to Key West very beautiful and relaxing

Another highly recommended trip is to visit Maine, Vermont, RI, Mass etc during the fall the colors are amazing and coastal Maine in beautiful.

Good luck on what you decide, many beautiful places to see.

my traveling days are over, and that has been for a long time. however, thanks to YOU guys, i can see sights through the pictures you post i will never be able to see otherwise.
THANK YOU !

I'd go somewhere warm and mostly dry if it's a winter (for us) vacation. Getting out of the country allows you to see some amazing things, see how other people live, and in some ways develop a greater appreciation of our own country.

Costa Rica is nice, you get rainforest and beach. Go during the dry season (starts mid-November). Lots of websites showing you what to do there. It may or may not appeal to you. Same with Brazil.

November is also a great time to visit SE Asia. Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam are all very interesting and so different from anywhere in the U.S. Our country is but a few hundred years old - it's cool to see things that were built in the 12th century, for example (Cambodia, Morocco, etc., have amazing ancient areas). The Roman Coliseum was amazing. (I don't recommend Italy in the winter).


That said, I'd go to Argentina. Buenos Aires with a side trip to Mendoza. Make use of guides and tours.

That's me, though. Figure out what you and your wife like to do - maybe try something new and different? As long as the appeal is there, picking a place should be straightforward. I love the US, have traveled it extensively, but would take a wintertime trip to the Southern Hemisphere. Good luck and have fun!

No reason to be offended. I have been out of Florida. I was born in Michigan, lived in Vienna Virginia, also beautiful, but I was a child. As adult, I've been to Atlanta and parts of North and South Carolina. The most beautiful place I've been is Chile, in South America. The Andes Mountains are beautiful, as is Chile in general. Santiago, the capitol city is clean, modern, and very beautiful. We also went to Rio de Janeiro and Peru.

But again, I need to see so much of this country before I go wandering elsewhere. And yes, I'd love a trip avoiding the interstates, and seeing all the scenery.

Here's a pic of Santiago Chile

Downtown Santiago has some very cool historical areas that I could walk around in for hours

Cool! Thanks for the reply Larry!

I've been out of this country only once and that was to Montreal with my parents when I was a kid (although moving to TX was kinda like leaving the country.......... ).

As much as I'd like to visit other countries, what stops me (aside from fundage) is that I don't have a cast iron stomach. I could be with a group of people with all of us eating the same food, but I'd be the only one to get violently sick from it.

I want to do a road trip so bad, but I want to do it with something vintage (re:my wagon) and have enough time/money to stay off the interstates.

I'll second that one - made that drive a couple times. My advise is avoid the Miami airport at all costs. Have flown in to Ft. Lauderdale for a couple decades but it was easy and simple. Miami beach is nice but brutal traffic. Key West oddly doesn't have any worthwhile swim beaches. Truth be told we had a much better time on the drive than at the destination. Sunset diners on the gulf side, random fun parties at hotels on the atlantic side, various places in the keys to wander around.

Another really good drive is Skyline Drive / Blue Ridge Parkway. Off season with a rental car (the fastest cars ever built) can be a lot of fun. A side trip to Monticello is totally worth it. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel is a cool drive too. One road trip that's still a bucket list thing is a boneyard crawl through Arizona / New Mexico.

Taking our 3rd trip in May. I'm hoping she manages to right size the suitcase this time.

I agree we enjoyed the drive more than the destination on that trip. We got lucky in Key West though since they were running trials for a big boat race outside out hotel so we sat on the balcony and watched for a while. I also avoided Miami AP, I drove down from Lexington instead of flying on that trip. Really liked the upper and middle keys.

I totally agree on the enchantment of the Oversea Highway trip, made it probably over 100? times. Dry Tortugas is a nice side trip. On the drive, two things to also consider, try to avoid traveling during school bus traffic hours, as they buy law often stop traffic both directions, like every 300 yards of travel, it seems like, and after 10:00pm the highway is nearly deserted ,if just making mileage is the goal, but one still should watch out for speed traps, as the limit changes island to island.

Oh yes RWG75, Miami International is a nightmare. Been there several times. It's exciting at the same time if you're not in a hurry.

Beautiful picture.

THe wife and I talked all of this over, then she thought about it for a few days. She decided she would like to go to Hawaii. Sounds like a great choice! We were planning to go to Hawaii for our 30th wedding anniversary in January 2017. But when I tried to plan the trip, she decided she didn't want to go. So this trip will be the replacement. SInce I don't know if I'll ever get her out on a trip like this again, I want to go deluxe, even if I have to kick in some of my own $$. Like upper level beach front rooms, etc. We will for sure rent a convert for the exploring by car. I suggested that we don't have to stay in the most touristy, crowded areas of the state. SHe said she didn't want to spend the whole time in the jungle, either.
I'm going to try to get her to agree to 2 weeks, at least. She will want to do only 1 week. I'll have to filter thru all your responses again to help formulate a game plan. Thanks for all the help!

I spent a week there one night.

Take her to carlisle , 5 K should cover the fuel consumption in the HEEMi

I would recommend splitting your time between 2 islands as they are all different. The only busy spot is Waikiki where 90% of the people are, but its still a cool place to be. From there you can drive the island - the North Shore, the Dole Plantation, the Honolulu flea market are all cool things to see, I love Oahu.

Maui is great too - less crowded, a little more nature oriented. Great driving spots to haleakula, the road to Hana etc. Wailmea, Lahaina, Kaanapali are great spots to stay there.

The big island is awesome, very few people there and a lot of volcanic activity. Very cool to drive up Mauna Kea and see the view from by the observatories. I've stayed in the Kona and Waikaloa areas and loved it. For the most part the landscape here is more open, less tropical. Its a big island, takes most of the day to drive around it.

Kauai is the most rural of the 4 most visited islands. The most rural of them, the most tropical. The best if you really want to be out in nature.

Hawaii has a drag strip also, get a quick rental lol

A friend of mine was born and raised in Hilo, I believe it is near the drag strip, he decided to move to Michigan, now looking at a way to get back to Hawaii or at least out west (after 5 winters the fun of cold weather and snow has worn off). Also check out the Cars and Coffee in an area while there if your near one, fun way to get up early and start the day, check out a few cars have a coffee and then hit the rest of the island(s). Have fun.

I hope you take your trunk monkey too. Lol

just be sure to wait until this flu panic is over.