What US trips are you doing this year?

Mackinac Island

We’ll be doing a photo tour in Olympic National Park in Washington in June.

I am walking to the mail box every day, and then back home again.

We’re renting an RV for the first time and are driving down the OR and CA coasts, then back up through Tahoe and Crater Lake.

Definitely planned: the Methow Valley, WA; Minneapolis, MN; and Boston, MA.

Northern Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho in June. Will put my mail on hold. But I admit that was funny, touché.

Little steps. A driving trip to visit family in Oregon. Our first flight in over a year to visit sisters in the Midwest. Another flight to see fall foliage in New England. We’ll see how these trips go and keep planning. We have other things in mind but these are our first, booked venturing out.

Looks like a trip to Ft Collins CO to visit with my cousins - one lives there and the other lives near Helena MT. we are all meeting in Ft Collins then heading out in an RV to possibly Rocky Mountain NP or Chico hot springs.

Then, in August, fingers crossed, I am off to Costa RIca with my granddaughter

Linda

Charleston numerous times. In Oct, we're supposed to fly into DC(if museums reopen) and then down the Parkway, ending in Asheville and staying at the Bent Creek Inn.

I live fairly close to the Carolina coast and mountains so those are frequent weekend/day trips year round. Already done Charleston & Wilmington once this year. SO lives in Boston so we will do our annual fall trip to Cape Cod. I actually just booked our hotel at the Cape.

Booked and ready to go - Colorado in June. Plan to visit Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Open Canyon, Broadmoor falls, Paint Mines and taking the COG up to Pikes Peak. Wrapping up the trip with a visit to the Denver Botanical Gardens (excited for the Japanese garden) and the wildlife drive at Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I'm finally going to get try In-N-Out burgers!

Also booked and ready to go - MN in July. I'll be visiting friends and doing bear things in the Ely and Orr areas. Wrapping that trip up with a visit to Paisley Park which I'm very excited for. That trip was supposed to happen last year. Flights, hotels and tours paid for.

Also booked and ready to go PA in 2 weeks. That's not really a "vacation" though as I'm from there and going to visit family. I love getting out for sunrise/sunset farm photography though so there will be some fun leisure time. And good eating for sure! The icing on the cake will be the hugs from dad now that we're both vaccinated.

A 5 week road trip!

From (near) San Francisco to Twin Falls, Idaho to see Shoshone Falls (again) in the spring. Visit family near Denver, including a road trip (within a road trip!) down to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs and the Pueblo River Walk.

Returning home through Boise where I've booked a room with a "river view." I'll spend several days walking the greenbelt along the river, visiting the local genocide memorial, taking a Boise walking tour, enjoying some Basque food and taking a day trip to Idaho City. Then drive home, stopping off at some favorite wineries along US 50.

It's fun to pack absolutely anything I want in my car!! Including my little travel companion, my dog :-)

Carmel for 4 nights in May. Flight to Boston and then to Cape Cod for annual family get-together in August if it feels safe enough to fly. We have reservations in Glacier and Waterton NPs that I made a year in advance for July, but plan to cancel since we can't go to Canada.

Went to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, went to Fort Lauderdale. Headed back there and to Miami. I have some day trips planned for San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Houston.

The wife says "2022? Maybe. More likely 2023." Meantime, I ride my bike along the Boise River as much and often as possible.

A "quick jaunt" has evolved to a 6 week driving extravaganza!.. Got the masks packed & shots stuck.
End of May = couple of days near Birmingham (Barber Motorsports Park - vintage racing). Time with cruise/travel couples - Huntsville, Nashville and Lexington, Ky - Bourbon Trail for a few days. On to Williamsburg (never been- 3 days), up to Maine (2 weeks - family cabin), Hyannis/Cape Cod (1 week) then back South - stop to see friends & family in N.C., Jacksonville - Mayo Clinic for DH's 12 year post lung transplant checkup. Home to good ole' Fla. by 4th of July!!

A fall trip-flying to Louisville, KY, then circular road trip to Mammoth Caves Nat’l Park, Cumberland Gap, Great Smoky Mtns Nat’l Park, Ashville, NC, Blue Ridge Pkwy, New River Nat’l Park in WV, and back to Louisville. The impetus for the trip is my quest to visit all states. KY and WV are numbers 47 and 48 for me. It wasn't planned, but it is fitting that my last two will be Alaska and Hawaii, the last two states admitted to the union.

Hanging out with the parents in Lexington KY next week with overnight trips to...

• Owensboro KY to hang out on the town's river front (Ohio River)
• Richwood WV for the annual Feast of the Ransom -- a feast celebrating the Appalachian edible weeds known as "ramps"

Road trip - one week - Asheville, NC and Charleston, SC.
Cala,
Based on your responses, I think you and I live in a parallel universe. I think we would be friends if we lived near each other. Add Doric, as well.

Spending most of a week in July at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
It's one of the west's best kept secrets, so please don't tell anyone else ...

We are staying put here in WA and just doing backpacking trips to the mountains. We had an unprecedented number of visitors last summer and expect it to be worse this summer. So trying to go further out to avoid the masses.

Now that we know we are moving in a few years, I realized I have a few adventures in Alaska still on my bucket list.
So, with that, I have booked us for a 2 night bear viewing adventure at Brooks Lodge in Katmai in August.

We are also going for a long weekend to Chicago at the end of June.

Doing my usual trip to Yellowstone in June for a couple of weeks but due to the lodging concessioner not being able to open all their lodging and a week's reservations being cancelled (shared bath cabin) I've added Grand Tetons and a night in Cody. Cody is just a positioning night so I can get east from there to see both a dinosaur tracksite and the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.

For anyone going to Yellowstone this summer, keep up with what Xanterra is or is not able to do with opening lodging. Also rental cars are at a premium. Many folks who are traveling in June are finding no rental cars available from the main arrival airports for the area.

Oh Divaloonie aka Tammy your trip to Brooks is a dream of mine. I'd love to hear about it when you return. Love watching the bears on the webcam.

Robert,
Say “Hi” or “Jip” to the prairie dogs for me. Also, check out Wind Cave.

Phoenix area, San Diego area. Black Hills. Did all 3 in 2020 also

Just returned from Charleston SC. Will be going to Las Vegas to meet a friend we haven’t seen in years, and headed to Washington state later in the year to go hang out at Lake Chelan with some friends. Hoping the UK is open by November so we can resume our annual trip there.

Cala- the Smithsonian museums are slowly reopening. Check its website for details. Right now, the ones that are opening are using timed entry passes (free).

Colorado in Sept, Williamsburg/Outer Banks in November.

Sunriver, Oregon in June. Boston and Maine in October.

@sun baked - Robert probably sees prairie dogs in most vacant lots in his city as I do in mine!

I’ve booked stays this summer in North Truro, Provincetown, and Scituate, MA. All are near beaches and offer other things to do (in addition to just chilling on a deck with a good book),

Visiting grad school friends in Pismo Beach here in the great state of California.

Palm Springs CA (Joshua Tree Natl. Park)
Theodore Roosevelt Natl Park (western North Dakota)
Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park
Grand Canyon North Rim

Napa
Monterey, Carmel,
Las Vegas (to see Santana in concert at House of Blues)

Starting in late summer- We are doing 3 month road trip from South Carolina to South Dakota, Wyoming, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, a few weeks all around Colorado, Santa Fe, Albuquerque for ballon festival, a month in San Antonio and finishing in New Orleans.

We are driving and traveling slowly. A lot of 4 -5 night stays at Airbnb’s. Using San Antonio as a base for revisiting Austin, Hill Country area and just having some down time.

We are in eastern Texas right now visiting my mother-in-law and other relatives for Mother’s Day. Next month we have an almost 3 week RV trip planned for Oregon and Washington. In the fall we will be back in Washington for a couple of weeks for our daughter’s wedding. I enjoy domestic travel, but I’m itching to get back to Europe. We have two lengthy trips we are hoping to do there next year. 🤞🏼

We're doing a three and a half week road trip Massachusetts to Yellowstone, Moab, New Mexico, Colorado and back. In September

I've become addicted to all the you tube videos of how to turn your car/suv into a camper but I booked hotels and I think I'll stick to those.

With any luck, a 2.5 - 3-week road trip from MN to our favorite little city of Santa Fe, N.M. in the fall. We'll spend at least 7-8 nights in SF and are currently figuring out routes from here to there and back again 'cause prior trips have only been by air +rental car. Hope to do some repeat hiking and sightseeing in some fave spots around the region.

I think this should count because I live in Mexico, so I'm starting to do some traveling here. Last month I spent a few days in Mazamitla (about 1 1/2 hours drive from home), and I'm taking my first ever real Mexico road trip later this month. Eleven days to head north from where I live to Zacatecas, with stops on the way there and back to visit nine Pueblos Mágicos. I wrote about my itinerary on my blog (link in my profile).

There are 132 Pueblos Mágicos in Mexico, and so far I've been to six of them (including Ajijic, where I live). I have a ways to go, but I hope to see as many of them as I can.

I finally decided no international travel for me this year. I was planning to go to Rome in October. In its place I just booked a trip to Utah!

Flying into Vegas and headed to Zion for 3 nights, Bryce for 1 and back to Vegas for an overnight. It will be short but I think the pacing is just right. I have a Sr Labrador and don't like to leave her for more than 4 or 5 nights. I also have a pretty good list of places I'd like to see in this area so I will plan on going back.

I managed to get lodging in Bryce. I've been stalking lodging reservations all week. Will have to continue trying for Zion but I have a backup if I don't get in.

I'm a hobbyist photographer & really excited for all of my travels this year!

Deborah, the Utah parks are great so I hope you make that planned follow-up trip to cover what you'll miss! Apologies if you already know this but you're aware of the mandatory shuttle tickets for Zion, right? You were a poster on the National Parks thread I'd started back in April (you had a Colorado trip planned) and are a "did the homework" sort of traveler so I assume you do but just in case... :O)

I'm so excited for you!!!!

Thank you Kathy! I read a little about the shuttles & I got myself a recreation.gov account. Reminder set to try for tickets. I need to do a little research on what happens if I leave & want to go back later. I tend to get up early & stay up late to photograph so sometimes need an afternoon nap!
I also want to have backup if there is ever a day I don't get in. I saw an interesting post on TripAdvisor which I book marked to read later.

The ticket thing doesn't thrill me but it looks like they've been doing it for years. It makes sense for the park & environment.

@Deborah - The Zion shuttle is really hard to get tickets for. We were there in April and they were only running at 33% capacity, tickets sold out in less than a minute. We ended up using one of the private tour operators, there are six of them that are approved. We went with Zion guru. The private shuttles are much more expensive but at least you’re guaranteed to get in the park. The only thing I didn’t like about them was that they only take you to and from one point at specific pre determined times so there is no flexibility nor can you do more than one spot in the park. If I were to do it again I would get a full day guided tour so that way I can hit multiple points of interest in the park while also having guaranteed transportation with an approved park concessionaire. https://www.zionguru.com/scenic-hiking-tour-zion

(even those people who did have the Zion tickets looked like they had to wait at least an hour to board the shuttle every time and apparently just getting a parking space at the visitor center to get on the shuttle initially can be a super hassle. We preferred Bryce Canyon far more to Zion just because it was much less of a logistic nightmare)

Thank you Kelly for the info. I will check out the link. I see on TA today there are disappointed people.

I'll continue to look for in park lodging which may help. I also really like the ebike idea. That sounds better than a shuttle actually. Maybe I'll book a private shuttle one day & ebikes the other days as a backup.

I do want to do some hiking but not Angel's. Narrows sounds fun. I still need to look into it. I mostly enjoy photography with a little hiking.

Great info from Kelly, and I'm seeing the same troubling reports about the tickets as the two of you. If you CAN do ebike - at least for one day - I'd consider it as it'll reduce your wait times, although I'm seeing that they go quickly as well so reserve well in advance if possible. I'll also agree with Kelly about Bryce and not just because it involves fewer logistics!

As far as being able to leave and come back, once you return to the Visitor Center, you have to have another ticket to return to Zion Canyon. There's a really nice grassy expanse in front of Zion Lodge that's a good spot for tuckered hikers to rest, eat and /or catch some zzzz's without leaving the canyon.

I've done the Narrows bottom-up day hike independently; it's very cool but not a given depending on weather either in the park itself or upstream. If it looks to be favorable when you're there, I'll HIGHLY recommend renting the gear that'll make the adventure most comfortable + keep that camera dry. We rented ours here, they've been in business for many years and have a lot of good info on their website:

https://www.zionadventures.com
https://www.zionadventures.com/rental-narrows-equipment.html

I see that, just like Kelly's outfitter Zion Guru, they rent ebikes as well, and provide shuttle service ($$) to the trailhead at Temple of Sinawava so take a look at both company options. Pick up your gear the night before, and wear clothes that can dry quickly. On our way out, nearer the river's entry point at the end of Riverside Walk, we passed WAY too many ill-prepared folks trying to do the thing barefoot. I doubt many of them made it to the best sections!

I'm hoping to do a "Bucket List - Pandemic Revenge" road trip to the Midwest (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit) from the NYC area. Fallingwater, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Henry Ford Museum, possibly a few baseball games. Places I've wanted to see but have never had the opportunity to visit the cities that they're in. Doing it by car rather than flying. No definite plans set up yet.

Lincoln, Nebraska. I know you are all jealous

We are spending a week plus going up the coast of CA to the Redwoods. Also visiting past RS tourmates along the way. In October I may visit my sister in PA and we will be spending Christmas in Carmel by the Sea, CA.

Adding to my previous post of places still to visit in Alaska before we move. In addition to our brown bear adventure, we are also going to Valdez and Seldovia. So lots of mini trips for us this summer!

Kauai in late-Aug, early-Sep.

Mai-Tai's and sunsets after these past ~18 months.

Nothing out of Canada.
We are still not allowed to travel outside Canada for leisure purposes, and the Border to the US remains closed as of now.
You can leave if it's a dire emergency somewhere, but the usual tests and possible quarantines may apply, depending if you've had two vaccine shots or not.
We can now, as of last week, travel within our province, and to certain other provinces, but not to all as yet.
Up till then , we could only travel about 100 kms in each direction from home.
The police were doingoccasional random checks and sending the odd person back home if they didn't have a good reason for being there.
Now, the only thing I have booked is 3 nights about 2 hours away for a family wedding!
Dreaming of Scotland and Italy...….

Our four nights in Carmel were so great that we planned another four-night trip as soon as we returned home. This trip will be to our favorite B&B at Lake Tahoe near Tahoe City.

In the midst of a 5-week road trip right now (from Chicago). Today we visited Crater Lake NP.

On this trip we have already seen: Redwoods NP, Yosemite, Sequoia, King’s Canyon, Death Valley, Petrified Forest, Cadillac Ranch, Uranus, MO. :)

Still to come: northern Oregon coast, Portland, Olympic NP, Mt Rainier, Seattle, North Cascades NP, Glacier NP, and Theodore Roosevelt NP.

Enjoying the beauty out west! Hoping to return to Europe next summer for a few weeks.

Heading to the Finger Lakes region of New York on 6/30 with a 3-4 hour stop at Niagara Falls.

It seems like lots of people we know are heading west (from Texas) and going to National Parks, so we are going the other direction...NYC here we come!

Decided to head to Alaska in September to visit family. Nothing touristy though, just headed up to the bush to join them for the moose hunt. It will be a bit different than our past trips as they suggested we borrow one of their trucks and drive the Dalton Highway from North Pole to Coldfoot, then they will pick us up in their bush plane there. I am excited, yet a bit nervous too, about that. Our cousin works out of there on the highway, so I know he will have his coworkers look out for us, but he will also fly over and check on us along the way.

I just started making plans for a fall road trip through New England. It’s a part of the country I haven’t explored yet, so I’m quite excited!

Hoping to do some kind of road trip with our new electric car (but only a day trip, most likely to Santa Barbara). Otherwise, just sticking with local parks and hikes.

Going to Rehoboth/Lewes beach for a week in October.

Vineyards and missions sightseeing in Central California in November.

Europe can wait until next year.

For us, this is not the time to go to Europe. We have been to Boston and the next trip is to Lake Tahoe in September and to the mid coast of Maine sometime in the autumn. I need to have cataract surgery so we’re leaving that up in the air until I know when the surgery will take place.

We're going to Boston in September and San Antonio/Austin in December.

Just returned from a hiking week in WY: Grand Teton National Park & Yellowstone Nat. Park. Can't say enough good things about the people & beauty of the place. Autumn landscape is gorgeous. So much wildlife. Fresh air. Summer crowds have subsided. There are some labor shortages (not unlike other parts of the country). So a little a understanding/ patience goes a long way. But a little inconvenience was a small price to pay for the great experience.

I’m so fortunate to live in one of the most gorgeous areas in the country. People have been flocking here all during the pandemic. We’re enjoying the very short “off season” before the hoards arrive again for skiing season. We’ve been intentionally getting out and about every weekend - picking up lunch from local restaurants and having picnics. Checking out the many new food trucks that seem to pop up overnight. Enjoying the seasons and the beauty around us.

Last week we went on a little getaway to a town about 40 minutes away and enjoyed the fall foliage, mountains and lakes in beautiful 70 degree weather.

Our trip to Alaska was very nice, as usual! Seeing family, hunting, hiking, picking cranberries, logging, harvesting potatoes, all so different from a "normal" vacation, but wonderful nonetheless. It snowed, which I love, and we had a big bonfire even with the cold. Saw the northern lights on the night we arrived even!

Just returned from one of our favorite fall getaways- Lake Chelan, WA. The weather was a pleasant 70 degrees & cool at night. Best of all was enjoying the spectacular fall foliage! Despite the cancellation of their annual Mahogany & Merlot event & classic unlimited hydroplanes it was still a great weekend to hike and enjoy the beauty & solitude.

Janis--I love this time of year over there!

Instead of traveling this year, we moved house instead. We are now exploring our “island”. Then,likely, my first trip will be to Boston for some genealogy research for a few days, and then off to Greensboro, NC to visit a family member. From then I will venture further afield, but for now our new area has lots to explore, particularly with our cameras…great light here.

Probably will be next year now but have been told that Maine is beautiful!