Central Spain, looking for ideas

I think it may be warmer in Extremadura at that time of year; you might want to check historical weather data.

Both areas are great for exploring. In the west I found Trujillo more atmospheric than Merida. I think the Roman ruins and rather good archeological museum are about the only reasons to go to Merida.

If you decide to head east, I recommend taking full advantage of having the car by going to Teruel and Albarracin. They aren't terribly far from Cuenca but there are no public-transportation links from that direction. I can't provide driving tips because I saw those towns by train and bus on two separate trips to Spain. You probably won't run into a lot of other foreign visitors in any of those places. Even the Spanish hardly know Teruel exists. Incidentally, there's a very striking, large, outdoor staircase in Teruel near the train station. The style is neo-Mudejar, to blend in with the town's towers; it was constructed in 1921.

Thanks acraven, that is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. Extremadura seems like the obvious choice, but i can't get the image of Cuenca out of my head (I love a gorge). I can't believe how rusty I am with travel planning after just two years off, but it sure feels good!

Both Castilla–La Mancha and Extremadura are fairly off-the-radar for foreign tourists but nonetheless hold many exciting gems to be discovered. You can't go wrong with either, both have great hiking/scenery and archaeological sites. I'd probably break it down this way:

Extremadura
+Better food
+More Moorish culture
+Ecologically more diverse
+Blockbuster ancient sites

Castilla–La Mancha
+Cutting-edge archaeology with new discoveries (Villa de Noheda, Segobriga, Reccopolis)
+Better hiking especially in Serrania de Cuenca National Park
+Connection to Don Quijote
+Better castles

That's exactly why I picked both Carlos! I foresee this year being a blockbuster one for travel, and I have always found that there is so much to see that I am just fine seeing the "second" tier sights. I hope my rudimentary Spanish will kick back in--I'm far from fluent but I can get around. Which is vital since I don't eat meat--but I do eat fish so I'm hoping I won't be living on tapas like previous trips (I don't really mind, but my stomach sometimes protests.)
These two are still really neck and neck. If we wanted just a bit of the sea, is there a place north of Valencia you would recommend for 2-3 days? I was reading about Pensicola yesterday.

You are in luck because the cuisine from La Mancha is not so focused on meat and is more vegetarian, it's more of the peasant food of Spain, like Garlic Soup (Sopa de Ajo), Pisto Manchego (Spanish Ratatouille), Migas Manchegas. But for good seafood you will need to head closer to the coastline.

Peñíscola has a special place in my heart, growing up my family had a vacation house there, so we would stay there in the summer. Beautiful whitewashed old town capped by a spectacular Knights Templar castle, plenty of excellent seafood restaurants there. I was last there in 2008 and the place still held up, but some things may have changed since with more tourism.

Just inland from Peñíscola, is the little-known region of Matarraña, which has branded itself as the "Spanish Tuscany". Imagine rolling green hills, lazy rivers, medieval castles, ancient groves of olives, almonds, and vineyards. There are many old hill towns in the region with Alcañiz being the largest one. The best part... totally undiscovered by foreign tourists. I only mention it because you seem genuinely interested in more off the beaten path places.

Here's a list of 5 villages in the Matarraña region (only in Spanish) - https://www.escapadarural.com/blog/5-pueblos-imprescindibles-de-matarrana/

I'll take that as a sign too, thanks again--I have a lot of research to do, but it's great to know I am on the right track either way!

Two good areas to visit whichever you choose. Some ideas:

Since your husband is reading Don Quixote consider stopping the see the windmills (giants) that he fought at Campo de Criptana. Near there is Consuegra with more windmills and a castle. In the Cuenca area there is the Ciudad Encantada for an outdoors activity. There is a nice walk around the town of Alarcón passing some old towers and has a couple overlooks. For archeology there’s Archaeological Park of Segóbriga, another outdoor location is Mirador de la Chorrera and Camino Natural del Rio Guadalaviar. Acraven mentioned a couple towns. In addition to the walls of Albarracín, and very near it, is Acueducto romano Albarracín, Castillo de Santa Croche, and Galería de los Espejos. One castle used in the movie El Cid is Belmonte Castle.

In Extremadura there are Cáceres, Trujillo, Mérda, Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, Roman temple of Alcántara and the town itself, Muralla Medieval de Béjar, and Castillo de Valdecorneja and Puente Románico Siglo XIV in El Barco de Ávila.

thanks jaime, once i get this nailed down I'll be back with more questions i'm sure.

Your trip sounds wonderful! You mentioned that one of your main interests is hiking. Do you know about the app called Wikiloc? It has over eighteen million gpx tracks for every area of Spain, posted by people who have walked that trail. Often they add comments and photos. You can use it to find hiking trails in any area you end up visiting. For us it has been an invaluable tool.
On your computer: www.wikiloc.com.
On your phone: the app, Wikiloc.