Looking for advice

[imported_Debbie]

Hi all! My boyfriend and I have been throwing out ideas
for our August vacation and were thinking about finally
going on a roadtrip cross country one way and then fly
back. We are both teachers and obviously don't have the
money to go crazy but have been saving up and think we can afford it. We would be leaving from either Virginia or New York. Any advice on routes, great states/sites to visit would be greatly appreciated. We have already been to Colorado and have seen the whole east coast. We would like to end up in San Francisco. Due to our careers, we can not afford to travel often. We would like to get as much as we can in since we do have August off. Thanks so much!

[Robert Schaller]

I think your stated plan is the most exensive of your choices (a one-way car rental and a one-way flight home). You might check into renting a car for your journey, round trip (if you cannot use your own vehicle), or, fly to a starting point, do a loop type of trip from there, and fly home from the same place. Planned far enough ahead, that can often be the cheapest alternative.

You could start and end in SFO, and visit many attractions in California and the West -- the coast, the mountains, the western parks, or some combination of those. How much time do you have? Are you locked into the one-way road trip and flight? We'll be glad to assist, but give us a little more information about what you want to do (Scenery? National Parks? Cities and cultural events?).

[buck1116]

just went cross country this past summer (Boston to LA and back). Try Santa Fe. The Santa Fe opera (which is outdoors) is incredible. It can sell out, so you should get advance tixs. Many people tail-gate before (we did not). It is worth going to Santa Fe just for this, but there are also several excellent museums (American Folk Art, O'Keefe, Native American).