Ideas for summer road trip PLEASE!

[mistery]

Hi, We are three sisters in our low twenties from NYC and are wracking our brains to think of an exciting and interesting road trip for this summer. We have the first two weeks of July free and we need to start generating ideas.
We already have visited most of California (San Diego to San Fransisco), Las Vegas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah, Detroit and some nearby East Coast destinations.
If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to share!
Thanks

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Have you considered heading north along the coast?

You could follow the coast up through Maine, and into Canada and see how far you get in a week. Then if you want a little more urban excitement, you could make your way back through Quebec City, Montreal, and maybe even Toronto.

Of course that's just one of many possibilities, but its one that I would strongly consider if I were in your shoes.

[AZBuck]

Well, if you've liked nature, coast, and cities in the past, some other places that may pique your interest are the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Southern coastal cities of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. Another option might be a tour of the Great Lakes, taking in some of the National Lakeshores like Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks and Apostle Islands; historic sites like Fort Mackinac; and totally unique getaways like Isle Royale National Park. A third option would be to explore the Appalachian Mountains at a leisurely pace using Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and visiting quaint towns like Winchester and Lexington, VA.

AZBuck

[Mass Tim]

From the list of what you have seen, that still leaves most of the country open for exploration.

Have you explored the New England area, or any of the interesting places in your own state, such as the Adirondacks.
How about US-6 through Pennsylvania?
Have you been through the beautiful countryside of Kentucky?
You could head through PA on US-6 or I-80, South through Pittsburgh, into West Virginia, West into Kentucky then South into Tennessee. Along this route you could visit Lexington horse country and Mammoth Cave National Park.
Then East to Smoky Mountains.
From here you can start heading North through Virginia and visit some of the places AZBuck has suggested.

[mistery]

Hey e/o,
Thanks to you guys who supplies us with those great ideas. We actually decided on s/t different at the end, but maybe we'll use one of those trips for the next time. We'll be going to Seattle, Portland and area. What do you think of that plan? We figured there are natural and metropolitan things to do in the area, so all of us will be satisfied.
My only worry is now, if there is enough to do to keep us busy for two weeks...

[PNW Judy]

Or even 2 years!

This thread has a lot of information on things to do in Seattle and Washington state. The hints there are for just a few specific areas. There's much more to see. Let us know what you're interested in and we'd be glad to help. Just a few things to wet your whistle that aren't mentioned in that other thread:

Washington
* San Juan Islands
* Chuckanut Drive
* North Cascades Highway
* Methow Valley including Winthrop and Leavenworth
* Grand Coulee Dam, Dry Falls, and the coulees
* Yakima Valley wine country and Goldendale's public observatory
* Long Beach Peninsula
* Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge including Beacon Rock, Maryhill, Stonehenge, Ice Caves, and lots of river-rafting opportunities

Oregon
* Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge including Crowne Vista House, Multnomah Falls, Mt. Hood, wind-surfing opportunities in Hood River, and more.
* Oregon Coast
* John Day Fossil Beds
* Crater Lake, amazing cultural stuff going on in Ashland, and the Oregon Caves
* Bend and vicinity (tons of recreational opportunities)
* Rogue River (beaches, rafting, and mail-boat runs)
* Willamette Valley
* Hell's Canyon

Portland is a lovely city but I'm not as familiar with it as I am with Seattle. If you like books at all, Powell's Books is an amazing bookstore - 3 stories and covers a city block. OMSI, The Grotto, the Pittock Mansion, beautiful downtown with a lovely river walk, and lots of boats that cruise the Columbia River.

You could also follow the Lewis & Clark trail through OR and WA; or the Oregon Trail in Oregon.

If you're driving to the PNW, you're not going to have much time. So I imagine this is now a fly/drive vacation? You might compare flights for both Portland and Seattle, and then check out car rental rates from both locations as well. Portland is a bit farther away to drive to for me but I often fly from there just because I think both the airport and the traffic to/from it are less congested.

[Midwest Michael]

I like Judy am a little curious if you are planning on making this a fly/drive trip?

If its going to be an all drive trip, filling up your time certainly won't be an issue. You're going to need about 10 of your 14 to make the cross country round trip, even at a pretty quick pace. While its certainly possible to complete this trip in this time frame, 4 days will only give you a chance to take a brief taste of the Pacific Northwest.

Sometimes a taste is better than nothing though, so you still should have a great time.

And if you are flying, then you'll really be able to enjoy this region and everything it has to offer!

[vanitylaw]

1.Whistler,BC.......its so nice and great weather in the summer. You three "cool" sisters can zipline...its soooo much fun!

2. Aspen,Colorado...even if you have been there...its so fresh in the summer...you three can paraglide together! Its a dream come true

3. I guess you can stay near home and go to Lake George(sagamore) and rent a boat on the lake and go tubing and white water rafting!

Have Fun! Sisters are the BEST!

[mistery]

Thanks for all the ideas! It really is a big help.

Judy & Midwest Michael: We are planning on flying to Portland (it is a little cheaper) and renting a car there. After calling numerous car rental agencies in Portland and Seattle, we found that Enterprise in Portland offered the cheapest fees for under 25 renters (I'll be 25 in October, quite annoying, let me tell ya) so we'll most likely be going with them. Anyway, we plan on driving around and up to Seattle then back down to Portland in a quasi-circular route.

Vanity Law: Thanks! Yeah, we go on trips together a lot. It's great because we know each other inside and out, but then it's not so great for the same reason! Together for so long we definitely can get on each other's nerves, to say the least...