O'Connell's Off Topic

You a baseball fan?
If so I bet over a 2 week span with some careful planning you could hit quite a few parks - fly into socal for dodgers padres and angels. Drive up the coast for A's and Giants. Good times. Great scenery!

What's the budget?

Santa Fe, NM: the weather is cooler, pretty scenery, and great food. You could go fishing, river rafting, golfing, hiking, hot air ballooning, museums, etc.

I just retired so time is no problem for me. Wife and I were going to DC but i'm not sure if we can get White House tour tickets. So i'm trying to talk her into a Key Largo trip!

i just got back from los angeles. for some reason, not everyone loves going out to LA, but it was great. the weather is unbelievable, there's all kinds of things to do, great places to eat, and plenty of great hotels.

i can't wait to go back.

Santa Barbara is pretty cool. Very temperate weather. Ocean and mountains all together. Go on a whale watching excursion. Great food.

I like Chicago. Plenty to do.

I've always wanted to see what it was like in the New York mountains and the finger lake area.

Go to one of the telescopes in California.

If you want to go radical, try the northward national parks tour. There are Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain in Colorado and Teton and Yellowstone in Wyoming. Then go northwest to Glacier in Montana and it's adjoining park in Canada - Waterton. From there you could go a little farther north to some of the most dynamic (scenerywise) Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay. These four parks adjoin each other and are absolutely stunning.

If you're really getting into seeing national parks at that point, you could pick up two more in Canada by going a little farther west, Glacier National Park (the one in Canada) and Mount Revelstoke National Park.

That should cure you of wanting go get away from the old homestead for awhile!!

The wife and I went on a trip some time back that included 16 national parks, all in the western US. We took our time (two and a half months) and drove a total of 8,300 miles. It was a trip that neither of us will ever forget. We also did a few extras on that trip like the narrow gauge between Durango and Silverton, Monument Valley, Vegas, and the real topper - the little lady won 5G's on a slot machine as we were passing through North Tahoe.

Whatever you decide, have fun and stay safe!!

Destin, Florida. The sand looks and feels like sugar and the ocean is beautiful and blue. Just don't sit out too long without some strong sun block or you will be on the menu at AJ's oyster bar.

I would add Zion and Bryce and drop Carlsbad.....

If you enjoy the outdoors, Western Canada can be amazing that time of year.