Best Continental US Destination?

kwiksilver

So we didn't plan to take any sort of a honeymoon, for financial reasons.  FI has to go back to work 2 days after the wedding, but he has a week off mid-August (he has no control over the dates of that, it's a quarterly shut down period)

We talked about doing a long backpacking trip (one of our hobbies) as we can hike through Waterton National Park down into Glacier and see a bit of that. However, yesterday I started thinking about planning a different getaway, in secret, and just surprising him by taking him to the airport. I would only consider this as I've been with FI for 8 years and I know for certain that he would love that kind of surprise.

As we don't have the funds to do anything super exotic, we will probably be limited to traveling to somewhere in the States (unless we could find something incredibly cheap at the last minute, which I could actually do, since I'm not working, but I don't want to bank on that). 

I've been to most of the northern States, but I don't know where we should go.  Our dollar/exchange rate is kind of crap, so it would be nice to go somewhere not super $$. There are lots of deals to Vegas, but I've been, and it's not that appealing (and neither of us like to gamble). 

So do you have any suggestions?  Somewhere with a body of water for swimming would be nice. Obviously we are happy to go camping/rough it. I know many of your parks are incredible so please throw those at me too.  I'm open to pretty much anything

Ro041

kwiksilver said:

So we didn't plan to take any sort of a honeymoon, for financial reasons.  FI has to go back to work 2 days after the wedding, but he has a week off mid-August (he has no control over the dates of that, it's a quarterly shut down period)

We talked about doing a long backpacking trip (one of our hobbies) as we can hike through Waterton National Park down into Glacier and see a bit of that. However, yesterday I started thinking about planning a different getaway, in secret, and just surprising him by taking him to the airport. I would only consider this as I've been with FI for 8 years and I know for certain that he would love that kind of surprise.

As we don't have the funds to do anything super exotic, we will probably be limited to traveling to somewhere in the States (unless we could find something incredibly cheap at the last minute, which I could actually do, since I'm not working, but I don't want to bank on that). 

I've been to most of the northern States, but I don't know where we should go.  Our dollar/exchange rate is kind of crap, so it would be nice to go somewhere not super $$. There are lots of deals to Vegas, but I've been, and it's not that appealing (and neither of us like to gamble). 

So do you have any suggestions?  Somewhere with a body of water for swimming would be nice. Obviously we are happy to go camping/rough it. I know many of your parks are incredible so please throw those at me too.  I'm open to pretty much anything

August in the south (and Vegas) is miserable.  I would avoid any of those like the plague.  I am confused by the bolded - are you coming from out of the country?

charlotte989875

Have you done Great Smokey National park? If you do western North Carolina there are also tons of waterfalls/swimming holes that are easy to get to, Asheville is a great food/beer city and driving the Blue Ridge parkway is amazing. 

kwiksilver

Ro041 said:

kwiksilver said:

So we didn't plan to take any sort of a honeymoon, for financial reasons.  FI has to go back to work 2 days after the wedding, but he has a week off mid-August (he has no control over the dates of that, it's a quarterly shut down period)

We talked about doing a long backpacking trip (one of our hobbies) as we can hike through Waterton National Park down into Glacier and see a bit of that. However, yesterday I started thinking about planning a different getaway, in secret, and just surprising him by taking him to the airport. I would only consider this as I've been with FI for 8 years and I know for certain that he would love that kind of surprise.

As we don't have the funds to do anything super exotic, we will probably be limited to traveling to somewhere in the States (unless we could find something incredibly cheap at the last minute, which I could actually do, since I'm not working, but I don't want to bank on that). 

I've been to most of the northern States, but I don't know where we should go.  Our dollar/exchange rate is kind of crap, so it would be nice to go somewhere not super $$. There are lots of deals to Vegas, but I've been, and it's not that appealing (and neither of us like to gamble). 

So do you have any suggestions?  Somewhere with a body of water for swimming would be nice. Obviously we are happy to go camping/rough it. I know many of your parks are incredible so please throw those at me too.  I'm open to pretty much anything

August in the south (and Vegas) is miserable.  I would avoid any of those like the plague.  I am confused by the bolded - are you coming from out of the country?

Yes we are Canadian. I don't mind the heat, if that's what you mean?

kwiksilver

charlotte989875 said:

Have you done Great Smokey National park? If you do western North Carolina there are also tons of waterfalls/swimming holes that are easy to get to, Asheville is a great food/beer city and driving the Blue Ridge parkway is amazing. 

Nope!  Haven't been there, but thank you for the suggestion!  I will definitely look into that. 

STARMOON44

Yellowstone is spectacular. The west coast of Michigan, if you want something lower key. San Diego if you can find good flights. 

bookmaiden17_

Virginia would be another great place were you could link into the Blue Ridge parkway. Chincoteague is an island on the coast that is home to wild horse and is beautiful. Michigan would be another cool place that would have lots of water locations. If you want to stay away from hotels and such airbnb or vrbo.com would allow you to rent a house or condo. I've found good deals through both places. I also love South Carolina. Charleston is beautiful and you have access to the ocean along with the city.

ahoywedding

bookmaiden17_ said:

Virginia would be another great place were you could link into the Blue Ridge parkway. Chincoteague is an island on the coast that is home to wild horse and is beautiful. Michigan would be another cool place that would have lots of water locations. If you want to stay away from hotels and such airbnb or vrbo.com would allow you to rent a house or condo. I've found good deals through both places. I also love South Carolina. Charleston is beautiful and you have access to the ocean along with the city.

Charleston is so much fun but also HUMID AS CRAP in the summer. If that doesn't bother you, it's wonderful! You could also head to Hilton Head Island for a day, Savannah, or really link up to the Blue Ridge Parkway if you have a car and wanted to head inland a little bit.

ahoywedding

OOH! I'll also put in a plug for northern WI, which may be closer for you. There are TONS of lakes, outdoor activities, and it's beautiful in the summer! 

kwiksilver

Oooo going to have to get Googling!  Thanks for the suggestions so far!!

CMGragain

Could you give us a dollar amount for your budget, and your location?  That would really help us.

I would suggest Rocky Mountain National Park, especially the Granby side, which is less developed than Estes Park.  They do have a camping ground, but you must have reservations!  After school starts in August, things get a little quieter.

ernursej

Have you thought about Seattle/Portland area? Lots of things to do in the cities and then wilderness to get away from things. Also, based on the Waterton comment, might be a quick plane ride away.

Lots of stuff to do in Alaska or remain in Canada and consider Churchill Manitoba to see polar bears.

kwiksilver

CMGragain said:

Could you give us a dollar amount for your budget, and your location?  That would really help us.

I would suggest Rocky Mountain National Park, especially the Granby side, which is less developed than Estes Park.  They do have a camping ground, but you must have reservations!  After school starts in August, things get a little quieter.

Hoping to keep it under $2000 for the whole thing. And I live in Calgary, Alberta 

When does school start?  We are looking between August 9th to 16th or so.  Thanks for the suggestion of RMNP!

kwiksilver

ernursej said:

Have you thought about Seattle/Portland area? Lots of things to do in the cities and then wilderness to get away from things. Also, based on the Waterton comment, might be a quick plane ride away.

Lots of stuff to do in Alaska or remain in Canada and consider Churchill Manitoba to see polar bears.

We've been to Seattle once before!  It was so cool. That's a good idea. I'm also interested in Portland!  I've seen some travel vlogs about it, and when I was vegan it was like THE PLACE TO GO because of all the vet options there.

We did see some of Alaska on a cruise, and went to the Yukon last year. Such beautiful country!  Hmmmm maybe we should go catch some of the salmon run. 

CMGragain

It varies by district.  In Denver, CO, it is August 21.  Here on the western slope, it is earlier, August 16.  If you decide to do this, you need to get your reservations in ASAP!
https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm

PS.  There are public showers in Estes park in the laundromats.

WinstonsGirl

Not much hiking/camping, but I took DH to San Francisco  a few years ago as a surprise.  We spent 4 days and still had a ton left to see.  And there are a lot of outdoorsy stuff.  We biked the Golden Gate over to Saulisito, for example, which was amazing.  

We've also road tripped through Montana, Wyoming South Dakota and back through Yellowstone, but if you're stuck to a week only, that might be tight.