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I haven't had a one week vacation since at least 2016 and am going to take one, possibly two, this summer. The first one is going to be mid-June and the second would be mid-August to Labor Day timeframe. I'd be flying out of a regional airport in Tennessee (possibly CLT if there is a several hundred dollar difference). I'll be traveling alone.
Things I'm interested in.
1) Nature photography/hiking/mountain biking.
2) Craft beer
3) Swimming
4) Some city sightseeing - not huge into plays, museums, or high culture. I probably wouldn't spend a lot of time in the city itself. Would definitely like to take in some concerts if something I'm interested in is there, but it's not a selling point.
5) Recreational marijuana.
Not interested in deserts, casinos, etc. Needs to be green/lush. Not really interested in anything in the South.
I'm thinking perhaps around SFO/Napa for the scenery and such. Possibly Seattle/Cascades/Hoh Rainforest. I've never been to the Pacific Coast.
A family member recommended Denver, but not sure if it would check the green/lush thing.
I've been to Boston and Maine - that's still an option. New England in the summer sounds amazing.
Denver won't check the green box, but the northern Rockies might. (Denver's over a hour's drive away from the mountains, on a relatively flat, featureless plain.) You might enjoy Cody, WY, and Yellowstone, or Kalispell and Glacier National Park.
I'd put the northern shoreline of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on your list to check out as well.
Denver won't check the green box, but the northern Rockies might. (Denver's over a hour's drive away from the mountains, on a relatively flat, featureless plain.) You might enjoy Cody, WY, and Yellowstone, or Kalispell and Glacier National Park.
I'd put the northern shoreline of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on your list to check out as well.
That was my last trip the last time I was between jobs in 2016. The problem is that there are no nearby airports. I could fly into Grand Rapids, but I could probably drive it nearly as fast.
You could do the Colorado Rockies. Breckenridge is less than 2 hours from the Denver Airport, plenty of hiking, beer, pot and summer events. Lots of fun day trips too.
Bend, Oregon is a great place for all those same reasons but a little more green, you could go to the Oregon coast too. Fly into Portland.
We stopped for a night last year in Couer d'Alene and have plans to go back, great town on a huge lake, fly into Spokane.
That was my last trip the last time I was between jobs in 2016. The problem is that there are no nearby airports. I could fly into Grand Rapids, but I could probably drive it nearly as fast.
Pellston Regional Airport. Serviced by a few Sky West/Delta Connection flights each day.
Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Hood and the Hood River Valley, possibly a day at the coast. Google the places on this map - https://goo.gl/maps/QQwcLZKNjoJ2
The virtue of this is that everything is within easy drive times of each other as well as PDX airport. In the Columbia Gorge/Hood River area you've got everything from craft beer to windsurfing and kite boarding to summer skiing (on Mount Hood) to umpteen hikes around fabulous waterfalls, the funky Maryhill Museum and nearby weird replica of Stonehenge, set on clifftops above the mile-wide river... Then out at the coast, you'll have remarkable waves-on-rocks views at Cape Disappointment and Ecola State Park, historic towns along the lower Columbia, Lewis and Clark history...
Columbia River Gorge
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Hood River Valley and Mount Hood
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Kite boards at Hood River
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Maryhill Stonehenge
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Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge
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Cape Disappointment
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Ecola State Park/Cannon Beach
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Last edited by PJSaturn; 04-09-2019 at 02:47 PM..
Reason: Copyrighted images.
Denver won't check the green box, but the northern Rockies might. (Denver's over a hour's drive away from the mountains, on a relatively flat, featureless plain.) You might enjoy Cody, WY, and Yellowstone, or Kalispell and Glacier National Park.
I'd put the northern shoreline of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on your list to check out as well.
Denver's not lush, but this is just a bit of an exaggeration. Summit County is an hour's drive, yes, but the climb into the mountains starts at the hogback. If you take I-70 that's about 15 minutes from Downtown Denver. Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Evergreen, Bailey, and Conifer are all "in the mountains" less than an hour from Downtown Denver.
If I were looking to come to Colorado I'd fly into Denver and set up camp somewhere else. OP could drive up to Breckenridge or Estes Park with the caveat that both will be overrun with tourists in August.
A little closer to Denver one could stay in Idaho Springs or Georgetown and go up to the top of Guanella Pass and/or Mount Evans.
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Boulder's also an option. Basecamp there and drive up to trailheads in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. The Fourth of July Trail will still be green in August.
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Last edited by Mike from back east; 04-09-2019 at 06:21 PM..
Reason: Restored links to the poster's own photo's.
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