Next fall my wife & I will be visiting friends on the Puglia coast near Avetrana (Ionian Sea). We fly from the west coast of the USA, in & out of Rome and we have 19 days total. We like historic sights, small villages, local foods & wines, and nature. We thought about flying from Rome on to Bari or other Puglia airport, but decided that creating an itinerary that takes us from Rome down to Avetrana and back could make for a fun trip with some out-of-the-way visits. We've had visits to Rome & north so we're not looking to repeat those sights. Here's our current plan, and we'd love feedback, suggestions on day trips, or better ideas:

Land @ FCO, pick up car & drive to Nocelle, Positano for 3 nights.

Drive to Pietrapertosa and stay for 2 nights (we wanted a pretty hill town and heard this is a very nice one).

Drive to our friend's place near Avetrana and spend 8 nights with them. Visit lots of sights in "the boot."

Drive up to Termoli and stay for 2 nights. Perhaps visit Osole Tremiti if the weather is still good (very early October). Perhaps explore the Gargano peninsula.

Drive to Contrada Fontanella, near Teramo, Abruzzo. Spend 2 nights there and visit hill towns.

Last afternoon we'll drive back to Fiumicino and spend the night, since we need to check in at 4 am for our flight home.

Although our trip has a lot of driving time, we've broken it up to around 4 hours or less for the longest legs. Since those days we'll have a whole day to do the leg, we feel that we can break it up with stops, meals, and sightseeing so it'll be part of the adventure instead of a chore.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks in advance.