Enzian,

I have a friend who lives in Queen Anne in Seattle. We actually hiked at Paradise on Mt Ranier one 4th of July weekend. It was beautiful! (the other 2 days it rained....)

From Long Beach, you could obviously go to LA. Or Laguna Beach. Or San Diego. Or Malibu. Or Temécula.

The most special, of course, is to grab the Catalina Express and head to Catalina Island. Arrive in Avalon, enjoy a quiet day of hiking and wonderful sea air, then take the Express back home and dine at L'Opera in downtown Long Beach.

Live in southern NJ, so unlimited daytrips - can do NYC, Baltimore, Washington D.C. etc. My favorite is a trip to Lancaster, Pa. (1hr 45 min) We try to take back roads through lancaster county which is hilling and rural. Go right throught the heart of amish country. These days we usually then hit the shopping outlets (not sure that counts as inexpensive) but there are plenty of other fun things to do including live shows, the pretzel factory (free i think), and more local cute shops. We like to go to one of the smorgashbord(sp?) places for dinner and then we drive home. Another great day is a trip to Baltimore (2 hrs) to the inner harbour including the aquarium and a nice dinner. In the fall/spring a drive to cape may is also fun (1hr 40 min). there are plenty of cute shops, there is a great free children's zoo and a nice off-season walk on the beach.

From Seattle:
Whidbey Island
Mt Rainier
Snoqualmie Falls

From just outside Boulder, Colorado:

-A day at Idaho Springs, with a trip to the hot springs cave and pool, and a drive back home up 'Oh My God' road, with a stop in Nederland for a wonderful Italian dinner.

- A day in Georgetown - walking, eating, browsing, maybe taking the little narrow gauge railroad.

- A day in Colorado Springs - hiking and photographing at Garden of the Gods, drinks at the Broadmoor and a visit to the Falls andor the National Rodeo Hall of Fame.

This is a fun idea!

seasweetie... DON'T tell anyone about the "Oh My God Road".
That is one of my favorite places when I am working in Denver and I love it because in all the times I have done the trip I have only seen 2 or 3 people total.
It really is the perfect place if you need to remember who's the boss.

from North Jersey:
Delaware river towns - Frenchtown, Lambertville, river drive in PA north from New Hope.
We've beaten this trail thoroughly for years, the small towns are a great relief from city traffic/heat. Some great little cafes, shops, and the PA side north from New Hope is very scenic.

Or north to Coldspring, NY -- cliff side drive along the Hudson is breathtaking. Coldspring is a great little town for antiquing.

From my home in Tennessee:

1. Cherohala Skyway - beautiful drive with numerous lookouts
2. Burgess Falls Natural Area - 3 beautiful water falls
3. Center Hill or Dale Hollow Lakes
4. Fall Creeks Falls State Park

I live in Palo Alto, CA and I love to spend the day in San Francisco. The possibilities are endless.

San Jose, CA here also. We just did a one day trip last week (I did a mini trip report), from Santa Cruz to Hollister and the Pinnacles. Very pretty back there, and so little traffic on Hwy 25! Well, it was a Thursday in March. I also like day trips to Pacific Grove/ Monterey and to San Francisco.

From D.C.- Drive out to the area surrounding Harper's Ferry and Shepherdstown, WV.

Park in one of the lots near the towpath along the river south of Shepherdstown.

Hike along the towpath in the late morning, then have brunch/lunch at the Yellow Brick Bank or another cute place in Shepherdstown, walk around the town exploring the stores and architecture, get a coffee at the hippy-style coffee shop, then hike back to the car and head for home. A great day at any time of year!

San Francisco
Oakland
Monterey
Lake Tahoe
Lake Shasta (just barely)
Lake Berryessa
Point Reyes
Bodega Bay
Gold Country (Angels Camp, etc.)
Marin County
Napa
Sonoma

I'm sure there's more, but I'm drawing a blank now...

From Honolulu:

Day trip out to the north shore to watch the big wave surfers. Eat at a shrimp truck or at Cholo's in Haleiwa, perhaps stop into an art gallery in Haleiwa too.

Or fly to Hilo on the Big Island to do a volcano visit and stop into some the art studios in Volcano town.

Well, I love rock climbing and there are many places to climb within a day's drive of where I live in Colorado. Nothing like leaving the house early, coffee in hand, heading out to the cliff, spend all day climbing and get back after dark exhausted. Now that's living!

From Northeast Tennessee, our favorite day trips usually involve putting the top down on our Miata and finding the twistiest paved roads we can. Asheville, Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, North Carolina, Blue Ridge Parkway, even down to South Carolina ... and then there's the national forests and state/national parks, hiking ... there is so much to choose from!

(Although, these days, I don't know how much a scenic drive is an inexpensive outing!)

We went to Houston last weekend for the first time as 'tourists' and it was fun.
We walked around all the parks in the museum district, went to Kemah, San Jacinto Monument and Galveston.
My favorite thing in the world is feeding seagulls and the Laughing Gulls along the Gaveston coast are just so much fun.

I live in the Adirondacks (NY) NW of Albany. Within 4 hours we can be in NYC, Boston or Montreal. For closer areas, we can go to Cooperstown, Albany (NY state capitol), the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes, Lake George or Lake Placid. I LOVE where I live...

From Mesquite, my options are a bit more limited.

Las Vegas - for the glitter and entertainment. I don't gamble but if I did, I could do that right here in Mesquite.

Zion NP - for the obvious attractions.

Lake Mead - for fishing, boating, relaxing in the sun.

Except for summer, Death Valley. It's a long day trip but doable.

Valley of Fire State Park - for the stark but enchanting desert scenery.

Brian Head - to get out of the summer heat or enjoy a day in the snow without having to shovel 4" of partly cloudy out of my driveway.

Panguitch Lake in Utah - for some of the best trout fishing around.

Cedar City, Utah to visit my daughter and the grand-babies. My son and those grand-babies also live in southern Utah but they are a bit too far to make it a day trip.

I guess my choices aren't so limited, after all!

I've seen some really good day trips in and around the San Francisco area but my favorite is this one. Leave early in the morning and drive to Yosmite using highway 120. It is the shortest to Yosmite National Park from most bay area cities. I live in Palo Alto. Do this on a Sunday. Have a great Brunch at the Lodge and then a leasurely drive back to the bay area on highway 140. the brunch is wonderful though there is a a price to the brunch. the trip there and on th eway back gives you a GREAT way of seeing Northern Cal. The back roads are endless and after 13 years of doing backroads I still find a new of going and coming from there. I've even drove through a creek and then into a peacock farm. I highly suggest the two roads but my favorite by far is highway 140 both for going in and coming out of the valley. Even if you don't do the Brunch the whole trip is like none other. the valley is so welcoming and refreshing and the views are tremendous.

Now if you are in Gainesville FL take a intertube ride down the Ichetucknee Springs run. it's a great ride in the wilds of a natural florida springs. Can't do that one becasue of the cold water the go to Ocala National frorest and do the canoe ride down Junipture (sp?) Springs. Pick up some Blue carb on the way home.
RG

Charleston, SC!