We are a family of four considering a trip within the U.S. for spring of 2004. Our kids are 13 and 16. Have thought about Grand Canyon or something out west. We live in the Northeast but are open to any location. Looking for ideas from others' past experiences.
Thanks

See if this theory would work for your family.

Pick your trip mostly with the kids in mind, and the parents will have a good time, too.

Pick a destination that will expand the brains of the children, in a way that they will enjoy.

So, skip the amusement parks of America.

The real challenge will be to figure out where the interests of the children overlap.

If they are outdoor kids who love to hike and explore along rivers and look in swamps, that's a hint.

If they love movies and music and want to grow up to be movie stars, that's hint.

Is one of them a budding photographer? What kind? Take the nature photographer to one place, but take a kid who wants to be a newspaper photographer to somewhere else.

Do they love history? Airplanes or ships? What are their favorite brain-expanding tv shows all about?

If you were parents of kids this age who were not in the northeast, I'd send you to New York, which I think 13 and 16 year olds are ready for, but that's too easy.

I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I used to have a 13 year old and a 16 year old. One would have loved it and the other would have been really bored. Both would have enjoyed Phoenix, but one would have wanted to play golf and the other would have wanted to explore the desert.

California used to have tourism promotion programs that said there were six Californias. Between Universal Studios and other tours in LA, hiking in the mountains, visiting Alcatraz, swimming in the Pacific and maybe even trying to surf, and visiting ten or twelve places they have seen in movies (go rent some California movies before you go)should find a balance between the interests of both kids.

Outdoor-oriented kids would love the north-west, but it may be too close to what they know already.

I'm a big advocate of bringing US kids to Canada. (I'm in Toronto)

A circle tour to Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls would be an international adventure, and there will be lots of things each kid will enjoy. There's a thread in the Canada forum right now about a California mom who is doing this circle tour starting in New Hampshire.

And, in regard to Florida. If you visit Epcot, and if you visit the everglades, and the nature preserve on Sanibel Island, Florida makes a great destination. But if you hang out at Disneyworld or St. Pete's Beach, it's too much of a waste of the brains of the kids.

Disney is worth a day, plus an Epcot day, plus a Universal Studios day, so Orlando is a good spot, but not for two weeks.

BAK

If you are heading west, think about San Antonio for part of the trip. The Alamo and downtown are good places. They have a river tour downtown (you pick it up at the mall adjacent to The Alamo). I wish I had seen more of the sites when I was there. You could head to the Grand Canyon afterwards. It really depends on what your family likes to do. If you want to stay closer to home, North Carolina in the mountains is nice, too. Plenty of good hiking and it's pretty cool there in the spring. Wherever you decide to go, just remember to have fun and relax.

We have kids almost the same age as yours. Past few years the kids have come up with better suggestions for destinations than we can - or they can do some research and help decide.

Past few years (we are also from northeast) we have gone to Seattle then drive south to San Francisco; Washington, DC; Bar Harbor/Acadia and ferry to Nova Scotia; this year we are doing Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce and then driving to San Diego. Also did Baseball Hall of Fame, Niagara Falls and Toronto. As you can tell, we seem to cover large distances in the car - our kids don't mind, but others might.

When faced with the idea of taking a major family vacation two years ago for April vacation, my husband and I were researching London - thought this would be a nice, English speaking place with things of interest to kids and us. When our then 14 year old heard about the trip, he said "Let's go to Egypt instead" We thought he was kidding or crazy, but after much thought, off we all went to Egypt for the most incredible vacation ever. Am not suggesting Egypt at this time, just restating that the kids sometimes have great ideas.

Have a great trip wherever you go - we get sad thinking that we only have a few family vacations left.

The year my boys were 13 and 16 we drove to Alaska. My 16 year old wanted to go somewhere new.

But keep in mind my boys grew up going on vacation in the southwest about every other year and they still like going even now that they are grown and out of the house.

Utahtea