Where to go Summer '08???
 

Well we just got from our last trip (and I am working on the trip report) and I need to plan the next one!!! I need ideas for a great 2 week vacation over this summer for a fam of 4 - my kids are boys 8 and 5. We wanted to go abroad but it is too expensive with the euro/pound smushing the dollar.

We live in Florida and have been to the following already : Northern Cal, Seattle, Vancouver/Whistler, NYC, Boston, New Hampshire, & DC. Any and all ideas a greatly appreciated! We a vacation that does a city/rural combo.

TIA :)

Fly into Portland, OR visiting the Columbia River valley and the northern Oregon coast. That would be a great rural/ city combination trip.

Utah's parks. Great playground for kids

With two weeks, you could do even more of Oregon and see some great sights that even kids enjoy. Think Bend/Crater Lake and maybe the Steens or the Wallowas.

Alaska- Our sons say it's the best trip that we've taken, and they've been to 15 countries and 26 states.

Your boys are also at a good age to visit a ranch or the national parks such as Yellowstone.

Southern California - Beaches, Theme Parks, and San Diego. Also several state and federal parks and forests for hiking.

Southwest - Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico. We did a terrific two week trip covering the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, ABQ and Santa Fe. We hotel hopped for 5 Nights (1 Grand Canyon, 2 Monument Valley, 2 Mesa Verde) and then stayed in one place (Bernalillo) and day tripped for the last 5 nights.

Fly to L.Vegas and make a tour with a rental to Zion-Bryce-lake Powell-g.canyon-Monument valley-via Capitol reef to Moab and back to Vegas to fly home.Paul

Niagara Falls US and Canada, along with a side trip to Toronto... lots of kiddie stuff, cheap flights, family accomodations and great weather...

If you do the Niagara Falls trip add Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and/or Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto if they are sports fans.

But I was going to suggest Yellowstone.

LOL mms, I didn't notice 2 weeks, I was thinking 1 week. These could cover most of Oregon in that time. Rogue River, Ashland and Oregon Caves also could be combined in.

Lots of people like the Parks idea. I'll take a look into it! Thanks!!!

I agree with padams421's suggestion to see Alaska. The natural beauty of the place, not to mention the wildlife is not to be believed.

However, Anchorage is about 4,000 miles from Florida (I live in the Orlando area.) You could travel the same distance but less time (7 hours from MIA) and fly to Buenos Aires. I agree with you about skipping Europe, but in Argentina the dollar is still strong and everything (except possibly hotels) is very reasonable. If the idea intrigues you, consider adding on a side trip to Iguazú Falls <http://www.iguazuargentina.com/>. It has to rank as one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

With two weeks, you have time to see something completely different. Go west!

If you're willing to trade for the ever rising Canadian dollar, BC Canada has nice family resort destinations. Here are ideas with Vancouver as your entry and exit city.

Whistler has a lot going in summer. We stayed in a condo there for a week when our kids were younger - had a great time. You can rent bikes, swim, ride up the gondola, go hiking.

Lots of Canadian families fill the beaches at Parksville, BC, which has warm waters. Last summer we stayed overnight at the Tigh-Na-Mara Resort. It has activities for people of different ages all summer. Many families stay a week in the cabins there:
http://www.bcadventure.com/tighnamara/

Tofino offers go kayaking, whale watching, bear watching, hiking in rain forest.

Lots of places for good family adventures in Canada without too much driving.

(not sure how the "go" got in there....)

We also live in FL and have gone to all the places you've mentioned so we probably have similar travel preferences. I didn't read all the responses so I apologize if I'm repeating, but our three kids loved the following:

Hawaii--stayed in Waikiki then went on to Maui and stayed at the Grand Wailea Resort. I would have preferred the tranquil Four Seasons next door but our kids had a blast at the pool which is like a small water park. While in Hawaii we visited Pearl Harbor, the road to Hana, did a loau, went ATVing etc. It was a great family vacation.

Jackson Hole, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. JH is fun for a couple of days--kids liked the daily shoot out and the alpine slide. We stayed at Signal Ridge in the GT which we all loved. Right on Jackson Lake and wildlife comes right to your door. Stayed in the center of figure 8 in Yellowstone and did a quarter of it each day. Kids loved trout fishing, the geysers and horseback riding. The wildlife is most abundant in early June after the migration back to civilization.

Alaska--did a Holland America Cruise because they had a veranda suite on the back of the ship. The two pluses to that is that the suites have complimentary laundry and we had a bird's eye view of the wildlife--saw whales, eagles, sea lions all from our balcony. We're not big cruise people but we loved Alaska. We went salmon fishing on a private charter and caught 55 pounds worth! The kids loved zip lining and were fascinated by the salmon hatcheries.

We loved Banff for skiing and would love to go back one summer. It's absolutely beautiful and we love all the outdoor summer activities. We also enjoyed Denver and the rockies in the summer.

We are looking at Utah & Wyoming. Maybe fly into Salt Lake City and travel around from there. Any suggestions would be great!!!

I agree with the Utah/Southwest National Parks, maybe combining it with a houseboating trip on Lake Powell. www.lakepowell.com