Destinations in the USA
We spent five nights in Bay Saint Louis, a charming, low key coastal town with a surprisingly nice beach.
Big Bend was THE reason we made this road trip. It was well worth the drive. We spent eight nights here and did not get bored. Lots of hiking. Lots of scenery.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a fantastical place of multicolored hoo-doos. It's like no place else we've ever seen. And it's surprisingly chilly. We spent two nights in nearby Panguitch.
We camped for three days at Young State Park, the more modern state park near Charlevoix. Boyne City is an even closer cute little town.
Cheboygan is on Lake Huron in the northeastern corner of Michigan's lower peninsula. It's about a half-hour from Mackinac City and could make a good base for visiting Mackinac Island. (So would Wilderness State Park.) We camped there for five days.
We stopped at Death Valley for a couple of nights because it was more-or-less between Sedona and Sequoia & Kings Canyon. We found it surprisingly beautiful.
Door County is a charming peninsula in Wisconsin that juts out into Lake Michigan. We're glad we came, though we like our "up north" more rugged. And let's face it, when you live in Michigan, northern Michigan is more convenient! We spent five days here on a road trip that included Lake Huron in Michigan.
It was a long drive from Wawona to Mammoth Lakes since the road through Yosemite was closed due to snow, but it was still scenic. We couldn't see much in our 3 days here thanks to snow, but Mono Lake alone was worth it.
Glacier National Park is gorgeous and worth the long drive across the plains, even with part of the park closed due to COVID-19 and visibility diminished by smoke from wildfires. We spent 8 nights in nearby Columbia Falls. Had the eastern side of the park not been closed due to COVID-19, we would have spent a few nights there.
Grand Teton doesn't have the variety of Yellowstone but it does have gorgeous mountains and a perfect hike. We spent two nights nearby.
Interlochen State Park is in a beautiful area, including M-22, the Traverse City area, and Duck Lake, where we went kayaking. We camped for three nights. You could easily spend more time here and use this as a base for exploring the area.
Stops on the Natchez Trace Parkway between Tupelo and Jackson are mostly historical. Cole Creek has a nice walk through a tupelo/cypress swamp. We spent two nights in Jackson so we could take a side trip to Vicksburg.
We had a relaxing three days in Kailua-Kona only slightly spoiled by bad weather but more than compensated for by some of the best snorkeling ever.
The north shore of Kauai is rainy, misty, and dramatic with beautiful beaches and the entrance to the Na Pali coast. We spent three nights near Kilauea.
The south shore of Kauai tends to be the sunnier side. We like the laidback Poipu area with its restaurants within walking distance or a short quiet drive. We spent five nights here.
Natchez is the southern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It has lots of old houses and B&Bs and is great for walking. We spent two nights here so we had time to explore the town.
Orange Beach wasn't really our kind of place. Too many high rises. Too much traffic. The beach and the nearby state park are beautiful though. We spent four nights here.
We spent seven nights near the beach near Panama City Beach but never made it into town. The beach was our destination! And it was a great beach for relaxing and walking. Not busy at all.
