My wife and I are trying to figure out where to go for our anniversary. Suggestions?

Time frame, budget, tastes, energy levels, fitness, means of transportation and some general guide lines would help me come up with ideas.

I loved the mountains, the flora and fauna and the natural beauty in general of the western US and chose to avoid the big cities and urban sprawls, for example.

@gailcalled
1. a week or so
2. probably under $1000
3. we have a variety of interests
4. we’d probably prefer something more laid back
5. pretty fit
6. we could drive or fly, depending on expense

Go UP!

Take a hot air balloon ride over Bryce canyon or Zion in Utah.
Sedona Az. is amazing!
Lake Tahoe Ca. my bias as I live an hour from Tahoe is spectacular with beautiful Sierra Nevada views, the lake and tons of lovely cabins, condos and hotels.

For $1,000 total I think it might be very hard to fly anywhere. Fares have been incredibly high lately. Are you including food expenses in that amount? Or, just lodging, transportation, activites. What state are you in?

We’re in Utah, near Salt Lake City

@Coloma I grew up in southern Utah, so I’m very familiar with bryce canyon and zion national park. They are awesome, but I’m interested in somewhere new :)

What do you like about Sedona? Lake Tahoe does sound good.

What about Yellowstone National Park? I have never been there, but everyone I know who has loved it.

@JLeslie I’ve never been there either. I’ll add it to the list.

Have you been to New Mexico and the spectacular Indian monuments? Taos and Santa Fe are fun and the area is very beautiful for hiking, cruising around, mountain biking, birding and buying Navajo rugs and pottery.

Another nice area is San Francisco and the wine country to the north or south to coastal drive through Big Sur.

Drive down the Washington/Oregon coast. I took the drive when I lived in Utah and it has been my favorite trip to date. I think we took about a week and a half to do the whole drive.

@phaedryx Oh lucky you. I adore Utah!
Sedona is beautiful and mystical, but, you’ve been in red rock country sooo, maybe go for Tahoe. If you’re wine fans drop down about 40 miles into my county and go for the wine tours.
Yes, Taos & Santa Fe are lovely too. But still pretty locked into the scruffier geography of the S.W.
My community boasts the California Gold discovery site in my town of Coloma, where James Marshalls gold discovery kicked off the Ca. goldrush in 1848.
We also have the oldest theatre in the nation www.oldecolomatheatre.org

You could do Tahoe and the gold country together. :-)

www,eldoradowines.org

I second the Washington/Oregon coast. People are very hospitable. There are rain forests in Washington; Seattle is a wonderful city; Mount Rainier is one of the monolithic mountains you’ll see. If you camp, there are great spots; otherwise very nice motels. Stop at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland in the very southern part of Oregon. Look for the freshest salmon you’ll ever find and razor clams if they’re in season.

@Sunny2 True…oh jeez, you guys are swatting at my travel bug. lol

@phaedryx What is the most amount of hours you would want to drive one way? Do you consider the west coast part of the “western US?” I see some of the answers are west coast, which I was not considering initially.

I was thinking you might want to consider train travel for something different if you typically don’t travel that way. I am not familiar with the route through Salt Lake, but here is a link to Amtrak. I thought of it because California is rather far, but by train, the train is part of the fun and you don’t have to focus on driving.

But, I still like the Yellowstone idea.

Let us know what you pick.

@JLeslie west coast is fine

I hadn’t considered Amtrak, that could be fun.

@phaedryx Some trains are much nicer than others. If you seriously consider it you might want to ask around if anyone else has done the trip. I did the autotrain from VA to FL years ago and my grandmother used to do it also. That trip was very easy, the cars were clean, there was an observation car, dining car, sleeping rooms available for an extra fee, etc. I hear great things about the trip through the Canadian Rockies in Canada, which is very expensive, compared to the trip from Salt Lake to San Fran, which when I put in a date was less than $200 round trip.

Yosemite is pretty amazing, and worth adding to the bucket list. I’m not sure if it fits your budget, for this particular vacation, but it’s worth seeing at least once in your life.