Destinations

My sister recently posted about her 5 favorite vacation places in the US .  Now I haven't been to as many places in the US as Charlotte, but I have been to quite a few.  The more I thought about my list the more I realized that I am becoming my father.  I picked my top 5 based on places that I would like to go next week if given the time and money to do so.  So here it is.

1.  Lake Powell - I love everything about the lake.  The recreation is awesome, but that's not all.  The beauty of the canyon that can be experienced so many different ways.  Hiking, boating, boarding, cooking, swimming, fishing, how could it not be number 1 on the list.

2.  North Fork/Zion Canyon - Sure this is home and I will probably visit the area at least once a week for the next 40 years, but I love it. It helps that my favorite activities include camping, dutch oven cooking, mountain biking, and hiking.  There really is only one place in the continental United States that I would go rather than here which is why it is number two.  Someday I hope to do a multi-day hike from the place this picture was taken to the bottom of Zion Canyon (seen in the distance).

3. Oregon Coast - The only thing that you can't find in the Rocky Mountains is the ocean and the Oregon coast brings the mountains to the ocean.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  We went camping here (are you noticing a theme) while we were living in Yakima a few years ago and it was great.  Walking on the beach with the kids in the morning made me want to rush home and watch Goonies.  I think I even saw a pirate ship coming out of a cove in the fog early one morning.

4. Seattle -  This is the only city that even makes the top 10.  I'm not a city guy.  South Bend is too big for me, but Seattle is great.  We spent a week in Seattle in a hotel less than a mile from Pike Place Market.  It was a blast to walk along the pier and take in the atmosphere.  We took a boat out onto the Sound and gazed on the Seattle Skyline, by far my favorite skyline (though Chicago is pretty cool too).  We didn't get to eat as much seafood as I would have liked to, but I'm hoping to do that someday when we go without the kids.  Of course it helps that our visit to Seattle included 4 straight days of sunshine.  It rained as we were driving through the mountain pass.

5.  Yellowstone - I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was a kid, but I'm itching to go back.  I assume if you've gotten this far you can understand from my earlier choices why Yellowstone makes the list.

I realize that my top five are all out west.  What can I say I love it out there.  DC, Boston, Chicago, Niagara, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Smoky Mountains, the great lakes, they're nice, but if I never visit any of those places again I won't be disappointed about it (I would like to go back to Maryland, because I have some pretty cool relatives out there that are really fun to visit).  I've never been to Maine and I can't remember Florida or the Atlantic Coast very well so there's hope that someplace east of the Mississippi might make the list, but I wouldn't bet on it.

As I write this I do remember a quick visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and that was pretty cool.  It might have made the list if I made it to 6.

So there you have it.  Feel free to disagree with my list (heaven knows Melissa probably does).

And for you Canadian readers out there, I'm really looking forward to spending some time in the Canadian Rockies and BC.  From what I've heard they might crack the list if it was a top 5 of North America.