Asking the Readers: Where Should My Road Trip Go?

I quickly apologize to anyone who was confused folks. The "stuff" post is coming, but I accidentally published that mess!!

This morning I got up at ten am.  That's right all you worriers. This over scheduled gal slept till ten this morning. Have I mentioned that my top ten of retirement includes a lack of an alarm and allowing my body to be it's own clock?  In all fairness, it's usually closer to nine and sometimes 8, but I am taking my THC in anew form and it's taken longer to start to work and then working longer.

The rest of my day has pretty well followed suit. After my morning time (which consists of crawling into my chair by the window with my can of coke, journal and tablet and spending some time waking up), I had a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast. I then leisurely got dressed, hopped in the car and went to join my fellow knitters for a few hours. I passed on happy hour, coming home to bake some cookies/brownie, feed the dogs and let them out.

I now have a Shepherd's pie from Schwan's in the oven, a blanket on my leggs and a book and notebook in the basket next to me. I've forced myself to walk for fifteen minutes (still getting over the fear of falling and looking for walking alternatives). Later on after dinner I'll do my strengthening exercise, read some more, think about what I need to pack for Texas (suntan time!). Maybe, perhaps, I'll try and watch a little of American Gods, although somehow somewhere I think I should read the book first.

Meanwhile, Texas. Or not Texas, depending. One of the joys in retirement (for me) is to make last minute changes, and so I have done this week. This weekend, I'll be heading to Texas, where I'll spend a week with my daughter and son in law. Then, I'll spend a week being the dog whisperer for four beagles (I'll see friends for lunch, hit the movies and quilt stores, and mainly enjoy the patio and full on relaxation in a house not mine! Finally, I'll hit the beach for a day or two if the weather agrees. Coming from a coast, every so often you just have to see open water. It is what it is.

What I'm not doing is taking a long hill country drive and hitting both Austin and San Antonio, as planned. Why, you may ask?? Well, it's like this.  Recently I joined a meetup called The Crazy Old Bat Society and Booklunch club.  I kid you not. Books and food. It works for me.  They are also planning a trip to San Antonio. At the beginning of November.  Know what else is happening at the beginning of November?  The Houston Quilt show, one of the two biggest quilt shows in the country. My final reason was-Oktoberfest. Because this former German girl appreciates Oktoberfest in one of the most Germanic places in the US.

Which is all fine and dandy. Except that leaves me with two unplanned vacation weeks and budget to use elsewhere (probably in the summer), and another vacation week or so between now and Christmas. 

So my question to my readers is-where should I go and when. I'm looking for two, two week vacations before Christmas. In the US, traveling by car or train. I'm not afraid of heat (added because visiting friends in Arizona and California is certainly one option). I prefer as much man made beauty as nature. And while I enjoy a variety of experience, climbing Mesa Verde or sleeping on the ground are no longer among them.

So tell me. If you had a week or two in the US, where would you go?  Forgetting for the moment about money, where would you go and when. I'm open to all areas, although somewhere I would like to end up near the ocean, and I'm not going to list the places I've been, because many places are worth seeing again. Heck, I lived in Washington DC for 20 years and still haven't seen everything that metro area has to offer. In my head, one of these vacations is some stops with an end destination and the other is a circular route.

And there you have it folks, inspire me! And keep it coming!!!!!!