Places we’ve visited

Have visited in either RV or Car…

Alabama

  • Gulf Shores – family summer resort town. A lot of activities for families. Lots of restaurants and bars. Not many dog friendly beaches or trails. Most of the beaches are hard to access because of hotels and condos.
    • Fort Morgan recreational area
    • The Wharf shopping and concerts

Arizona

  • Apache Trails – long driving trail, but requires 4×4 and rugged vehicle
  • Bisbee – mining town. Nice town for eating and drinking
  • Fountain Hills – nice little town with a lots of hiking and biking trails. friendly people
  • Grand Canyon – National park.
  • Lake Havasu – a lot of activities in the area, mostly centered around the lake. Several good RV parks located along the river
  • Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale – Big town. Spring training. Nice local desert zoo and botanical gardens. Good food and drinks. Lots of golf.
  • Quartzsite – a lot of BLM land around. very easy and affordable to boondock. Several locations with fresh water access and dump stations
  • Tombstone – wild west. Touristy.
  • Tucson – several nice RV communities. A lot of hiking and biking areas. Close to National and State parks. Mt Lemmon is a good place for views. Good area for pecans.
  • Yuma – nice area near Mexican border. Known for easy access to affordable dentists across the border. Good area for dates.

California (lived in California almost 60-years, …)

  • Big Basin State Park
  • Bodega Bay/Tomales Bay – with RV. Lots of coastal hiking. Good food and drinks.
  • Borrego Springs, Julian – nice country town between San Diego and Borrego Springs; home of apple pies and cider
  • Boulder Creek (Felton and Bonnydoon) – nice little towns in the Santa Cruz mountains, good wineries, Portola State Park
  • Carlsbad (Oceanside, San Marcos, Fallbrook) – beach town, Legoland
  • Desert Hot Springs – local hot springs; near Palm Springs
  • Gold Country – Placerville, Sutter Creek, Jackson, Amador – small historic towns
  • Half Moon Bay (Pescadero) – fishing, whale watching, food and drink
  • Joshua Tree National Park – with RV
  • Kings Canyon National Park
  • Lake Shasta (Weed & Mt Shasta) – with RV
  • Lake Tahoe (North and South) – Boating, skiing, hiking, biking. Good restaurants and bars
  • Mammoth (June Lake) – recreational area between California and Nevada
  • Mendocino – nice seaside town with plenty of redwoods nearby
  • Monterey Bay (Carmel, Pacific Grove, Big Sur) – good food and drink, bay, beaches, scuba diving, whale watching; check out Pacific Grove
  • Marin (Muir woods, Stinson Beach, Sausalito)
  • Napa – good wineries, great restaurants
  • Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Indio, Coachella – golfing, food & drink, local mountain, snow birds. Good area for dates.
  • Paso Robles – good wines, breweries and food, scenic area; Morro Bay (small coastal town), Cambria (small coastal town); San Luis Obispo (college town); San Simeon (Elephant Seals)
  • Pismo Beach (Solvang) – beach town, good food and drink, dune buggy & ATV riding, beach camping; Solvang (Danish town)
  • Placerville – lots of wineries & breweries, Apple Hill, gold country
  • Santa Barbara – beach town, good food and drinks; check-out Montecito and Carpinteria
  • San Diego – Marina, Zoo, Parks, Beaches; La Jolla, Encinitas, Solano, Del Mar
  • Santa Cruz (Capitola, Davenport) – nice beach town with amusement park and pier, good wineries and breweries,
  • Sequoia National Park
  • Sonoma – good wineries and breweries, Russian River. Great restaurants
  • Sutter Creek – wineries, restaurants, site seeing
  • Yosemite – National Park, nice towns nearby

Delaware Shores

  • Summer recreational area: Rehoboth, Bethany, Lewes, … beach towns… lots of beaches. Not very dog friendly in Spring, Summer and Fall
  • Ferry from Lewes to Cape May

Idaho

  • Couer D’Alene – family summer resort town focused on the lake. Nearby skiing resorts. Good restaurants and bars

Louisiana

  • Breaux Bridge – Nice little town near swamps. Good food. Crawdad festival in April. Swamp tours.
  • Lake Charles – Nice town, but somewhat industrial. Good food. Drove to the coast. Local fish, shrimp, crawdads. Local state park and swamps
  • New Orleans – Lots of good music, bars and restaurants. Good places for coffee and baked goods. Lots of culture and history
    • Bourbon Street, Frenchmen Street
    • Garden District
    • Lake Pontchartrain
    • Preservation Hall
    • Swamp tours
  • Sam Houston Jones State Park – campground and swamp

Michigan

  • Empire – local access to Sleeping Bear National Shoreline
  • Frankenmuth – European town. Worth a stop-over. Access to eastern shoreline.
  • Great lakes – provides a lot of beach communities. Good fishing and boating
  • Houghton and Copper Harbor have ferry rides to Isla Royale. Pretty area.
  • Isla Royale NP – worth a visit, but you really need to backpack or boat to really see the island
  • Mackinac Bridge – St Ignace
  • Mackinac Island – Worth a day trip. Touristy but nice.
  • Pictured Rocks shoreline – near Munising, best seen by tour boat or kayak
  • Sault St Marie – Soos Lock. Lots of history. Access to local water falls and state parks.
  • Sleeping Bear National Seashore – sand dunes on Lake Michigan
  • Traverse City – Western shores and great lakes beach life. Lots of good wineries and breweries. Lots of good restaurants. Access to Glen Arbor, Leland (Carlson’s Fishery), and other small towns
  • Upper Pennisula: Marquette, Munising, Houghton. Lots of beaches. Lots of water falls

Minnesota

  • Voyaguers Lake District – Crane, Kabetegoma and Rainy lakes. Best seen by boat and tours. Few restaurants, bars and RV campgrounds

Mississippi

  • Gulfport beach town. Nice beach resort area. Good food.

Montana

  • Billings – Little Bighorn Battle National Monument; local college town
  • Butte – mining museum
  • Flathead lake – lots of nice little towns including Big Fork, Kalispell and White Fish
  • Missoula – local college town; good food and breweries
    • Smokejumper visitor’s center
    • Summer music series with food trucks
  • West Glacier – nice little town near Glacier NP

Nevada

  • Hoover Dam
  • Lake Tahoe (north and south) – Incline Village & Mt Rose to the North and Heavenly to the South. Relatively easy access to California ski resorts. Lots of hiking and biking areas.
  • Las Vegas. Entertainment. Good restaurants and bars. Access to local recreational areas.
  • Reno – Sparks – Carson City. Access to recreational areas. A lot of boating, skiing, hiking and biking. Our base-camp. Good restaurants and bars.
    • Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
    • Easy access to Lake Tahoe

New Jersey

  • Cape May – very nice beach resort area. Lots of good restaurants and breweries. Several nice beaches nearby, but somewhat hard for dogs during summer season. Lots of local culture. Popular area in the summer.

New Mexico

  • Carlsbad – Caverns are a must see. Make reservations for tours in advance. Need 1-2 days.
  • Hatch – nice little town where green and red chili peppers are grown
  • Las Cruces – nice little town. Close to White Sands National Monument. Local recreational area. Good area for pecans.
  • Roswell – nice little town. Worth a visit to see the craziness around aliens
  • White Sands National Monument – definitely worth a day visit

New York

  • Finger Lakes. Lots of good wineries and breweries. Not many restaurants. Lots of nice lakes, but really need a boat to really enjoy the water. Lots of local water falls nearby
  • Ithica – Cornell University, Botanical gardens, lots of local waterfalls. Best place for food and bars downtown
  • Niagara Falls. Enjoyed the NY State park, but really enjoyed the Canadian side (beautiful landscaping, small town similar to Gatlinberg)
    • Nightly fireworks – get there early
    • Boat rides from American or Canadian side
    • Eat lunch or dinner @ restaurant on the Canadian side next to falls
  • Niagara on the Lake – Canadian area on the lake. Tourist town with lots of good restaurants, local wineries and breweries. River rides available on the way from the falls
  • Watkins Glen State Park – incredible water falls

North Carolina

  • Asheville. Lots of local culture. Good restaurants and bars. Art scene
    • Biltmore Estate. Get tickets in advance. Definitely worth a visit. Beautiful landscaping and grounds
  • Blue Ridge Mountains – beautiful walking and biking trails. Lots of water falls. Beautiful vistas.
    • Mt Pisgah
    • Slide Rock
  • Cherokee – other side of Great Smokey Mountain NP
  • Lake Gaston – nice summer resort area. Not many local restaurants or bars. Definitely need a boat to enjoy the area.

North Dakota

  • Bismarck – Little Bighorn Battlefield national monument.
  • Fargo – Local college town. Experienced Big Boy food truck (used to be Bob’s Big Boy restaurants in California)
  • Medora: Teddy Roosevelt NP (South and North parts), Medora Musical.

Ohio

  • Cayahuga NP
  • Streetsboro – nice little town near NP

Oregon

  • Ashland – nice local town. Home of Shakespeare Festival and plays
  • Astoria – interesting historic downtown and water front, good food and drink, provides access to western Washington beaches
  • Bend – access to Mount Bachelor and its lakes as well as Sun River Resort and wilderness area
  • Brookings – nice town and beaches near southern Oregon border
  • Cannon Beach – nice town with incredible beach in central/northern Oregon
  • Hood River – nice town along the Columbia River with local access to Mount Hood, Washington and wilderness areas. Lots of biking, hiking and water activities. Good restaurants and breweries and wineries
  • Manzanita – small beach town south of Cannon Beach
  • McMinnville – middle of wine country, nice downtown, good food/drink, near air/space museum, reasonable access to other small towns as well as Portland
  • Newberg – port and marina, good layover
  • Pendleton – Store, Annual Rodeo in September
  • Portland – interesting place to visit; lots of places to eat and drink and shop
  • Sherwood – local hill country, access to other local towns
  • Tillamook (ice cream and cheese) – what can we say about good cheese and ice cream?
  • Willamette valley – great wineries, good wineries

Pennsylvania

  • Poconos area – Summer resort area. Lots of local hiking areas. Lots of pretty mountains
    • Bushkill falls park
    • Camelback Mountain
  • Stroudsberg – nice little town

Tennessee

  • Dollywood – near Pigeon Forge & Gatlinberg
  • Gatlinberg – Small, but popular summer resort area
    • Old Smokey Distillery
  • Great Smokey Mountains NP – very popular park, lots of hiking trails, historical sites, …
  • Nashville – Great country music. Lots of good restaurants, bars and breweries. Lots of culture. Local parks
    • Attaboy – speakeasy
    • Broadway – local music scene, food, drinks, …
    • CMA Fest
    • Grand Ole Opry – including Gaylord’s Grand Opry Hotel
    • Greenbriar Distillery
    • Riverfront
    • The Station – music hangout for Blue Grass Music
  • Pigeon Forge – Popular summer resort area for families. Lots of people in the summer
    • Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show
  • Sevierville – Small town at the entrance to the Pigeon Forge area.

Texas

  • Austin – lots of good music, restaurants, bars, wineries and breweries. Easy access to hill country. Lots of local culture. The river provides a lot of local recreation
    • 6th Street (east & west) – downtown music scene
    • Hill Country – towards Johnson; many breweries, wineries and distilleries
    • Rainy Street – many bars and restaurants
    • River Front
    • Salt Lick BBQ outside of town
  • Big Bend NP – beautiful area along the Rio Grande
    • Boquilles Ferry with access to interesting small town across the river (Border Patrol)
  • Franklin – nice little town, access to Civil War battlefields and museums
  • Fredricksburg – lots of german-style restaurants
  • Galveston Island – beach resort community near Houston. The Strand (historical part of town), state parks and recreation areas nearby
  • NASA – Johnson Space Center. Worth visiting for a day or two. Should get tickets in advance.
  • San Antonio – good restaurants and bars. Lots of shopping. River walk is a great place to visit. Same for the Pearl District.
  • Terlingua (Lajitas) – nice town near the entrance to Big Bend NP and SP. Lots of local culture.

Virginia

  • Virginia Beach – beach resort area. Access to Chesapeake Bay and local areas. Good food. Lots of beaches – can be challenging to find dog friendly beaches in summer time
  • Chesapeake Tunnels and Bridges between Virginia and Maryland

Washington

  • Orcas Island – part of San Juan Islands. Access to Vancouver Island and Canada
  • Gig Harbor – small fishing village; good food and drinks
  • Hoodsport – easy access to SE Olympic Rain Forest, Hood Canal and islands near Seattle/Tacoma
  • Long Beach – beach town, long beach allows vehicle on beach; easy access from Astoria
  • Port Angeles – town for food and drinks and port
  • Port Townsend – sea port with nice downtown, check-out the local Fort
  • Poulsbo – small Scandinavian fishing village with very good food, drink and bakeries
  • Downtown Seattle
    • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    • Chihuly Glass
    • Pike’s Market
    • Updated Space Needle
  • Snoqualmie (Issaquah) – Snoqualmie falls & lodge, road to eastern Washington
  • Walla Walla – wine country, recreational area
  • Woodinville – lots of wine tasting rooms; easy access to wilderness areas east of Seattle
  • Local islands – Fidalgo and Whidbey islands

Wisconsin

  • Ashland area – nice little town. Local beaches. Good local restaurants, wineries and breweries. A nice dairy nearby that sells cheese, ice cream and associated products