Anonymous wrote:Glacier NP is high on our list because the glaciers are melting really fast. Want to see them before they are gone.

We went to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula last summer and it was gorgeous.

Seattle is beautiful in mid July through early October!

We did the California coast a couple of summers ago and flew into SF and out of SD. There's a lot more to do (imo) in the San Diego area than LA. But I absolutely would not have wanted to drive all the way back up to SF. In fact, I actually found the driving less fun than expected - it was scenic but very slow and winding, and there are a fair amount of dead zones where we got stuck in traffic and there wasn't anything much to see. You might consider making it just a NoCal or SoCal trip.

Yellowstone! It is fantastic and within the park there are so many different types of landscapes, it's just breathtaking.

Mount Rushmore & the Badlands are not too far away and those were big hits with the kids. The whole west out there is fantastic. My kids also loved Devil's tower and were highly interested in Little Big Horn.

You could also do an Oregon Trail type road trip, which is really interesting.

Do a Colorado and include a whitewater rafting trip.

We had an absolutely awesome time in Breckenridge, CO two summers ago. Our 4000 sq foot lodge was literally $200 bucks a night, and there was a ton to do. Hiking, whitewater rafting (oh, rafting. So fun!!), horseback riding, jeeping, etc. great time!

This sounds awesome.

OP, any decisions yet???

Another vote for Yellowstone.

OP, my family did Yellowstone, Grand Tetons/Jackson Hole, and Colorado (Steamboat, Colorado Springs, Denver) for two weeks when we were almost exactly the ages of your kids. It was a phenomenal experience - especially the time we spent in Wyoming and Montana.

My parents gave us guide books and maps and had the three of us "plan" the trip ourselves. Of course, they did the final planning but it felt good to know we had a say in things and was also cool to learn about the places before we visited. I bet this would be even easier/more kid friendly to do these days with the internet.

Anonymous wrote:I was going to say the same thing about LA. I hate that town. It would be much better to go down to San Diego - Sea World, La Jolla, the beaches, the zoo, etc.

Her kids would probably enjoy LegoLand, too.

OP, I'd definitely price flying out of San Diego. It is smaller than SFO, so not as many options, but maybe it would work. Also price the "fee" for picking up rental car from 1 place and returning it to another.

We did 11 days last year in CA - SF, Yosemite, Big Sur, Monterey. It was a lot of driving and changing hotels, so a lot of packing and re-packing. It was a GREAT trip, but I was physically exhausted from it when we got back to DC.

Can you price flying into SF and out of San Diego?

I was going to say the same thing about LA. I hate that town. It would be much better to go down to San Diego - Sea World, La Jolla, the beaches, the zoo, etc.