Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sedona or a dude ranch.

Does anyone who is not a DCum poster ever go to a dude ranch?

The ones I've looked at are pretty much booked solid most of hte time, so I think so. Plus my sister worked at them in the summers in the 90s, which predates DCUM.
I actually think they are over-recommended -- unless you are riders, I think it's actually kind of a frustrating vacation because there's a lot you can't do. There is still one that I had looked at, which I still kind of want to do:
https://whitestallion.com/activities/

Anonymous wrote:Sedona or a dude ranch.

Does anyone who is not a DCum poster ever go to a dude ranch?

So I’m curious OP: what were some of the vacations your family has enjoyed the most? You’ve mentioned a lot you found underwhelming, what about ones that you loved?

San Diego is the most biodiverse county in the US. Zoo, safari park, sea lions on the beach, hiking Tory pines.

Azores

Anonymous wrote:Arizona. Combine Sedona with Scottsdale or Tuscon. Lots of easy hikes, jeep tour, but stay in decent hotel. You get the outdoor beauty without roughing it.

This - stay at jw Marriott desert ridge, Westin kierland, the biltmore or the Phoenician and go to the botanical gardens. Then go to Sedona and stay at enchantment resort and do some hikes, go to slide rock, take a pink Jeep tour.

Seattle is a great destination if you have not been. Lots to see and do in the city, but also plenty of parks and day trips to experience the outdoors.

How about Maine?

You could do Acadia National Park paired with sightseeing, whale watch touring etc. Plus lobster rolls!

Arizona. Combine Sedona with Scottsdale or Tuscon. Lots of easy hikes, jeep tour, but stay in decent hotel. You get the outdoor beauty without roughing it.

Oregon/california coast

South Dakota - the Badlands, Wall Drug, the Black Hills, Custer State Park, Mt Rushmore, Wind and Jewel Caves.

Just watch out for the Sturgis Rally dates, when hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists descend.

Really vote against a dude ranch (unless it's one with lots of other activities). We did one one year (at a place with some other activities, but not stuff like ziplining...they had fishing, yoga, hikes, mountain biking). It was fine, but not something I'd really recommend. If you aren't skilled horse people, you're really limited in what you can do, and most people who aren't riders don't really want to ride for hours a day for multiple days in a row.

Sedona or a dude ranch.

When it comes to nature, I prefer it to be fairly “active” and immersive - moving through nature instead of just going to look at it. One of my favorite trips included “Norway in a nutshell” where you travel all accross the country via various methods of transit in one day.

I’ve also done hut-to-hut hikes in euorpe that were fun, though that is very much about the hiking. The nature was not very remote. Tour de mont blanc is one example, but there are others.

Yosemite is really nice, but harder to get to and it gets very busy and crowded. I don’t know if I’d reccomend it for people who self-proclaim not to love nature. But basically any natinoal park will feel more lux and easy if you stay in a resort or nice lodge with on site ammenties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to broaden my family's vacations/experience by doing something other than tropical islands and major cities.

DW and I are considering a national park vacation but we don't really LOVE the outdoors. We've been camping a couple of times and it's been fine but not incredible.

Are we just not an outdoors family or will the right experience change our perspective. What's a good destination that will wow us or get us hooked?

For reference, we've hiked the Shenandoah and Smoky Mountains. DW and I have visited Iceland. We've enjoyed, but not life changing and I don't want to commit resources to "fine".

Why did you not like Iceland? What activities did you do while there? Was it a "point and shoot vacation" where you drive to a site see a view snap a picture move to next?

I think most people who enjoy nature vacations enjoy the scenery, but also like physically active vacations. I love national park vacations because we get out and hike to see incredible views you can't see from the side of the road. I like the physical challenge of hiking and moving. I love ski vacation because I am physically moving and working on a skill.

We enjoyed Iceland a lot. We did a walking tour of Reykjavik, visited some of their museums, ate good food, watched their NYE fireworks, toured the parks/waterfalls, etc, glacier tour, rode snowmobiles, searched for northern lights. We loved all the Reykjavik activities and enjoyed riding snowmobiles. The nature tours just didn't really move us but that may have been the point and shoot aspect of it