I know it's early but, Summer Vacation Plans anyone?

come on down look here first http://www.virginia.org/BlueRidgeParkway/ if you intend to visit the middle to western part of the state its a must do. milepost 60 is about 30 minutes from my house, this is where we get on the parkway most of the time when we go up there, here's a few shots from previous visits "stock shot" of mountains


this is "5 oclock rock" we stopped there and had a picnic (wife and daughter pictured)


the view of our "lunchroom"



"narrow guage railroad" display, waterfall behind it , nice stop as well

I'm a hop skip and jump from around milepost 400 on the parkway.

So far just this.

Comune di Venezia

Ha, we jumped on the parkway and enjoyed it for a while until we got stuck behind a camper. Wife's friend is in Troy with a backyard view of the mountains. The sunsets were very memorable. There is little light pollution where they are, and we looked at the milky way for some time as it had such clarity. Really nice folks down that way. We fished the Rivanna and James River while there. Hit Lake Anna, but got skunked.

troy is about 1.30 north of me up by charlottesville. one thing to remember about the parkway, time dont matter, its all about the view, the slower you go the less you miss suprised you got skunked at Anna, its usually a "giver" btw if you liked th rivanna you'd love the maury

Ah yes, here we sit on Route 81 in Pennsylvania. We have been parked for 15 minutes w/no end in sight. Good thing for the
dingleberry! Nice weather here. Maybe we can tailgate for awhile.

Chit....81 is a hop skip away from me....!! Come on over...

while not as......"exotic" as Croatia, I hear they have nice glass. Sounds like good times. Be prepared for a lack of public restrooms (the bane of travelling in the ancient world IMO).

not traffic on 81, that never happens to me (this is sarcasm, thick, and chuncky, like salsa). Lemme guess, they're redoing the road surface, again.

Pa has the worst friggin roads...and when you go past the construction....1 guy working and 29 of them watching

I will give anyone 50 dollars for a plastic pail....just don't ask any questions

gimme like 6 hours, I'm leavin right now........

Thanks to the Economy I haven't taken a vacation for a number of years. But I sure enjoy looking at other folks' pics/plans! Keep 'em coming.

Going up to Alaska to visit BogeyDave, SnowLeopard and Nate and whoever else wants me to stop by and say hi . . . and my sister and brother-in-law. Actually, I'm not sure how things will work out, but figure I might be able to see some of our Alaskan gang. Third trip for me . . . first for my wife.

Camping, geocaching and ATVing in Maine for the rest of my vacation time . . . although I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to get his passport so we can go camping on Prince Edward Island.

Next year we're doing a big trip -- Ireland and perhaps Germany.

Going out to SW Kansas for my sons wedding in June. It is hard for me to take a vacation in the summer because I am normally working 24/7 and the rest of the year I get real busy!

Gary

Boated on LG for years. Usually spent a week at the cruiser docks in Red Rock Bay.

The wife and I just booked our summer vacation in Ogonquit Maine. We were there a few years ago for 2 days and absolutely loved it. We booked for a week now so that we can do more stuff while there. I have a thing for Lighthouses so I will have a great time visiting some while there. My son and daughter love seafood so we are looking forward to that as well. We were able to get a a room at a really nice hotel right by the water that we visited last time we were there. we intend to make this a yearly trip after having vacationed in Bethany Beach DE for the past 6 years or so.

I have every other week off, so tons of camping, fishing, river floating and firewood cutting. Love to BBQ so lots of meat on the grill. We will make our annual trip to California to see the in laws. Which always means taking the kids to some sort of amusement park. My brother makes a trip out every year from Wisconsin for a week. That is always a great time. Other than that play with kids and dogs i suppose. Whatever we do it will beat winter time for sure.

Anthony Bourdain went to Croatia on last night's show and couldn't say enough good about the place/food/people/scenery

Love all those places. As I stated above- a lot of the Crawford Notch area got washed away- including that great campground. Big bummer

My old boss used to camp on an island off the coast of Maine. A mail boat would ferry the campers to the island dock, and it was a several mile hike to the sites. I don't remember the island, but the sites were limited and reservations were required. Needless to say, they packed lightly because of the hike. I bet a coastal campsite would be neat to stay at.

Sounds like Isle au Haut . . . part of the island is part of Acadia National Park . . . much like Schoodic Peninsula, it's part of the national park that few visitors know about or go to. To be honest, I've never been there myself, but I've often thought it would be good for a visit.

http://www.isleauhaut.com/

http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/duckharbor.htm

Beach House in the Outer Banks in September...Can't wait, It's been many years since I've visited the OBX!

Good call-we went two years ago and can't wait to go back. There's so much more of Maine to see though. I think is the summit of Sargent Mountain: