[StanIROCZ]

I know there are quite a few CA folks on the board here. The wife and I have 2 passes for free round trip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental US and we thought CA might be a fun place to go since neither of us have been there before.

Where should we go and what are the best attractions? Suggestions?

We're thinking early July for about a week.

[StanIROCZ]

Lots of good info here everyone. Thank you. We're still trying to wrap my head around all of it. Thanks for the offer on the tour, Julie.

We prefer nature over concrete, for sure (I can't stand New York, for example). Wife wants to see Hollywood, though. Breweries and Wineries are definitely at the top of the list. Hwy 1 sounds like our style. We'll have to see if the airline will let us fly into one city and out another. It sounds like Hwy 1 would be at least a 2 day trip if we want to enjoy it. It'd be nice to camp for a couple nights but it would be expensive to bring just the basic camping gear on the airplane. Or we could just stop by Walmart and spend $50 and get what we need and not bring it back with us.

Looks like Yosemite is a pretty expensive place to say. $112/ night to stay in a tent? $5xx for a hotel?

I remember seeing pictures of my Grandparents next to some of the Redwoods. That would be cool.

Laguna Seca would be sweet. Thats one track that sticks out in my mind from Grand Turismo. I gotta be careful though, cause if I'm like ReEntryRacer I might have to haul the Camaro out there once.

The wife is checking out the hotel stuff. Mom has timeshare points too, so that could help out if she has some to spare.

Generally on our vacations we like to spend most of the days being busy but save a couple days to relax. We try and avoid tourist traps ($12 here, $20 there). The free stuff like hikes and views are the stuff we enjoy the most. We'll usually make our own breakfast, pack lunch, and then have dinner at good/fun restaurant.