Wabbitdad12 wrote:
Montana is beatufiul and they don't have speed limits on the interstates! There is a lot to see there, Idaho, Oregon, northern California are all beutiful as well. Enjoy!
I did that trip through those states with my aunt and uncle many years ago - we camped in Glacier National Park and it was amazing. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect - 70s and 80s Fahrenheit in July/August. I remember driving from Canada into Montana and watching a thunderstorm within the mountains... and we were in the sunshine. This trip was back in 1977 for me but I have many fantastic memories from the trip. I think they call Montana "Big Sky Country" and it is an appropriate description.
The park rangers at Glacier were funny - they do have grizzly and black bear in the park and traps are everywhere but we did not see or hear of anyone having a bear experience during our visit.
One ranger told us a story about an old timer saying the way you could tell the difference between the two was to go up and kick the bear in the butt, then run for the nearest tree and climb it. If the bear tried to shake you out of the tree, it was a grizzly. If it climbed up after you it was a black bear. I still laugh about that story... we hiked with bells - if the bears hear them they tend to venture to places where they don't have to listen to them.
On the other hand, NY state is not bad - folks always think "NYC" and the hustle and bustle down there (I lived in Brooklyn for 1 1/2 years) but there's a lot more to our state. You can always tour the Finger Lakes area - hilly, farm country, lots of wineries, bed and breakfasts, hiking, the lakes are all beautiful (love Canandaigua - they have a tour boat that goes all over the lake), Keuka (they have a tour boat, too), Honeoye Lakes myself...Seneca is nice and so is Cayuga - lots of Native American legends surround them, too - the stories alone are fun to read). If you like shopping, there are some good malls around. You can always start in NYC and take Amtrak (our train system) to upstate NY - it leaves Penn Station, goes up through Albany, Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester and ends in Buffalo and the trains were always clean and nice from my memory of using them. JetBlue also has great fares from NYC to upstate - sometimes as cheap as $29 US dollars per person one way.
Or, from NYC, if you want to visit Boston, MA, Amtrak can take you that way as well.
Back to NY state, the Adirondack Mountains are popular - we have done a family camping trip with a group of families since our kids were babies - there is lots of fishing, hiking, canoeingand outdoor activities there without the big expense. The facility we go to has a lodge and other small cottages for rental so if one is not inclined to tent camping, they have some creature comforts.
Then there is Niagara Falls - always worth seeing - and Toronto is not far away from us and that was a fun city to visit without the hassles of NYC.
How exciting that you get to come across the pond! Someday, I hope to visit Ireland... my grandmother went over to research her family when she was young and always wanted to take me there but she passed at a young age. She spoke fondly of her grandfather, who was born in County Cork...just wish I could have met him. My oldest son Andrew is named after him. A good friend of mine has in-laws from Ireland and they imported many Connemara ponies here - I lgot to ride a number of them and love them as they are just as tough as me. :biggrin2:
Denise
So would probably rent a holiday home or apartment or something and probably rent a car though it would be difficult for my Dad to drive on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road 
