Schools out forever…

School’s out for summer! Â Yay!!! Â I know my kids are sure glad another year is over, as am I. Â We’ve got some great plans for our 10-week summer vacation together, including some road trippin’ across the great United States! Â Gonna take some time to see some great locations all across the land. Â Locations on our short list include (listed here in no particular order) San Francisco, Yosemite National park, Big Sur, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone National Park (Old Faithful), to name a few. Â If we have time, I’d also love to take the family to New York City as well, maybe take in a ball game. Â Who knows. Â Any suggestions of must see locations on several week drive across the USA from West Coast to East Coast?

Suggestion – Seattle 🙂

Awesome atmosphere, Jacques! Your plans for vacations make me a bit jealous…

Beautifully captured!

Awsome vacation plans! If youâ€™re going to S. Francisco, make sure to visit Alcatraz! Lots of nice hdr opportunities there!

Nice tones and atmosphere. Btw if you have the time and it’s on your route go to the Joshua Tree National Park. Beautiful Landscapes between rocks and desert.

What a summer! Your list includes most of my top 5 “must shoot” locations. I’ve been here 17 years and haven’t managed to get to them and you’re going to hit them all in one trip!

Regarding suggestions, I don’t know your planned route but, if you are anywhere near New Mexico, make sure you visit White Sands National Monument and Santa Fe, two unique locations that I can highly recommend. Once you are there, of course, Austin is only a short 15 hour drive away 🙂

I’m with Dave. Been here all my life and haven’t been to where you are going on one trip. I am extremely jealous. The Great Smoky Mountains are a great place to visit if you are on a southeastern route. The Outer Banks of North Carolina are beautiful as well.

Thanks for those additional recommendations. It’ll take a couple of weeks or so to finalize our routing, as there is just so much to see, and even the time we plan would not be enough to do justice to all the great locations.

Philly (That’s Philadelphia to outsiders). It’s worth it to see where this country was born. The must-see spots are Elfrith’s Alley, Independance Hall (Don’t bother going inside, it’ll cost you and it’s not worth it), City Hall (tallest block building in the world) and anything on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Museum District). Something that would be of particular interest to you: Eastern State Penitentiary – a stabilized ruin of the world’s first solitary-confinement penitentiary. It’s open to the public and well worth the visit for any photographer. Not advisable to have young kids around though…there are hazards.

Funny you mention Philly; it’s actually on my list, ’cause I have an aunt and uncle who live there. Also on the list, as far as cities are concerned, are: San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston!

wow 10 weeks off – I need to change jobs! I’m afraid I cant offer advice about the US, but can say that that is an awesome image.

Hey there – love your photos. I was wondering if you could give me some travel tips. I am heading to my parents home in Hanau, Germany and was trying to think of some new places to photograph in the area (not the same old tourist spots). Any suggestions? Have fun on your US trip.

Hi Karrel: I’ve not spent much time down in that part of Germany, so not sure I can give you good advice for that area. Also, depends on how much time you have in Germany. If you have a lot, I’d take a trip down to Bavaria.

Cool shot. One can only imagine how much that clock has been stared at in an attempt to make time go faster… 🙂

~70 miles south of the southern entrance to Yellowstone is Jackson and the Grand Tetons – many iconic areas to see/shoot…