Gas too high? Find vacation treasures near home

The summer doldrums have ambushed me! We’ve had hot weather here, but not that hot, and the summer monsoons are back, which means we get some really nice afternoons and evenings to get outside and walk around the park, enjoying the fresh scent of rain. Best of all, many nights we can sleep without air conditioning. As a result, I’ve been too busy enjoying nature to remember the other important things in my life like writing.

August is one of the most popular months for families to go on vacation as summer activities start to wind down. In the South where I was born, it is hot and muggy and everyone hides from the heat inside their air conditioned homes or at a favorite lakeside beach. In New England, where we have family and where we spent a summer in the mid-nineties, everyone seems to own a lakeside retreat or rent a camping spot for the summer where they spend all of their free time enjoying the woods, lakes, or ocean beaches. In Washington, where we spent so many years, it might be cool and wet, but usually it is warm and sunny throughout the month of August, so everyone takes part in activities like hiking, boating and going to the beach—activities that many avoid during the many months of overcast skies and rain.

In California, where we spent a lot of years, activities tend to revolve around the kids’ schedules. If they’re out of school, it’s a great time to drive up to the mountains, which are only a few hours drive from most urban centers in the state. The same for the beaches, which are within reach of most people living in California. Now the metro-link trains in Southern California can whisk families living inland to the beaches cheaply and quickly. Then there’s Hawaii, where we lived for three years when we were young and where America goes to enjoy the beaches and a somewhat foreign culture within our own United States.

We have been lucky enough to have lived in some of the greatest places in the States, and to have traveled to most of the others since we started RVing. And one thing we’ve discovered everywhere we went, with the exception of the lower deserts in the Southwest, is that summer is the time to throw aside the daily grind of life and get outdoors. Even people who are used to the heat in places like Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma get out and garden, take a bike ride, or hike in the early morning hours before the day heats up. And luckily most of them have sky islands nearby where they can escape to and enjoy the cooling winds and rains of the monsoons.

This summer, gas prices are keeping many people from traveling great distances, but there are lots of wonderful places in this great country that have nearby tourist attractions or beaches or mountains that don’t require a lot of gas to get to. I hope you are all enjoying the relaxing activities that summer offers in your area.

No matter what your plans for this last great summer month, travel safely.