Joe, I might not know a ton, but I have spent a fair amount of time in the area, including climbed a bunch of badass mountains in the Blanca in June. The answer is this: two out of the three are pretty close to the equator, so it is neither winter, nor summer there. Rainy season is also not on for any of these places during our winter.
Most people covered some awesome areas. I would add that the pacific northwest can be really great. Vancouver B.C. You can literally buy magic mushrooms like people buy weed in CA or CO. The puget sound area around Seattle is gorgeous. In the NW, they have a very specific type of beautiful nature with rainforests and waterfalls all over the place. Douglas Fir Trees everywhere. One of the most beautiful places in the summer.
rent a car for 12 days and gas $1600 - total $2100
Drive to Aptos and hotel 3 nights $500 ($2600) run in Forrest of Nissene Marks and on Beach one day and from Monterey on bike trail along the coast on day you leave.
Drive down to Los Osos get hotel and run in Montana’s De Oros State Park and other parks in area. 3 days - $500 ($3100)
Drive to Malibu. 4 days in the Bu. Get a campsite or stay somewhere not to far a cheap hotel like Goodnite in in Camarillo 2 days and run in Pt Mugu State Park for two days. tons of trails to explore but make sure to do Ray Miller and realky mugu Peak Trail one of the days. $250 ($3350).
Either camp another 2 nights or go to cheap hotel in Calabasas like Goodnite inn and drive to Westward Beach and run through Pt Dume State Park and back down to Zuma along the beach or through the long about three miles parking lot and either on beach at Broad Beach or on PCH for an out and back For out and back along nice popular beach. Another day do the big loop from Malibu High School through Zuma and Trancas Canyon. Hilly nice loop. for extra credit go to top of Zuma Ridge. $250 ($3600)
drive to Newporrt Beach and stay in cheap hotel in Costa Mesa $400 ($4000) Run in Crystal Cove State Park one day and along ocean from Newport up through Huntington Beach on bike trail along the ocean.
fly home from sna Orange County Airport (guess $500 total $4600.
roughly $400 for food if airfare is $1000 and need to rent a car.
This is excellent. Another option would be the north coast from San Fran to the Oregon border.
I got pulled over on an interstate in Ohio when I was returning borrowed ChampionChip equipment. Hadn't noticed the speed limit was lower for trucks, my bad.
The trooper looked at my license and said "Buffalo, huh?" and I said something like "Yeah, everybody makes fun of Buffalo," and he said, "I'm from Toledo. Same thing. . . drive safely, you hear?" And that was that.
$5000 is more than enough to have an amazing trip. One of the coolest places I've ever been kind of has it all: scenery, history, night life, great culinary scene, relaxation, even some light adventure. I'm not sure if things have changed since I went, but the trickiest thing for me to wrap my head around was that most accommodations don't allow you to book in advance. When you arrive, you look for room for rent postings and find something available. The place we ended up was fine, but I definitely felt like I may have been missing out on something great if I had better visiblity into what options were there. You don't have to look to hard for great food or (later on) nightlife - it's all in the center of town. One day while you're there, you should definitely rent a motorbike or car and explore some of the outlying areas. My memories of riding across the countryside with my girlfriend on the back of the bike are some of my fondest from any of my travels. Besides that, you can find time to relax or look for something a little faster paced - there are tons of options if you ask around.
Unfortunately, Waipio (and thus Waimanu) is closed into the indefinite future.
tourists shouldn't be in that area anyway. this def shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone wanting to visit the big island.
True. I agree. I meant unfortunately" for the recommendation. In my view, tourists don't belong in Waipio. There's a lot to do on the BI (I was born and raised in Hilo and went back to live there for a few years recently). If we knew more about what the OP likes doing that would help.
There are great hikes (some close to Hilo) and if he knows how to handle a 4WD in rough country there are spectacular off-road drives he could take, where he might not see another person or vehicle all day.
tourists shouldn't be in that area anyway. this def shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone wanting to visit the big island.
True. I agree. I meant unfortunately" for the recommendation. In my view, tourists don't belong in Waipio. There's a lot to do on the BI (I was born and raised in Hilo and went back to live there for a few years recently). If we knew more about what the OP likes doing that would help.
There are great hikes (some close to Hilo) and if he knows how to handle a 4WD in rough country there are spectacular off-road drives he could take, where he might not see another person or vehicle all day.
Why do you guys feel tourists don't belong in Waipio? It's a beautiful area. One of the few places in Hawaii one can actually backpack.