I'm planning a head to our next "big" vacation and have several places in mind. I live in Maine and have mostly traveled within the New England area with the exception of Hawaii (Kauai and Big Island) that we spent a wonderful 2 weeks last year.

We don't be going any where big this year, possibly next year or the year after. Here's a list of places that we'd like to visit in our lifetime:
  • Alaska
    • We want to see Grizzlies at the water fishing
    • Grizzlies in the big open fields with mountainous backgrounds
    • Bald Eagles in large groups
    • Wildlife in general
  • Washington State
    • Hike many of is mountains in search of bodies of water up top (Hidden Lake)
    • Septoe Park
  • Oregon
    • Coastlines
  • Hawaii
    • Mauai and back to either Kauai or Big Island
  • Yellowstone National Park
    • We want to see any wildlife available there as well as scenic landscapes


The two areas that I'm not sure about is Alaska and Yellowstone. Alaska is huge, and we would need to stick to a certain area due to time (1-2 weeks). I'm guessing we would stay in hotels and drive to our destinations. I think we'd need to hire someone such as a guide or someone with a gun for certain areas for protection against wildlife.

As for Yellowstone, I'm at a loss of what we would need to do as far as sleeping goes. Would we stay at a nearby hotel and then just drive to our locations? Can you drive throughout the park or is it all hiking? I believe that we can tent out, but I am not too keen on that due to the risks of Grizzlies attacking.

As you can gather from my questions I am very early in the research, any input would be helpful. Thank you.