Help me escape this Texas heat!

August 20, 2006 8:51 PM

Where can I go to escape the heat on a budget?

Hi, I am looking to take my wife on a trip for a long weekend to escape the friggin heat here in TX. Thirteen days in a row over 100 and we are fed up with it. I could spring for about $500-650 for the trip. It needs to be in the U.S. since neither of us have our passports, but I don't imagine the two of us could get out of the country on such a budget. Ideally, it would be somewhere similar to Sitka, AK where it is rainy and cool. Perhaps we're SOL, but I thought I would mine the hive mind. Bonus points for places that might prove nice to move to when I finish school (Computer Science Information Technology).

posted by jxpx777 to Travel & Transportation (16 answers total)

Head on up to Leadville/Twin Lakes, CO. Daytime forecast for this week is no higher than the 50s-60s (F).
posted by rob511 at 10:23 PM on August 20, 2006

That's not a lot for two people to get very far from the heat that's been a problem across most the country. I was just in San Francisco though and caught a nice little cold from not being prepared with warm clothes. Don't know what airfare would be like for you, but might be worth it.
posted by FlamingBore at 10:26 PM on August 20, 2006

It look like you could fly to San Diego or Seattle for about that much for two, but then you wouldn't have any money to stay or eat. (And for Seattle you might have to leave from somewhere other than Dallas? Whatever the crazy rules are.)

If you don't mind the storms, maybe Santa Fe would be nice for now while the monsoon is going on? That's not too far of a drive.
posted by sevenless at 10:31 PM on August 20, 2006

Best answer: Think UP, not out. Up as in altitude. Ski resorts are often open year-round with hugely reduced summer prices, and you can go hiking and mountain biking. I went to Squaw Valley one summer and loved going tubing down the Trinity River.
posted by frogan at 11:05 PM on August 20, 2006

Just so someone tells you: you should get yourself a passport. They last like 10 years. Get a "passport photo" taken and get a passport form at the post office. It's so much better to do when you're not in a hurry.

Look here for more info.
posted by redteam at 11:16 PM on August 20, 2006

Just lurk the last-minute budget travel e-mails. Anyplace, as mentioned upthread, that's of higher altitute will be lovely right now, compared to TX. Don't worry about how podunk it is...there will be *something* neat to do.
posted by desuetude at 6:15 AM on August 21, 2006

Canada!
posted by tiamat at 7:42 AM on August 21, 2006

Yeah, sheesh, come up to Toronto. So cool here this week. Low 20's today. Where'd the summer go?
posted by GuyZero at 9:34 AM on August 21, 2006

Here in NM it's been rainy and cool most of the summer. Just went to a wedding on Saturday in the mountains that was torentially drenched. Find yourself a nice mountain b&b and I think you'll find it hits the spot.
posted by Sara Anne at 10:04 AM on August 21, 2006

If you haven't tried Site59 for a last-minute trip, I recommend it. You can even find coupons to help keep costs down. With a $59 coupon you could get from Dallas to San Francisco for about $580 for airfare and hotel, and you wouldn't need a rental car there anyhow. There are plenty of other options, too.
posted by cabingirl at 10:53 AM on August 21, 2006

I'm hitting Santa Fe as my first stop out of Denton. I nth that suggestion.

Also, for some of the suggestions up there, don't you have to have a passport for Canada now? You know, because of the terror and all...?
posted by nadawi at 11:54 AM on August 21, 2006

Not yet. According to the US State Department, you need: "Passport or proof of U.S. citizenship such as a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, and photo ID required."

So a state driver's license and a birth certificate will still let you in. But a passport is indeed the best option.
posted by GuyZero at 12:01 PM on August 21, 2006

Catch a cheap JetBlue flight to Boston:
http://www.jetblue.com/travelinfo/routemap.asp

And go camping on the harbor islands:
http://www.bostonislands.org/trip_camping.html
Or see if somewhere inexpensive is available:
http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400427.html
Plenty of cheap (for Boston) places to eat & drink (msg me for suggestions), and you won't need to hire a car, you can walk everywhere or use the T.

Or a cheap flight on SouthWest to Albany, NY:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html

U can go camping in the Adirondacks (largest State Park in the Nation). A low of 48f around there tonight!

http://www.wunderground.com/US/NY/Caroga_Lake/KALB.html

Where in Texas are you? If your far enough North U could drive to the Mountains in Colorado?
posted by zaphod at 8:50 PM on August 21, 2006

Brrrr. Oooh. Aaah.

Driving distance estimates here. Fly to Albuquerque (from Lubbock, Amarillo, Dallas, Houston, Midland, and El Paso!) nonstop on Southwest for, well, not a whole lot of money. But some money. Might be a wash with the price of gas. It's 2 hours and change driving from Albuquerque.

You can search here for accomodation by price in the area. Here's a site that talks about every outdoor activity, including campsites, available in the State of New Mexico.

Other attractions nearby. Officially wonderful food.

City website: worth the link at least for the photo of the mayor.
posted by mdonley at 5:34 AM on August 22, 2006

Just to let you know, a driver's license is NOT enough to get you back into the country. Neither is a social security card..

you NEED either your Passport, Stamped Birth Certificate, Naturalization Cert (for immigrants), or (amazingly enough) Baptismal Record, ALONG WITH a state-assigned photo ID. This page has much more helpful info than the previously listed page. (look for "What Documents Must You Present")


I was just stopped two weeks ago coming back in from Vancouver. 2am in the morning, it was a good thing I had my expired passport in the car, and that my girlfriend has a good teary-eyed "have pity on me" look. Otherwise we would have had to wait until we got a Birth Cert. Faxed to the Customs Office.
posted by hatsix at 2:02 PM on August 22, 2006

And let us know where you go! :)
posted by zaphod at 5:25 PM on August 25, 2006