Apart from NY, my most recent trips have been mostly West Coast, and Chicago to LA. The real standouts have been national parks and Utah is amazing for that, but before I went I had no idea. Arches National Park is stunning and great fun to hike around but quite accessible to even non-hikers. Same with Zion (Angel's Landing and The Narrows!) and Bryce, also in Utah.

Did the Bright Angel Trail from the Grand Canyon South Rim and liked Yosemite, especially hiking Half Dome which was a favourite too.

The area around San Fran is cool, Chicago is quality, some of the smaller highway driving around Texas and New Mexico I really enjoyed. Mesa Verde. Antelope Canyon if you can handle the hordes.

If you're an efficient traveller, you could knock off three top-tier parks in Utah in a week without IMO rushing. Moving quickly yes, but not rushing.