I totally agree that as a commercial pilot I should be able to find my own route, which I will do. However, this will be my first time flying in the continental US since I do all of my flying in Guam so I just wanted to get people's thoughts based on their first hand experience and knowledge of the airspace, terrain, and if there are any interesting airports out there (I know there are some like SMO that won't be around for long). Thank you to those who responded with suggestions. Let me know if you ever go flying in Guam (lots of water!) and I hope I can help.