4 - 6 month trip around USA
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- vaxorcist0
Blue Highways....
There was a book with that title published in the 70's, about driving cross-country without while avoiding as many interstates as possible... these days, on many maps, the "blue highways" actually ARE interstates, but in the past, the more local roads were "blue highways" on the maps....
It's amazing the difference between interstates and local roads in many places... especially the southeast....
- and Mississippi - taking I-55 up through is a world apart from taking any other roads there. Local MS roads are awesome.mikotondria3
- I would never subject a car to the horror that is the old route 66. I made that mistake for too many miles on my bike a couple years back.albums
- couple years back.albums
- jaylarson0
You can get to Glacier National Park by train.
- see_thru0
Portland and Canon Beach Oregon are as far as I'd travel up on the West Coast. Found an ice cream store in WA that had a 'We stock Glock' sticker in the window....took a peek and saw shelves of ammo next to the chocolate chip.
- BrokenHD0
Sedona AZ is beautiful. Big Sur. Joshua Tree.
Los Angeles: MOCA, LACMA, GETTY, DISNEY MUSIC HALL, DISNEYLAND, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. OLVERA STREET, SEE THE EAMES HOUSE, Frank Lloyd Wright houses. Barnstall Art Park, The Griffith Park Observatory... 1 month in LA(?)
- whereRI0
I didnt read all the posts in detail so sorry if already been suggested but ive heard really good things about Austin
- BK0
You should rent an RV (or motorcycle if you roll like that) and just cruise west of the Rockies. Def. check out as many National Parks & camp as much as possible.
If you want to take trains I'd save that for visiting East Coast cities (DC-->Baltimore-->Philly-->NYC... Then fly west and rent your vehicle.
Most of the middle part of the country can be skipped unless you like looking at corn and flatness. No hate, just probably not too interesting for a tourist.
- There are a million little towns, and a vast slowly changing landscape. You'll find the story of America here more than the..mikotondria3
- ..tourist highlights. Nothing spectacular or monumental, but for a sense of scale do the x-country drive at least once.mikotondria3
- thanks BK. we do long train holidays for that reason miko. see the changing lanscape, people, ways of life.lowimpakt
- Right on. It really helps consolidate the idea of the country when you see and live how, eg the deserts of western..mikotondria3
- ..Texas gradually give way to the hills of forests of the east coast. Those places don't seem as separate any more.mikotondria3
- vaxorcist0
I'm just visualizing you driving a CruiseAmerica RV into Camden NJ and meeting up with the youth of Camden....
- monkeyshine0
If you're interested in community projects you should visit Project M in Alabama. http://projectmlab.com/Experienc…
- mathinc0
The RV option is great. I borrowed my moms RV last year and my wife and I travelled around for 2 months. It's really pricey though, both in the rental (~$2,500/wk), the gas you'll use and the sites (figure $30/night avg). If you've got the money then that's your best bet.
I LOVE the Amtrak. It's a good and affordable option. It's also safe, unlike the Greyhound. You can cover a lot of ground on the train without wearing yourself out by driving. Problem is that you're limited to the cities it goes to. For instance I live about 250 miles (4hr drive) from Tucson, AZ.. but to take the train there I have to go all the way to LA and then catch a train back (~20 hrs).
If it were me I'd do a hybrid RV and Amtrak. Use the Amtrak Rail Pass to make long distance trips but still see the country and then rent the RV (or a car) to see the details.
As far as can't miss places:
Southern Utah is great, I highly recommend it. Bryce, Zion, Escalante, and Moab. Capital Reef is a really cool National Park and almost no one goes there (http://www.capitolreef.org/). Bring your own beer.. Utah has a 4% abv cap on beer.
Northern California: Patricks Point in Trinidad, CA. is so fucking magical. Mt Shasta is a cool little city with a ton of snow in the winter. While you're there hit up Dunsmuir, it's this great little train town that's stuck in time.
Eastern Sierras (California): Amazing views. Drive up highway 395 and you can drive into Yosemite, Mammoth, Tahoe, and about a hundred other places. If you're into hiking you can't miss this part of the country. The mountains in Colorado might be taller, but the mountains in the Sierras are way more dramatic and beautiful.
Northern Arizona: Sedona, Flagstaff (where I live), Grand Canyon, Lake Powell area, where you could rent a houseboat (Antelope Canyon is really great:
)Colorado: Tons of places to go. I've never been there but Durango, CO is supposed to be very cool.
Good luck, man! The trip sounds like a lot of fun.
- durango is really cool. mesa verde is close by too.johnny_wobble
- thanks so much for this.lowimpakt
- you from Flagstaff! I saw this military parade in may. great place!sureshot
- Yeah.. we LOVE it here! Great little college town. Super nice people and tons of outdoors stuff.mathinc
- fuck yeah I want to move there! had great eggs at the Downtown Diner in the morning too.sureshot
- haha let me guess, MartAnnes? It's a mexican breakfast place? Soo good. If you ever come back for a visit hit me up.mathinc
- yeah I believe it was martannes. Best breakfast eva! and Yeah will do!sureshot
- drgs0
- Also be sure to drive through Long Beach, Compton, Inglewood, and Hawthorne. Just be sure the sun is up.brandon_phillip
- cannonball19780
yellowstone
- fresnobob0
Go to Death Valley and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, both sorta near each other in California. Death Valley is tons of different totally awesome desert environments, and the Bristlecones are basically the oldest living trees in the world, like twice as old as the oldest redwood and the oldest ones are even older than the pyramids.
- lowimpakt0
@utopian re. Camden - part of our trip will involve visiting "community" projects as herself already works in a digital media based community development project in one of the most disadvantaged communities here and I'm involved in things outside of my day job.
Setting up a new social enterprise when we return from travelling is part of our agenda so we want to share experiences with and learn from all sorts of different projects.
If there is any interesting projects happening in Camden we'll visit.
- i'm fairly sure that's not what you were thinking when you posted :)lowimpakt
- lowimpakt0
i knew qbn would come up trumps.
getting too excited now with the planning. i need to lie down.
- utopian0
Camden, NJ
- tOki0
I have never been to the USA, but was watching a doco on the formation of National Parks there (America was the first country to do this interestingly), anyway the episode was specifically about this place:
Mount Mckinely, Alaska
Apparently it's the tallest mountain on the continent and unlike Everest almost rises directly from sea level, meaning it's quite a sight to behold..
- lived in AK for 5 yrs. GO if you ever get the chance. So epic.
trendkill
- lived in AK for 5 yrs. GO if you ever get the chance. So epic.
- CanHasQBN0
Don't forget to vote while you're here.
Also, stay away from the Gypsies.
- sisu0
- +1 big sur, reminds me also of napa valley region - taste wine. then north into big redwood areas in portland?rabbit
- sorry, big redwood national par in n. cal - not portland - which is a city! my bad im hungover! lolrabbit
- This is literally the most expensive option though.CygnusZero4
- not too bad if you have a family or two couples, works out cheaper actually. maybe._niko