Roadtripping the US

[victor]

I'm going on a roadtrip with two friends through the US (New York-Chicago-Houston-Las Vegas-LA) next week for a month. Anything I should think of? Anywhere special I should go? They utterly refused to plan anything. Good thing I've got my Lonely planet guidebook. Oh, and my new camera.

 

[Thrawn]

Really depends on what you are looking for. If your out to see the geography you could check out Washington state. We have (ugly) ocean coast, a rain forest, 2 distinct mountian ranges, several islands, and of course Mt. Rainer which is pretty incredible to behold.

If you do decide to come out this way from Calif. head up Oregon's coast and go arcoss the bridge that connects Oregon and Washington. It is either the longest or second longest bridge in the US and it is the bridge that the last scene from Short Circuit was filmed on (I think that is the right movie).

It goes over the Columbia river right as it enters the pacific ocean and there is always tons of boat traffic on that stretch of water.

Oregon is pretty boring though.

If you drive out here and are willing to take an expensive ferry you can go up to Orcas Island and Moran State Park. At the very top of a mountian they built a tall tower. You can see so far it is amazing.

As a final note early August is the best time of year to come up here. Nice, warm, clear days.

If you don't want to see the land Seattle is an allright city. We have the Science Fiction Muesum and the Experience Music Project. Both of which are expensive to get into and only really worth it so you can say "I saw the ACTUAL queen from Aliens!"

That is all I got! Have a fun, safe trip!

 

[KQX]

A roadtrip is really the best way to see the U.S. I always enjoyed them. But I've driven to opposite corners than you're planning (Chicago to Key West, and Chicago to Seattle) so I don't know much about the NY-LA route.

Thrawn is absolutely right about Washington State. Mt. Saint Helens is beautiful and the drive along the Washington/Oregon Border is also something worth seeing.

Oh, watch this: LA to NY in 4 minutes.

 

[[PCE]el_Prez]

Well, if you want to scrap Houston and Las Vegas I would suggest Route 66. If so you could stop in Flagstaff and I'd show you how we party in Northern Arizona.

 

[Salubri]

I was planning to do something like that in the summer of 2008. Since I'll be flyin' in from Europe, I've still not decided whether or not it is better to purchase some cheap (low consumption) vehicle or purchase a 30 days Rail Pass.

The idea was to fly in to Washington DC., do some sightseeing and head out for New Haven where I have arranged accommodation in my friends house. Some time will be spent there, mostly to check out New York and the surrounding area. From there we would go to Boston, Massachusetts and visit MIT and Harvard where we will hopefully be able to sleep over. Then on, we head out for Chicago, but on the way visit Cornell university and again sleep over in the dorms. Since Niagara Falls aren't that distant we might just make a detour and visit them as well. If we do, then Toronto will be way to close not to visit, so... you guess, we go cross border to Canada. Continuing our way to Chicago we pass through Detroit, visit Michigan university (again to sleep over) and finally arrive in Chicago.

Once we've seen enough of Chicago we head for University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, sleep over, and continue our way to Kansas via St.Louis. In Kansas we have another friend, so some time will be spent exploring the geography. Then we go to Colorado, probably visiting Colorado Springs, and continue to Utah into Salt Lake City. A visit to Utah university is a must, since I'll probably be enrolling there for graduate study and we have some friends that already are there. Oh, and I'll be converting to Mormonism there
Next stop is Las Vegas, Nevada and our final destination: California. The plan was to go to San Francisco and visit Berkeley university, where yet again we have a friend studying there, and crash in his room. Last two stops are Irvine university and Stanford university. We spend a day or two in LA and fly back to Europe.

 

[Pipboy2000]

Key West isn't that spectacular, but it is sweet going over the largest bridge in the US, the 7-mile bridge. If you're going to goto Florida, I'd drive half way down the east coast, stopping at St. Augustine, West Palm Beach, maybe somewhere else. Take a left turn at the middle of the state, goto Orlando/Disney, then continue to the west coast.

Tampa will be there, but skip it, trust me. 40 minutes south from Tampa is Sarasota, home of Siesta Key, the beach with the number one sand in the world (that's right bitch, look it up on the travel channel if you don't believe me). Oh yeah, you could see me if you like cause this is my town.

Then head south, again, along the west coast. Ft. Myers is boring, Naples is boring. You'll get to Miami eventually, lots of stuff to do there. Then you head even further south towards the Keys. They back up the east coast, stopping at Daytona, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[KQX]

Salubri, that trip sounds pretty nice. Forget about that Rail Pass, this isn't Europe. Get a big car and hit the interstates!

In Kansas we have another friend, so some time will be spent exploring the geography.

Um excuse me, geography of Kansas? Kansas has no geography. It's probably the emptiest state. Driving along I-70 will be one of the most boring experiences of your life. Once you pass through eastern Colorado that's when the scenic roads begin.

As for Florida, I liked Key West and of course the bridge to it is amazing. Miami beach is beautiful (just imagine Ocean Drive from Vice City but IRL), oh and nothing quite like driving at least 120MPH along Alligator Alley with barely anyone around you.

 

[welsh]

Big City Trip? I think the New York and Chicago sections will be cool. I would go up to Boston, then do a little Canada (Quebec and Montreal) if you had time, as you go through Canada to Chicago. This will add a lot of time, but Quebec and Montreal and Boston are worth it.

Chicago to Houston will probably blow, although I would stop in Memphis and New Orleans.

Texas across to New Mexico is long and boring. I would have gone a different route- Chicago west through Wisconsin and South Dakota (hit devil's tower and the Badlands) then go to Yellow Stone and the Grand Tetons), then down through Idaho through Utah to Reno and Lake Tahoe, then San Francisco, and south to LA. From LA to Las Vegas, hit the local national parks and the Grand Canyon) then through the Southwest.

I'd skip Houston. Either drive Southwest through Colorado or West to California from Chicago. Either way, West of Chicago is "the big empty."

Be prepared for a lot of driving.

 

[Pope Viper]

Yes I would have to agree on Texas. I live in it, and it's a whole lot of empty space. Not to mention that since it's coming up on summer, you'll be able to enjoy the 90F+ (100F+ in west texas) temperatures.