im planning a cross country trip for next summer...any ideas of interesting or cool spots to stop to visit or see? tips? ideas? anything? hehe
the only thing I have to say is: "don't plan s h i t because that's when it happens." Lengthwise, I did one of those from Texas to SD, up the coast to Portland and then back down. I did it in about 10 days, but i was on a time crunch and I would definitely have stopped more. The only thing I planned was the direction I was going (west), everything else just happened as each day progressed. If I saw something worthy of stopping for, I would.
Since youre in CT, just hit Interstate 80 all the way to Salt Lake City and decide if you want to continue to Reno/SF or go south to Vegas/LA. or.... Hit 80 all the way to SF hitting all the middle and northern states, go down the PCH to LA and come back thru the south. That way you can see that big Pecan in Seguin, TX.
It might help if you told people more about the sort of trip you're planning. Car? Train? Bus? Are you headed for a particular place? How far South do you want to go? Do you like the outdoors? What time of year? Do you like restaurants? Stuff like that.
hehe well basically me and my boyfriend are taking the trip next summer...california is the major reason we are going..in a car...for cheap...we really arent going to do the north and north west ...we like the outdoors and umm resteraunts are good if they are cheap haha...is that what your looking for?
Go river rafting in Buena Vista, Colorado. Some rafting companies have campgrounds where you can pitch a tent for the night and just hang out and drink beer and stuff.
They do a very good job of this on the Nantahala river, in (I think) Andrews in western NC, too. Nice restaurant at the end of the trip. There's also the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a pretty efficient way to cram in some nice scenery and the parks along the way are very good, and cheap. Much of Last of the Mohicans was filmed in this area. The only trouble is it's pretty much due South from where you are. Here's an idea: read Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon. It's all about traveling on smaller roads and might give you some destinations. Up here in Michigan, the Upper Peninsula is pretty, and one of the lesser known parts of the country.
Once you get to California, Yosemite and Pacific Coast Highway (incl. Halfmoon Bay) are required viewing.
Well, as far as trasportation, depending on how old you are and how good your driving record is (or your boyfriend's) check some companies that transport cars. Chances are you may get a car that needs to go from NY to LA or San Francisco and the owners don't want to drive it. When I was in LA, alot of Danish and Swedish 18-25 year olds would get hooked up like that and use it to see the country. Most said that they had 2 weeks to a month to get the car across the courntry.
If you're planning on camping, go to as many of the nat'l parks in southern Utah as you can. They're filled with natural beauty that you just can't see anywhere else, and they're all quite different. My best cross-country trip went from Arches (and biking in Moab) to Capital Reef to Bryce to Zion (and you could try to hit the north rim of the Grand Canyon)to Vegas (gotta shower sometime) Then, through Death Valley and up the Owens Valley to the east side of Yosemite, then down to SF. Of course, I had 2 1/2 weeks. If you're planning to hit more than 3 national parks buy the $50 pass that admits you to any park for a year.
http://www.rafting-colorado.net/oslink.asp?i=162 I think this is where I went a couple of years ago. If you stay at the "Outpost" location, it's only $8/person to camp. They have grills and stuff for you to cook on, and there's a town not too far away where you can grab groceries. Plus the guides are really good; we went through some Class V's and didn't really have to paddle that much. That's when you know your guide is good. There's a drought going on out here right now, so I'm not sure what the water level will be like (higher water means faster rapids) but it looks like we're making a good recovery and I think the rafting should be pretty good this year.
Also in that area, Mesa Verde (the Anasazi cliff dwellings) was really interesting. And Glenwood Springs CO has the world's largest pool filled by a natural hot spring.
The hot springs at Glenwood are awesome. And if you go to Mesa Verde, you have to go to Monument Valley, which is a Navajo Nation Tribal Park, about another hour down the road.