I have three weeks to mess around before I start my job in Colorado. If you could go anywhere in the contiguous US or within 1 hour of the US - Canadian border, where would you go? I’m already planning on seeing Salt Lake City (good friend lives out there) and Boulder, CO. Any other suggestions besides Vegas and Texas?
What’s your starting point?
Some favorite spots:
the Maine Coast, and the mountains of VT and NH, with a visit to Boston thrown in.
Charleston, SC
Oregon Coast and Portland, as well as the area around Bend and Sisters
Coastal Hwy 1 up the coast of California
Santa Fe/Taos
Key West
Norman, OK. I’ve driven 21 hours straight before so I’m not concerned about distance other than needing to be in Denver by the beginning of June.
I second New England; VT (near St. Johnsbury), Maine (Kennebunk area), and NH (White Mountains) are all beautiful regions to drive through. I especially like the White Mountains in the summer.
I’m lousy with distances but I really loved my road trips to Canada - Montreal and Toronto are really nice (but they’re probably a lot further than an hour from the border.)
Might want to stop in Chicago, nice place
What are your interest?
My favorite sight seeing place is amount Rushmore. You can’t appreciate it until you see it in person. Truly magnificent. However, that’s literally the ONLY thing near there, and you can only look at something for so long, so that may be a turn off. Other than that, I’d say the Pacific a Coast Highway in Cali is beautiful to drive, and there’s tons to do there throughout the entire state.
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Oh right, my best friend offered to go backpacking with me so yea
/thread
Okay so you like the outdoors. Then I would suggest Byrce, Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches national parks (all in same general are). Also Yosemite in CA. The area around Colorado is load with national parks.
Bucket list places: on the way to Salt Lake - Canyonlands (rafting) and Moab (climbing/biking). Also Yellowstone/Grand Teton (sightseeing and backpacking).
i second the west! we love jackson hole, grand tetons and yellowstone. Its amazing. i yearn to visit there again. you could do a whole western route from OK to utah, to oregon to wyoming to colorado. it’d be beautiful and fun.
I worked in Yellowstone for five and a half months, regularly going to the Teton on my days off. Frankly, I probably won’t return to the parks for at least another five years unless I decide to work there again.
However, Zion, Arches, Black Canyon, and possibly Taos are on my bucket list for the summer.
You did not mention your stating place, but if it is in Norman or Denver, I would do a big loop of the Rockies, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, the California Coast, up to Washington, and then east to Montana and then back down. See the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci_RbjDvW-Q
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7153304-Planning-a-2-month-road-trip-What-do-I-need
Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National parks. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana. Jackson Hole and Dubois, Wyoming. Whitefish, Montana (near Glacier). Also Independence Rock and other Oregon Trail sites in Wyoming.
Home.
I once took a 2+ week trip across the US with my wife. It was one of the best vacations of my life:
San Francisco => LA on Pacific Coast Highway 1. Also see Hearst Castle, and Hollywood.
LA => Las Vegas (Gamble, catch a show in Las Vegas, and also see Hoover Dam)
Las Vegas => Grand Canyon, and also see Sedona
Grand Canyon => Sante Fe, NM & Taos
Santa Fe=> Dallas (only because I had family there)
Dallas => New Orleans
New Orleans => Atlanta
Atlanta => Raleigh, NC via the Blue Ridge Mountains
Raleigh => DC
DC => NYC
NYC => Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls=> Toronto
Toronto => Montreal
Montreal => Boston
If I were to do it over, the only thing I would add is Utah–I think it has more natural beauty than any other state in the country.