I think if your only problem is your freshman year you might be able to explain that well and show the difference you’ve made. You will need ACT or SAT scores to match, of course.
Try Pittsburgh, CMU, and U Rochester. All have oodles of research opportunities and plenty of students go on to grad school afterward. They’re far from the west coast and students who attend those schools tell me they’re never bored due to lack of things available for them to do.