cross country road trip U.S.A

[Weird Jimmy]

I'm taking my girl on a road trip/honeymoon this June and we're driving from the great lakes to cali and back. We've got 3 weeks to make the trip with no concrete plans other than to hit a few amusement parks, vegas for a night or two, and the grand canyon.

I haven't traveled all that much so I'm looking for suggestions of places I should definitely stop at. Quirky locations? or national parks. Or old school stoner landmarks? Whatever you can think of that's in the space between the great lakes and California.

Thanks in advance guys...

 

[Sam the Caveman]

Wow, must be nice, hope you have fun.

I'm in the southeast, so no tips or hot spot recommendations from me.

 

[cobcoop]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_Bells
Sounds like a fun trip.

 

[Weird Jimmy]

yeah, I'm not sure how south we're going before we start heading west? Like I said, our plans are anything but solid.

 

[Weird Jimmy]

awesome cobcoop, colorado will certainly be somewhere in our trip. The maroon bells seem to be close to hunter s thompson country.

 

[Charles De Mar]

Carlsbad Caverns, NM and Painted Desert, AZ
The painted desert is really trippy around sunset and carlsbad has some pretty cool caves if you are into nature

 

[steppinRazor]

Carhenge

pretty boring actually, unless your looking for disappointment

 

[facelift]

Day One:

Starved Rock State Park. Utica, IL. Exit 81 I-80. Nice Pioneer Cabin or if you like the hotel feel, you can stay in the lodge. There's a bar and grill, hiking trails and gift shop. From there you have I-80 West and I-39 south if you are going the southern route to California. Local Bar 3 miles in town. Camping is available.


Option #2:

Take turns driving/sleeping. Drive straight through to Seattle and start there.

 

[Weird Jimmy]

Excellent, those are all perfect suggestions; exactly what I was looking for.

Charles - We're definitely in to nature so both of those sites will be on my list, Thank you.

Steppin - Carhenge may be boring, but damn what a cool place to smoke a joint

facelift- I think it's option #1 for us on the way out there, then possible option #2 route on the way back? Maybe, everything's tentative at this point.

Thanks again, can't wait to see some more responses. I We've got until June to fill this thread, lol.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach in Oregon

 

[Weird Jimmy]

lol, and I'll be damned if that rock doesn't look exactly like a haystack. That is crazy pretty though.... on the list.

I knew this thread would amp up my excitement level! So many amazing spots in this country. Maybe I'll even run in to a few IC members along the way. I'll have one waiting for you!!

 

[cobcoop]

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach in Oregon

Goonies!!!!

We were there last spring, drove from Portland to Tillamook, Cannon Beach etc. It was beautiful!

 

[Hal]

Whatever you do (and I realize you listed it as one of your destinations) don't change your plans about visiting the Grand Canyon. I was doing a cross-country trip once and because certain events transpired, I almost decided to skip the canyon. A phone call with a family member impressed upon me the stupidity of skipping this majestic wonder-of-the-world. I said, well, I guess I can at least stop there for an afternoon. I ended up staying 3 days.

You don't see the Grand Canyon...you FEEL the Grand Canyon. Of course you do see it, but for me the sense of feeling it overwhelmed the actual seeing it. Its like you feel the time it took to create it. That's without even being high, once you smoke one up, forget about it, you might start to cry. I'm not shitting ya. The beauty is beyond belief.

I had an incredible experience while there, I can only hope you have something similar, but I doubt you will be so lucky. I was perusing their scheduled events that happen daily, looking for interesting ways of absorbing this mind-blowing place. There was a talk being given that afternoon by a group called "Hawk Watch International" about the various raptors that are flying around in the thermals in the canyon. Sounded interesting, so I parked my car and hopped on a bus (only way of getting around the canyon, really) and got dropped off at the talk's location.

I got there about 45 minutes before the talk was scheduled to start, and when I arrived, there was this young family (with 3 totally out of control kids screaming and running around) also waiting to hear the talk. Total buzz kill. I decided to take a walk down this path along the canyon's edge to get away from the screaming kids and also to find a secluded spot to fire up a doob for a few puffs (be careful, there are park rangers around all over).

I walked about 5 minutes, came upon 3 guys sitting in lawn chairs sitting at the edge of the canyon. Turns out these were the guys from Hawk Watch International who were going to be giving the talk on raptors. At that moment, they were doing their regular job for the day, which was counting various birds flying in the canyon (nice job, eh?). They were very friendly, obviously pot-friendly as well, and I fired up the doob and offered it to them. They felt the need to refuse due to being on the job and such, but commented on the fine aroma wafting around in the canyon's breeze.

Well, about 10 minutes after I got there, one of 'em pointed to some birds flying way way off in the distance. They obviously were very large, and the guy told me that I was looking at California Condors, 3 of 'em. These are the birds that almost went extinct only a few years ago. I was in awe watching them, and they were probably over a half mile away!

Well, time went on, and gradually the three birds were drifting towards our position...which was a branch of the canyon off the main canyon, approximately 1/4 mile wide and 3/4 of a mile long. As they got closer, one of 'em decided to fly, actually more like soar, right down the middle of the branch we were viewing from. It was much closer now, and it's size was dramatically apparent, never had I seen such a huge fucking bird. This fellow flew down the middle of this canyon branch, got to the end, and started banking its huge wingspan to turn and come back towards our position.

My luck was good that day...the Condor banked in the direction of our side of the canyon. It began it's flight toward us, soaring on the thermals that were being created by rising air at the edge of the canyon's wall. It very shortly became apparent that this great bird was going to fly right in front of my nose, as I was standing about 5 feet from the canyon's edge. I started to get really fucking excited, I think time actually started to slow down as I watched the Condor approach. I started saying "holy fuck..holy fuck..holy fuck" and the HWI dudes started to laugh. I apologized for my expletives, they said if they weren't on the job they would have been saying the same thing, it was a special event for them too.

The Condor flew by us, I swear, right at the edge of the cliff. I was about 5 feet from the cliff, I'm guessing that bird was at the most 6 to 8 feet away from me. And, (I'm getting chills remembering this..) the beautiful huge (10 ft wingspan!) amazing bird looked right at me when it flew past! It looked me in the eye! I shit you not. It was a very brief moment...but one I will remember with utter clarity for the rest of my life. Needless to say, my expletives increased in frequency and volume for next few seconds. The HWI guys were as wowed as I was.

Holy shit, sorry for the long winded story dude. It was an amazing experience, and I just re-lived it a bit. I hope you can have the same thing happen to you when you visit the canyon. Just make sure you go.

 

[hippie_lettuce]

Definitely go see Yosemite

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Goonies!!!!

We were there last spring, drove from Portland to Tillamook, Cannon Beach etc. It was beautiful!

It's a shame that there are no jobs over on the Oregon Coast other than tourist-related jobs in the foodservice sector, hotel/motel staff, et al. meaning low-paying jobs.

It's way too beautiful over there................

CC

 

[cobcoop]

It's a shame that there are no jobs over on the Oregon Coast other than tourist-related jobs in the foodservice sector, hotel/motel staff, et al. meaning low-paying jobs.

It's way too beautiful over there................

CC

I knew a guy years ago who worked as fisherman in Port Orford, he ended up moving out here... but man that was some scenery.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Trillium Lake, Mt. Hood National Forest

Trillium Lake, Mt. Hood National Forest

This is about 45 miles east of Portland off of the old US 26 Highway that crosses the mountain pass.

You drive into the area near the Southeast end of the lake and park. There is an old trail that goes around the lake. Very easy walk.

CC

P.S. That's Mt. Hood in the background </grin>

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Here's Eastern Oregon.......

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Three Sisters Volcanoes

Three Sisters Volcanoes

This is near Bend, Oregon (Eastern Oregon)

 

[Charles De Mar]

Tombstone, AZ
Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM
Roswell, NM
Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff, AZ
were all memorable