Lark plans to see the US

[Lark]

Well I discovered that I only have four days annual leave left between now and when I get my allocations of annual leave, boo, although it means that come april or may I'll have thirty three days to take again, yay, so I'm considering travelling and not just to Edinburgh as I have done previously.

I'm thinking about the big old US of A, so what is there to see and what would you recommend as unmissable? It can be something local to you, I'm happy to hear about the mundane or personal as much as the natural wonders or tourist traps, also if you'd recommend any travel guides or websites I'd be happy to check them out, at present I've got an eye witness USA travel guide, its got a lot of pictures and seems to be as good as the lonely planet guide which looked like it was just listings and listings of accomodation.

I've also got a huge ass Lonely Planet book called Great Adventures which I'm sure does feature the US but I've not had the chance to read it.

Alternatively if you're not from the US, for instance if you're Canadian, I'm open to persuasion as to why I should visit your country instead, maybe not this year but go ahead and tell me why it should be something I do in 2014.

 

[WALMART]

Texas has Enchanted Rock, the world's largest above ground piece of granite and "holy place" of native Americans for centuries.


Good luck, have fun.

 

[The Ü™]

Definitely pay a visit to Detroit.

 

[Totenkindly]

You could do a twofer -- go to Niagara Falls and walk across the bridge to Ontario, Canada. (The Canada side actually looks more interesting. Too bad there is not much else on our side there.)

Definitely pay a visit to Detroit.

Yeah, you're a real sweetheart.
Maybe he'll see Robocop.

 

[Aquarelle]

Definitely pay a visit to Detroit.

(In case you don't know, [MENTION=7280]Lark[/MENTION], you probably don't really want to visit Detroit. )

I know MSP is on the list, we can drive down to Chicago too. In US terms it's just a short drive (of 6-8 hours).

 

[gromit]

Sounds fun!

If you enjoy hiking, there are so many beautiful landscapes. I can recommend some other, smaller attractions as well, if you end up in Boston/New England as part of your trip.

 

[Riva]

I've been to the US twice. Ironically the most fun I had during the visit to the US was the time spent at Mexico.

Facts might not be true. Strong bias towards Mexican women implied.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Just forget all that and go to NYC!

 

[kyuuei]

On the west coast there's a lot of beautiful attractions. My plan is to go to Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon and then take good ole' route 66 (even though now there's another, faster highway) to Big Sur and then work my way through California.

But there's a lot of genuinely beautiful attractions on the west coast if nature if what you're into.

If it's city life and luxury you want, I definitely recommend Vegas. You can get lots of hustle, luxury, and REALLY cool shows for cheap there if you plan ahead. (We didn't plan ahead at all and ended up getting discounted tickets to Cirque)

I can't vouch for New York, but I know it's huge and there is lots to do there too. But, since I like nature more than city life, I'll opt for suggesting the West coast.

 

[sprinkles]

It's kinda hard to see anything here in four days lol

Some of the top places are the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Niagra Falls, Vegas, Chicago, ect... stuff people have already said.

The problem is you have to kind of pick just one of those places unless you plan to fly around inside the country some how, or spend half your time driving. It's just huge here.

 

[The Ü™]

Yeah, you're a real sweetheart.
Maybe he'll see Robocop.

Or Tim "The Tool" Taylor.

 

[Beorn]

How many days and when are you going?
It's a big place so that might help.

 

[Usehername]

Well I discovered that I only have four days annual leave left between now and when I get my allocations of annual leave, boo, although it means that come april or may I'll have thirty three days to take again, yay, so I'm considering travelling and not just to Edinburgh as I have done previously.

I'm thinking about the big old US of A, so what is there to see and what would you recommend as unmissable? It can be something local to you, I'm happy to hear about the mundane or personal as much as the natural wonders or tourist traps, also if you'd recommend any travel guides or websites I'd be happy to check them out, at present I've got an eye witness USA travel guide, its got a lot of pictures and seems to be as good as the lonely planet guide which looked like it was just listings and listings of accomodation.

I've also got a huge ass Lonely Planet book called Great Adventures which I'm sure does feature the US but I've not had the chance to read it.

Alternatively if you're not from the US, for instance if you're Canadian, I'm open to persuasion as to why I should visit your country instead, maybe not this year but go ahead and tell me why it should be something I do in 2014.

Trying to travel North America E-W by country is going to net you mostly farmland for your time investment.

It'd be smarter to do a West coast trip one year (Canada, USA, Mexico) and then an East coast trip (Canada, USA, islands) the other year. Most of the Canadian stuff worth seeing is close to the US border, and you can day trip into Mexico from San Diego.

West Coast:
Fly to Seattle; rent a car.

• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, BC
• Banff, AB (climb or ski Rockies by day and chill in the hot springs by night; hope for northern lights)
• Canmore, AB
• Yellowstone, MT
• Moab, UT
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Sedona, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• San Diego, CA
• Tijuana, Mexico
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Fransisco, CA
• Lake Tahoe, CA
• Portland, OR
• Seattle, WA

That's only 7274 km and 74 hours of driving, which is a lot better than trying to do E-W by country for North America. Here's a route I've Google Mapped out.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=S...mUlEA&oq=lake+tahoe&doflg=ptk&mra=luc&t=m&z=4

 

[Qlip]

Another way to do it is to pick a great city or specific region you're interested in, and do that for 4 days. There's more than 4 days in any great city. I have a feeling you might be an East Coast type of guy, Boston or Philadelphia or... New York.

 

[Usehername]

Another way to do it is to pick a great city or specific region you're interested in, and do that for 4 days. There's more than 4 days in any great city. I have a feeling you might be an East Coast type of guy, Boston or Philadelphia or... New York.

he's got 33 days off. you're talking to a european.

 

[Lady_X]

Trying to travel North America E-W by country is going to net you mostly farmland for your time investment.

It'd be smarter to do a West coast trip one year (Canada, USA, Mexico) and then an East coast trip (Canada, USA, islands) the other year. Most of the Canadian stuff worth seeing is close to the US border, and you can day trip into Mexico from San Diego.



West Coast:
Fly to Seattle; rent a car.

• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, BC
• Banff, AB (climb or ski Rockies by day and chill in the hot springs by night; hope for northern lights)
• Canmore, AB
• Yellowstone, MT
• Moab, UT
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Sedona, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• San Diego, CA
• Tijuana, Mexico
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Fransisco, CA
• Lake Tahoe, CA
• Portland, OR
• Seattle, WA

That's only 7274 km and 74 hours of driving, which is a lot better than trying to do E-W by country for North America. Here's a route I've Google Mapped out.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=S...mUlEA&oq=lake+tahoe&doflg=ptk&mra=luc&t=m&z=4

Yes... Pick a coast... Or maybe half the time spent on the west coast.. La, sf, Seattle. Portland and Vancouver bc. Then fly into ny and explore it and the surrounding cities...Niagra falls etc before flying back home.

 

[sprinkles]

he's got 33 days off. you're talking to a european.

Didn't see the 33 days part. Well shit then, go everywhere!

 

[Totenkindly]

I haven't been this excited since Mr. Smith Goes to Washington!

You know, if Lark wanted, he could host meetups all across the US for forum members.

 

[Beorn]

I could hang out at niagra falls and then show you all the beautiful rusted out remains of Buffalo.

 

[Lark]

(In case you don't know, [MENTION=7280]Lark[/MENTION], you probably don't really want to visit Detroit. )

I know MSP is on the list, we can drive down to Chicago too. In US terms it's just a short drive (of 6-8 hours).

Holy shit! That's like the entire day!

Yeah, I only thought about the possibility of people giving me a misdirection after posting this.

For my part I think that Uber would love to visit Tigers Bay or Shankill Rd