The Glade 4.0

I am planning to go wandering for a while. Will be in my car, and except for going by Picayune to drop my dog off, I will be free. Looking for suggestions on places to visit, but not currently interested in cities.

So, any parks, small towns, lakes, or forests in the lower 48 anyone would recommend?

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Memento Vivere

I have local knowledge.
That sandbar was not there yesterday!

Yellowstone, Yosemite, and all the Western ghost towns in between?

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Both of these places are great. Yosemite is better though, unless you like a lot of driving.

Columbus, Mississippi. Nothing too exciting here but me and NF...Micheal didn't think we were all that bad.
We do have some haunted mansions and a lot of historical homes and local museums so if you'd like to see a little Southern heritage/culture, you're welcome to come visit.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Glacier National Park. Its not really accessable during the winter however (anything before June is iffy as the roads are not really clear)

I've really enjoyed some of the spots on the eastern seaboard too--lobster bake in Maine, whale watching off the coast of Massachusetts, (and I know you said no cities, but I do love Boston, Chicago and DC)

The Outer Banks of the Carolinas...

You're a sailor, so how about the Great Lakes? Mackinack Island?

It all depends on what you want to do. If you're a history buff you could tour civil war battle sites.

Some great places:

Zion National Park, Utah.
Various places in New Mexico - they have really cool lava tunnels and Indian ruins.
Acadia National Park, Maine
Mt. Lassen in Northern Cali

Itasca State Park - Headwaters of the Mississippi, you can literally walk across it.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area - Huge area of parkland on the border with Canada. Many places that prohibit motorized vehicles/boats.

Custer State Park - Heart of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

National Eagle Center - Get 3ft away from a Bald Eagle.

International Wolf Center - Lots of interesting information and a wolf habitat.

North American Bear Center - Lots of interesting information and a bear habitat.

Darwin Twineball Museum - Worlds largest ball of twine. Hey, sometimes there isn't much to do in the winter...

Meteor Crater

Since you're already pretty close, I think some of the small towns in the real Cajun part of south/central Louisiana are a lot of fun, the area around Lafayette/New Iberia/Opelousas. Good food, interesting people, and gorgeous swamps. I'd avoid the bigger cities, but there are hundreds of small towns to play around in.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Take your pick at Roadside America, the guide to uniquely odd tourist attractions.

Can you narrow it down? Maybe a general idea where you're starting, where you want to end up, how long you're willing to go? I don't want to send you to the House on the Rock if you're not willing to drive to Wisconsin, for instance.

Oh, are you starting in the South? Could check out the Natchez Trace for a nice mellow drive.

Really, my head is filled with odd places I have visited, or would like to.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Yeah, go to Avery Island and do the McIlhenny (Tabasco Sauce) factory tour. Very fun.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I really enjoyed Zion in Utah and Sequoia National Forest here in CA.

Zion National Park is gorgeous! As is Great Basin. And if you're going through Utah, swimming in the Great Salt Lake is a must- as is walking on the salt flats.

In the more central US, I'd recommend the Badlands in South Dakota- very interesting place.

North-West, I really wasn't a fan of Yellowstone Proper (way too played up), however just outside of Yellowstone is Beartooth Mountain (and Lake) on Hwy 212 on the outskirts of the park. Small campground, gorgeous lake. It sits right at the base of a pass (on 212) between Wyoming and Montana, with glaciers on either side, and some stunning multicolored lakes as you go higher up. Jackson Lake on the south side of Yellowstone also has some gorgeous hiking trails.

If you're on the East Coast, Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina is nice- really pretty, reminds me a lot of the UK, scenery wise. If you're in the area, the New River just outside of Boone, NC is also quite pretty. There are little country stores dotted about, etc.

Almost all of the Appalachian trail is really nice, depending on the time of year- hiking a bit on it can be quite enjoyable. Similarly, the Smoky Mountains are pretty most all of the way along them- cool even in the heat of the summer, and some great tubing places outside of Knoxville in the Gatlinburg area- just avoid Gatlinburg!

If you're doing the Southwest, some of the Anasazi ruins are amazing- Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado is very well worth visiting.

I also second the recommendation for the Natchez Trace- I drive it from New Orleans up to Tennessee if I have the chance, it's really scenic, peaceful, and there are no trucks! Lots of neat stops along the way, as well. My dad and I took a week and a half and rode the Trace one summer, it was really a lot of fun.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Come see the scenic coal banks of northeast PA! Sometimes we even manicure them!

or... yeah actually probably no. Though the Poconos are a pretty sweet area to visit for the ~2 week peak of autumn foliage. Lakes are not uncommon, and we have neat mountains! Or at least, what pass for mountains here. They're certainly accessible, at least, and most plentiful!

If you click this link and then click the top entry (Eagle Rock Resort), you get about 25 pictures of a resort that's just on the other side of the mountain as my town. Apologies for all the pictures of the buildings there, but some of the landscape shots are really good and definitive of the geography here.

View from the campus 10 minutes away...



Then again, there's nice scenery in most of this country. But if you are in the area, we certainly have some nice vistas out here, especially during the right time of the year.

http://wikitravel.org/en/United_States_of_America

I've used this site a bit, had quite a bit of good info there.


Check out these links for specific info you may find handy.

http://wikitravel.org/en/United_States_ ... ca#Regions

http://wikitravel.org/en/United_States_ ... stinations

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In time, this too shall pass.

Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire.
Gillette Castle in Connecticut.
Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
Drive some of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Visit cave country in Kentucky.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Four Corners
Tombstone, AZ
Grand Canyon, consider walking out on the skywalk.
Hoover Dam, then Las Vegas. Mus or DS will feed you and let you nap on one of their couches, if you ask nicely.
The London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Note: check this list out if anything interests you put it on the itinerary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mu ... California
Death Valley (lowest spot in continental 48)
Mt. Whitney (highest spot in continental 48, only 80 miles apart)
Mono Lake
over to the coast and south
San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo African Safari Park
Legoland
Disneyland
Hearst Castle
Carmel/Monterey - Visit the Aquarium
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, schmaltzy but nice.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse (they have a decent and cheap hostel there too)
Half Moon Bay, nice small town on the Ocean, home to one of surfing's most important events, The Mavericks
San Jose,
San Francisco,
Oakland,
Sacramento, we have a pretty good railroad museum and if you like I'll buy you dinner
Otherwise go over to -
Yosemite - highly recommended. Expensive hotel there, if you don't feel like camping.
Lake Tahoe - Reno to if you wanrt to gamble or like cheap buffets with decent food
Head on back to the coast and drive up US 1
Stop at the giant redwoods
Keep heading north to Fort Bragg
Head inland, see Mount Shasta
Lassen Park
Head back to I-5, go north
Ashland, Oregon
Crater Lake

From there I'll leave it to our Northwestern Gladers to guide you along.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I drove through and visited Crater Lake in Oregon a couple of years ago. It's truely an amazing place. If you get that far and want to venture further north, there are lots of beautiful things to see and fun things to do if you can make it up to Western Washington.

Take a ferry to the Olympic Peninsula. Hurricane Ridge, the Rain Forest, the Rain Shadow (other side of the mountain :p ).
http://www.northolympic.com/travelplanner.php






Take a ferry to Victoria BC, or drive up to Vancouver BC. (Bring your passport :p)
http://www.seattletoursaver.com/seattle ... a-clipper/





Sail the San Juan Islands
http://www.harrisonhousesuites.com/Isla ... oating.php



Visit the Experience Music Project, Science Fiction Museum, and the Space Needle
http://www.empsfm.org/
http://www.spaceneedle.com/


Go beach combing on the Washington Coast
Disclaimer: I have no clue who that is. It's just a random photo I found


Go Whale Watching.
http://www.whalemuseum.org/education/li ... hmain.html


Take a scenic drive
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/LocalPrograms/S ... ys/Map.htm

Stand in awe of "The Mountain"....


And that's just the western side of the state. :p~~

It's almost certainly out of the way for you, but I strongly recommend Payette National Forest and the environs in Idaho. It's a beautiful area, not excessivly touristy, and there is some fantasic food at the local restaurants.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

She sounds like she's getting the typical (and wonderful) post retirement wanderlust out of the way DE, out of her way may not mean much, especially if she's doing a 48 state tour.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

You could come visit Foamy and I and we can take you around like we did Michael


All PA places
Valley Forge National Park
New Hope an Antique town on the Delaware river.
Gettysburg
Hershey
Lancaster county
Poconos where you can visit an old time amusement park that still is running
called Knoebels and while there take a short trip over to burning Centrailia.

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"None is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people safe as they are the
ultimate guardians of their own liberty."- Thomas Jefferson

"Yeah, I'm rehearsing my poker face. I don't handle stupid well. *sigh*" - Farsky

It was a nice day, the squirrel and the freckled one (great freckles, bring chocolate) are good hosts,and Sean was a cute baby and is probably a daredevil toddler now. Philadelphia itself was grey and damp, but still interesting.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Great California list! Except ... you completely skipped Los Angeles! (Sorry, Disneyland doesn't count as LA.) If you want to squeeze an LA stop in there, drop me a PM. I can show you around all sorts of places, any kind of food you like. It's a fun town, despite the bad rep.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

She said 'no cities'... (which I also missed until after my Seattle post :p ) =)

Pretty much what Midgen said. I mentioned cities up north but did not go into detail because she wasn't interested in cities. Los Angeles is a great town and a miserable city at the same time. I could easily have added 100s of other places, but most of them are in the cities. If SG is interested I'll go through some more, but that seemed to be a pretty good start to a California based tour.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones