"AMERICA"
Simon & Garfunkel
There is one thing I have always thought about and that is renting a Motorhome and taking a month or two and driving the 49 States. Seeing the wonders that are throughout our incredible country.
Some want to travel to Europe, and that would be nice, but I feel like it would be a sin to do that before seeing all that my incredible Country has to offer. Now I have been to many States (25 actually) and seen some incredible things.
The map below shows all of the states I have actually spent a night in over my life. Have I seen the natural beauty of all of these states? Unfortunately no, as some stays have been due to business, but I have seen many wonderful sights, including: (click to enlarge all photos)
In New York, south of Rochester is Letchworth State Park, (left) a relatively unknown work of nature. It is the largest canyon east of the Grand Canyon (a place I have never been to), and is full of nature at it's best.Also the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Lush forests, beautiful lakes, wineries to tour...so much to do.
The caverns in Virginia, specifically Luray (right) and Skyline (the website
seems to be down now, but you can try it HERE or read about the caverns HERE). I visited them as a child and had the opportunity to bring Matt to see the Luray Caverns when he was about the same age as I was.The incredible White Mountains of New Hampshire, (left) on fire with fall
colors...colors that I did not even know existed in nature. The Adirondacks of New York. The Smokeys of Tennessee (left below) and North Carolina. The Rockies in Colorado where I was able to ski at 13,000+ feet at Arapahoe Basin, (right below) above the tree line in a complete white-out where you skied with your feet and not your eyes.
The incredible beaches of Long Island (left below) where I grew up. I have always thought East-West beaches were the best. The wave action and the sand is different from North-South beaches. But you can not discount the beaches of the New Jersey Shore, Daytona Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach, or The Keys (center below) of Florida and Hampton Beach in New Hampshire and the Outer Banks (right below) in North Carolina.
The beauty of Boston (left below) and Philadelphia (center left below) and Washington, DC (center right below) and Gettysburg (right below). Our history literally unfolds in front of your eyes.
What is the one place in the US that you have visited that struck you as the most perfect natural beauty? For me it has to be Niagara Falls.
What is the one place in the US that you have not been to, but want to visit before you leave the world? I think the Grand Canyon,
But after viewing the video linked below there are so many others also.
I received this incredible video from Dad Vince yesterday and wanted to share it with all y'all...
Enjoy....
Enjoy....
The most perfect natural beauty? Well, I did look in a mirror today!
Ah come on, stop groaning over there.
I think the Redwood forrests of northern California rank right up there for me.
Where would I like to Go?
Mount Rushmore (SP?), Hawaii, and of course NEY YORK!
I dig the falls at Niagra. Have a great Thursday Vin. Cheers!!
Great post bond, I think it would be wonderful to see all the states also. I real dream come true. I hope you accomplish your dream someday. :-) I couldn't view your video...darn. It kept going to the white page thingy. I will try again later. I love the song you played, perfect for this post! I wouldn't expect anything less from you though. You are the Music! Hugs to you my friend.
Kimmie
JEFFB: You DID hear me groan? LOL RUshmore is part of the video (which was not working when you visited, but is fixed now)
MATT-MAN: They are freakin spectacular..I have been there numerous times
KIMMIE: TY The video link is fixed...I should have tested it before I posted...sheesh...When I was writing the post, the song was playing in my mind.
HUGS
Ya got east of the Mississippi nicely covered, though the Maryland hole seems odd
SPARKY: How did I miss that...I have spent time in Annapolis at a friend's...OK, fixed
What is the one place in the US that you have visited that struck you as the most perfect natural beauty? That would be Yosemite National Park in California.
What is the one place in the US that you have not been to, but want to visit before you leave the world? I want to tour the Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields.
The other thing I'd like to do is drive the highway up from Washington state through Canada and up to Alaska.
I got to tell you Mr 007, this is you at your very best. To start with, I love Simon and Garfunkle, so I played it while I read the post then I got to the video and was reminded why I was willing to put it all on the line for my country.
Damn you get around Bond. And I mean that in a non slutty way :P
Lemme see:
Washington - Land of Grunge
The current shithole - Oregon
Utah - Born and raised...woot.
Idaho. Tots really are the best thing.
Whyoming - misspelling intentional :P
California - Land of Beach Boys and Hotels
Colorado - A gimme when born in Utah.
Arizona - Hippy childhood
New Mexico - Grandparental trip
Georgia - Home in my heart if not yet on my address.
Alabama - Close second. I love Bama
On all of my cross-country driving trips, I think I've covered probably 40 states. I've seen a lot, but it was all from the comfort of the interstates. There is so much more to see from "off the beaten paths."
I admit to being partial to the scenery west of the Continental Divide, but I have see beauty back east this is unmatched.
The video was wonderful, V. Thank your dad for the link.
the video was cool...tell your dad thanks...
I have been fortunate to see many of our nations most beautiful locations...
and I live in an incredibly gorgeous part of the world.
I would love to tour the country...take an enitre year.
I've been to 30 states, mostly on business, and had very little time to actually visit anything fun.
I do think a driving vacation would be a great opportunity to see some really great sights. I think I might wanna view some episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives so I can pick some great places to eat along the way.
TRAVIS: The drive would be way cool. Visiting the battlefields is also cool...Gettysburg..man you can feel the souls all around you
SARGE: I thought of you and the millions of others when I got to the end of the video Sir
THANK YOU for the kind words
STARR: hehehe non-slutty..thanks! Looking forward to you someday seeing Tennessee
SONGBIRD: I could have added more states for the "drivng" but those are states I slept in at least one night...
You just thanked dad!
KATHERINE: You just thanked him also...You do live in a beautiful area...I did get to drive up the coast from Santa Barbara to SF once while out there on business...I had the option of flying it, but decided to take an entire day and do a slow drive up the coast highway...made a few stops at a few beaches and walked down to them...spectacular
One of my friends did just that a few months ago. His FIL is a car dealer, so they got a good deal on an RV. They're traveling up and down the east coast. One of the reasons they bought it is because they have an infant and wanted the comfort of traveling in a "home" with her. Of course, I hate to see what his gas bill will be, but hey, since we're teachers, he can afford it, right?
It was great typing comments to S&G. I've always liked this song. (Except when they mention the New Jersey Turnpike.)
Dad's video was great. I have to see if I can save that on my hard drive for class.
P.S. Your post is kind of funky...it's vomiting onto the sidebar with Firefox. If I were to take a guess, if you shrink the map, it might cure the mess.
FRED: Yes, the gas bill will be high, but no hotel/motel bills and you can cook many meals in the RV, so it probably evens out over the long run.
I shrunk the map....wondering what your monitor resolution is...
I would love to drive through all the States. We drove to California, down through, Idaho, MOntana, Utah, Nevada, California, and up the coast. I've done that a few times...next I'd like do go down through the middle States. Lol...then the eastern ones.
I've not been to enough places - there are still so many over here I've not seen.
However I am aware that America has some really stunning places.
Have you done Scotland?
All fixed. Monitor resolution is 1024 x 768.
I did my map here: http://justtug.blogspot.com/search?q=map
I would love to do the RV country tour also...and I think so far the most beautiful I've seen is the Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park, Flaming Gorge in Utah, and the Redwoods in Cali. Ooh, I love the Oregon coast, too.
I would love to visit NYC & Boston sometime... *sigh*
Your going to have to swing by Idaho if ya get a chance!
MIRANDA: cool..DO IT!
TOPCHAMP: never been to EuRope at all
FRED: Thanks Fred
ROGER: I just might do that my friend...
I have been fortunate to have been and traveled in every state except Hawaii. All of Canada except Newfoundland, most all of Europe except Spain and Ireland, and many many Carribean islands. At this present time my nephew is doing something high on my list to do before I die, he's sailing through the South Pacific on his way to New Zealand.
The beauty of it all, Yosemite National Park. Before I leave this world I'd very much like to see the Grand Canyon. The thought of it makes my heart go pitter pat and my eyes tear; they are right now.