I'm going to............ Treat Springfield and Eugene if I'm able to stay where I want, like a typical City Slicker without a car. Get my bus pass for $3.50 for the day every day. Walk and get the odd taxi too. (I've already researched the correct amount to tip a taxi driver, 5%). However... Eugene/Springfield has... Pre's Trail - I plan to run this with my GPS turned on tracking it and saving it with my favourite running app - I'm even tempted to hashtag #oregontrail for that one. I'm going to enjoy myself with my camera and the evergreens and American infrastructure alone. Where I want to stay is great for everything I need and I could be self sustained in this block, so venturing out would be part of the fun of exploration and points of interest I've found they've got that I want to go. If I do this trip, I'd want an Oregon state flag and Walmart's website says they've got them, which was the only place I found that had them. This should be fun for a week. Then I get to return back to Soho.
Then after that, who knows where I'd go in US? - but I'd have done Springfield. (Might even return to Springfield, never know, I may love it there).
When I tell people on travel forums I want to go to Springfield, OR, they're like why? They're like 'it's a saw mill town' 'it's a college town' etc etc... They may be right... But it has a pace of life we don't get in London, and to live it, for a week. I am very well aware of what I've got to come home to here in London.
I watched two or three episodes on youtube last night to while away half an hour until beddy-bies time. I don't know how the script writers have been able to sustain the standard over all these years - they're as clever now as they were from the start.
I'm late to this thread but I've lived all over the US and unlike anywhere else in the world, there is something for everyone here. My favorite part of the country is the Pacific NW. Oregon is a bit expensive but absolutely beautiful. It's too bad you won't be renting a car, you could spend a week just traveling around that state and seeing the sights. If you are a fan of history, the Southeast has the most with all of the civil war sites that have been preserved. The western hemisphere is young compared to Europe and Asia though so history isn't really something we have a great deal of. DC is an amazing place to visit. Some of the historical sights simply can't be matched anywhere in the world. Even as a grown man the Vietnam memorial has brought me to tears every time I've seen it. The constant vigil kept at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changijng of the guard is also a very moving experience. I could go on but chances are no one reads this anyways.
I'm seeing what's what about visiting Springfield and Eugene and Portland, Oregon... Portland offered up The Simpsons House (IMO) and a lady walking her dog in a robe, USA! USA! USA! (It's not like I don't see this stuff in the UK)... I saw a random YouTube video about a Southerner talking about the Rebel flag saying 'You can't fix stupid with a vacuum stupid' and a random sign I spied on google maps looking at hotels with a tool shop or appliance store, all the way out in Springfield in Oregon that had/has a marquee that says 'You can't fix stupid'... So today I found an interesting looking guitar store in Eugene, and decided to click down the block to see what it'l look like walking to this place. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@44.0476976,-123.0984174,3a,75y,53.42h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scKG8ZHzIfa1Qxsip5hWR0g!2e0!6s//geo0.ggpht.com/cbk?panoid=cKG8ZHzIfa1Qxsip5hWR0g&output=thumbnail&cb_client=maps_sv.tactile.gps&thumb=2&w=203&h=100&yaw=227.40811&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656 I see some guy laying on the ground and the cops arresting another guy.... 'TF?
House on the Rock, Wisconsin. Takes almost 3 hours to travel this amazing house and it is the most breathtaking house I have ever seen. The infinity room is all glass and let's you look straight down the side of a mountain. The doll carousel is the biggest in the world. Amazing. Wisconsin dells, Wisconsin. Waterpark Capital of the world with many other cool things to do there including duck rides on the scenic river. Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha Nebraska. One of the largest zoo's in the entire world with the most species of animal of any zoo in the US. The Night, Desert and Jungle domes are amazing as is the aquarium that surrounds you. South Dakota. South Dakota has more amazing scenic places than any state I have ever been too and it has Mount Rushmoore. The list of places to see in South Dakota is almost endless. The movie "Dances With Wolves" was filmed in the breath taking frontier of SD and the 1880's town from the movie is still there. The corn palace in mitchellville is a castle made out of corn. SD also has the badlands. Wyoming. Cheyenne Wyoming is a beautiful area with mountains covered in a sea of grass and trees. Devil's Tower is an extinct Volcano you can visit and climb and Yellowstone National Park is breathtaking. Colorado. Colorado has the Rocky Mountains. Colorado Springs has the breath taking park "Garden of the God's" and Glenwood Springs has an amusement park with the highest elevation roller coaster in the country that goes out over a mountain. Pike's Peak is cool. Iowa. The Iowa State fair is simply amazing and one of the best in the world. It is going on right now. Pella's "Tulip time" in the spring draws a crowd over over 100,000 people. The tulips and parades are breathtaking. Best lighted "dutch" parade I have ever seen and one of the best parades in the entire country for just a small city in my opinion. Orange City in Iowa also has a "Tulip time". Both festivals occur in the spring and has been visited by the dutch king and queen. The movie "Field of Dreams" is from Iowa. Upper Iowa River is very scenic with many campgrounds, fishing, swimming and canoeing/rafting. Decorah, Iowa is a nice norwegian town while Kolana is a nice amish town. That's just places in the midwest. If you were to go south I would say the "Grand canyon" is amazing. To the eat is "Ash" North carolina in the smoky mountains and it is a beautiful town and tourist trap. South Carolina has Myrtle Beach which is nice. Michigan has "Mackinac Island" which is pretty and allows no cars on the island. All travel is done by horse and carriage. Florida has "Disney World" and California has "Disneyland". Missouri has "Lake of the ozarks" and Branson Missouri in the same area. Big tourist trap with lot's of shows, music and fishing plus duck rides. Kansas has Monument Rocks from an inland sea and North Dakota has more badlands national parks. Minnesota has "Mall of America". America has so much to offer and I have only named a few of the many great places. My favorite area is the midwest for the scenery and nature places. Wisconsin, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota (Land of the 10,000 lakes) are amazing places.
I'm thinking... I already know what food I want to eat: (Things London doesn't have). I know how to get from the airport to the hotel I want. Things I want to do in Eugene is: Run Pre's Trail, see the University of Oregon (where the Nike guy worked on his artificial running track), even check out this historical cemetery where the town founder is buried. Things I want to do in Springfield is Shop, eat, selfie. Portland I want to spend $100.00 on the return ticket and $5.00 and/or Taxis to see/shop in Portland for the day go to Voodoo Doughnuts. The hardest part for me is finding the cool guitars, the high end Gibsons or Fenders or Martins or Guilds. I'm thinking, I want to do all this from Thursday to Thursday (arriving late on Wednesday and leaving the next Friday). Is this enough time?
They also have pot in Oregon and I've found a mom and pop in Springfield that's okay with smoking this in their smoking rooms so. It does have that.
Delta will fly me all the way via Salt Lake City and allow 1 carry on (this laptop, I wouldn't mind posting from Springfield/Oregon for a week in the US/on Facebook and everything) - 1 checked suitcase £77.00 for my second suitcase Coming home I want 3 suitcase at £300.00 (my free one + 2 extra ones)... If I buy a guitar, it'll be this price to take it it home with me Vs. at least $1, 000.00 to FedEx it to me in England. If I don't buy a guitar I might not need this and so should be £77.00
I also plan to; Pack 1 suit case, and then distribute between both going out so I can come back with 2 full suitcases (1 I plan to pack all the gifts and souvenirs into from this trip and the other should be all my things I took out there) - and I'm assuming my laptop will be my carry on.
I used to be very curious about the US too, but nowadays I just do not feel much interest to visit that place at all. Before some butthurt fanboy smashes his keyboard, I will have to clarify that this has nothing to do with politics, but simply with personal preference. I am not sure if there is anything at all for me to experience there. Only thing that is a bit tempting is that Americans seem to be alot more chill kind of persons compared to Swedes.
Personally, I'm more curious about being able to solo outside of England for a week. and, yes, I'm the guy who went to Amsterdam and compared to Croydon Town Centre and Central London with pot. So for this trip, America interests me (instead of more Croydons or Londons). That's also why I'm not looking at Manhattan for this trip.
More people live in Croydon and Lambeth than people live in Wyoming. According to Google Maps, that's 15.8 miles. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/A...cccad738c2b5dc0!2m2!1d-0.1231231!2d51.4945661
My family used to tent camp every summer, and we hit every state except Hawaii. I was pretty young on some of these trips, but I loved Montana. We visited the "Little Bighorn" battle site. I'm a midwest boy, but I can sure see why Montana is called big sky country. The clear blue, cloudless horizon goes forever. The midwest is just as flat, but it is just different in Montana. I liked getting shells and sand dollars in the Gulf of Mexico, Corpus Cristi was amazing. I loved the New Mexico and Arizona deserts as well. Farmers are a tough people, but the toughest people I ever met were Oklahoma ranchers. This is where the manly men are. I was disappointed in the Grand Canyon. Am I the only one that just doesn't get it? If you want to see the most desolate unforgiving place in the US, try Kansas. There is a hot, dry wind that even sucks the moisture out of the cracked dirt. I saw a license plate that read "Suicide is redundant in Kansas."
Considering the limited time frame and diversity of things to experience in America I would recommend focusing on the west coast. A week is not even enough time to experience California adequately between the natural beauty and the cities. Yosemite and San Francisco are well worth the time but there is much to see between the two.
there really is only one place to visit the Boundary Waters Canoe Area/Voyageurs National Park. People that say all US cities look the same have not been to New Orleans. For food, history, architecture, culture and music you go to New Orleans.
The flint hills of Kansas is beautiful. I didn't realize how beautiful that area of Kansas was until we moved.
