Fellow KTT2'ers, has anyone done a road trip across US? I want to do one, but cant settle on destinations. I'd be starting in the North East and can go for 3 weeks.

What are interesting places to visit / things to see? The only one I had any strong feelings for was Roden Crater, but turns out its not open to public yet. Suggestions akin to this would be great but all recommendations are welcome, and much appreciated.

Cheers

(I'd be going later in year October/November - so hopefully most places will be open)

Recently drove from Cali to Utah, it was cool.

Biggest road trip I’ve done was Cali all the way to Canada and New York, s*** is exhausting. ☠️

do you wanna visit areas with nature or major cities?

if it's the latter, come to chicago. it's a great place to visit with tons of good food. just make sure to bring some good cold weather gear.

Nature. But would like to stop at interesting museums, towns for half a day when possible.

For example, this inspired me:
grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/rembert-explains-america-discovering-the-glorious-all-iowa-lawn-tennis-club

That is exhausting yeah - dont think id be able to do cross country without needing another vacation after. Most likely I start from Toronto, make it to mid west & back in a loop

Here’s some beautiful natural areas kind of near Toronto: Acadia National Park in Maine, northern Minnesota, Upper Peninsula Michigan, the Appalachian Mountains (Shenandoah & Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in VA and NC/TN), Adirondacks in Upstate NY

Note I haven’t been to all of these places myself

White Sands in New Mexico is crazy. Like another planet. Grand canyon dope. Rock formations in Utah tight.

That's mostly what I know cuz I live down here in the southwest. Don't know how realistic getting here and back
to the NE in 3 weeks is tho. Just some suggestions.

Peep AtlasObscura for more ideas.

Did Los Angeles to Cleveland and saw a lot of cool s***.

If you have others to drive with you cross country is definitely feasible

Couple years back I did Detroit to LA and back in 2 weeks

Stayed a week in LA.

The drive home was pretty much just driving and stopping to sleep at night, didn’t do any tourism on the way back, that took 3 days (2 nights)

But on the drive there, stopped in St. Louis for a half day, checked out the arch and a museum right by it. Camped just outside of there night 1.
Then stopped in Denver and spent a half day there, walking around downtown and getting food/legal weed (this was when Colorado was the only legal state). We were gonna camp but it was really rainy so we just slept in the car for a couple hours then took off to the next place.

Stopped at the Grand Canyon and spent essentially the whole day there, we got there probably at around 1 or 2 and stayed till like noon the next day. If Grand Canyon is possible definitely go there. It was better than LA imo. And it was 50C when I went in July so October will be much better weather. We stayed at the Toroweap campground, campground that’s literally 50 feet from the edge and there’s no fences or anything so you can literally walk right to the edge. It’s amazing. However the drive to the campground is pretty rough, you’re driving on dirt roads for ~3 hours and the last 20 minutes is literally driving on big rocks. Would not suggest if you don’t have a truck or jeep.

Next day we took off and stopped in Vegas for a couple hours just to see it. Was alright. Then took off and made it to LA by that evening where we spent a week.

We had 3 drivers and had no issues with getting tired etc so it’s definitely possible. If you add a 3rd week you can draw it out even more and do tourist stuff on the way back as well. And stay even longer in LA which is a more relaxing type vacation, let’s you do both a regular vacation and a road trip all in one.

I did two road trips, one from Cali all the way to NC, p much covered all the states bordering Mexico and the gulf.

Then another one from NC to Maine, and then Maine all the way to Cali haha.

For any tips, I would recommend not staying too long in bumfuck states with nothing to do. So states like Arkansas, Virginia, Oklahoma, New Mexico etc. And use that time to spend a greater amount of time on states with interesting things to do/more things to see.

And allocate more time in bigger states like Texas and California. Each region and cities in those states are quite unique in what they offer.

I'm a truck driver. I got you.

thanks this is good advice

have spent 2 weeks in LA the other year. whats there in Texas? wasn't really considering stopping there

It's been a really long time since I went roadtripping to Texas, but the major cities in Texas are pretty interesting to visit. I remember Houston, Austin, and Dallas fondly. Also the gulf towns of Texas as well.

CA is the dopest place I visited though, which is why I'm living here now.

Where did you visit in CA?

LA. Been wanting to go forever, so finally did. It was like 2 days before the Fires started. Was staying at an airbnb in Malibu, and obviously had to evacuate so ended up spending majority of my time in Manhattan beach. Blessing in disguise cause although I went across all LA, Manhattan beach was definitely favorite place I spent significant time at

dang that's a nice area, LA is a pretty rich and diverse place.

A lot of CA left for you to visit too. SD is a gem as well, not sure how much you like nature but there's a lot of nice national forests/parks to visit near SoCal.

Def recommend the sand dunes here if you come over again.

how much did that cost

and what was the most interesting state to travel through?

I’m on one right now, I’m in Denver for the night. Went from California all the way to Florida, and now heading back west, been on the road for over 2 weeks. Going see 25 states on this trip, half of the US. Now I seen 29 states and goal is to see all 50. Might take another trip in July to finish off the other states..:

what are coolest thing you've seen / done so far?

I’m
Not really partying so much with a chick and 2 others. Just been eating at every main spot best food, a few hikes. My favorite

• Austin- seen a bunch of a old friends haven’t seen in awhile. San Antonio was nice too. I’m a big Texas fan

• St Augustine and North Florida was nice and interesting. Only been to Miami before , so didn’t go down there. Weather was really bad down there

• Denver is democrat so everything shut down. Kinda just resting for a long drive to Zion, drive a lot to get here. Been to Denver a few times before

• seen some crazy caves in the Midwest, Missouri area.

• Alabama was nicer than I thought. Never really thought much of it, but a lot of history

• no f***s given in the south / Midwest about masks, and Trump flag everywhere.

• Georgia was nice, and New Orleans looked a lot more run then I remember. Probably because when I went to Nola before, I was drunk and it was Mardi Gras. Seemed like a horror movie this time , and a lot of spooky people out

• Midwest kinda felt like filler. A lot of driving, I guess the caves were cool.

• It isn’t far but Phoenix is an under rated area.

Biggest surprised was Charlestown South Carolina. That town is lit af 🔥

i did a road trip frm sf 2 portland it was v fun,,,,v nice city 2 walk around in
we stopped in bend just for overnight

i rly rly wanna road trip the south carolina bbq trail n other bbq trails

carmel in cali is reaaalllly pretty and has a nice scenic drive, can go 2 the monterey bay aquarium 2 its v close
and the sequoia national park is according to google map a 4.5 hr drive frm arnd there

I been eating like a don. Feel like I gained 10 lbs lol. Hopefully I can knock out the other 25 states end of July.

Sequoia and Yosemite were close because our governor being a p****. Hope they reopen, that’s my backyard