Americana Road Trip 2001

In My Humble Opinion
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Once or twice a year, my friends and I like to take a little raod trip into the States, usually 2 - 4 days. This year, we’re feeling a little more ambitious and are thinking of going for about 10 days. On these little trips we like to just generally savour all that our neighbours to the south have to offer, and basically enjoy everything that makes America, well, American: Truck stop breakfasts, outlet shopping and seeing all of the HUGE American flags on every single building.

We’d like to completely saturate ourselves with all that is American for a week or so. You know, really get an appreciation for you guys. So, American dopers, I challenge thee: What, in your opinion is the best (or even worst) example of what the U.S. has to offer? What can we do to really see the culture of the States? (And don’t try to tell me that Americans don’t have a culture, as soon as you cross the border you know that you’re in a different country, from my experience)Is there any thing in your hometown that you think a bunch of Canadians should see? Anything interesting in your state? Can we sleep on your couch? (Just kidding)

We’ll be going in May 2001, and probably be entering the U.S. in Montana or North Dakota. Then we’ll be going wherever we can go to and back within 10 days. We’ll probably camp a bit to keep costs down, so please let me know if there’s any good campgrounds that you know of. If you have any suggestions for a route to take within the U.S., please feel free to share it.

(And if anyone is taking a road trip through Southern Alberta, I’ll be happy to provide travel info for you.)

Thanks!

Oh yeah, and if any Saskatchewaners (is that what you guys are called?) or Manitobans know of anything that’s cool along the #1 through your provinces, please let me know, too!

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Ewww! Ewww! This will be fun.

I’ll probably post a few times in the next few days as ideas occur to me. Right off the top of my head, and certainly within range of your entry point:

Idea #1: Mount Rushmore. Giant presidential heads carved on a mountainside. Very, very Amarican. Very, very impressive.

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Thank you! That’s perfect (Why didn’t I think of that one?)
I’m also looking for things along the lines of “World’s Largest ________” type roadside attractions.

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Miss G: You might want to pick up a copy of the book Roadside America by Mike Wilkins, Ken Smith & Doug Kirby. It lists dozens of wacky & tacky sights and attractions across the USA.

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Well, If you’re gonna be at Mount Rushmore, you have to see Wall Drug too. Over the years it’s grown into one the ultimate kitschy roadside attratctions. It is the complete opposite of Mount Rushmore in every way, and still very, very American.

Also nearby, there’s a huge statue of Crazy Horse currently being blasted out of one of the Black Hills. It’s going to take another few decades to finish, but I’m told it’s already pretty impressive.

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I just love Northern California. The redwoods and coastlines along Hwy 1 and 101 are fabulous. If you go along “Ave of the Giants” (a redwood grove South of Eureka, on Hwy 101) you will find these charming itty bitty towns nestled among the redwoods. It’s totally fabulous. I found a little diner that has the BEST (so their sign says) milk shakes. I stopped and had one. It was pretty good!

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If you’re into offbeat roadside attractions, you have to check out roadsideamerica.com. It has as complete a listing of such things as you will find. Giant animals! Paul Bunyan statues! World’s largest (fill in the blank)! Corn palaces!

I consult the site every time I take a road trip, to see whether there are any fun things to do or see along the way. They have state-by-state listings for your convenience.

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Idea #2: Wind Cave National Park. If you do the Mt. Rushmore thing, plan on going to nearby Wind Cave NP, too http://www.nps.gov/wica/ . If you’ve never been inside a real cave, Wind Cave is a great choice. Neat geological formations, easy and informative cave tours, and fascinating historical exhibits are half the reason to go; the other half is what’s not there: no gaudy colored lights and tacky effects that private cave owners use to jazz up their caverns.

[Edited by slythe on 10-22-2000 at 12:26 PM]

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[grinning evilly]
Take a drive on the L.A. freeways. They pretty much “define” the American obsession with cars. And it will show you why I want to get the hell out of here!
[/grinning evilly]

As for roadside attractions, there’s “The Mystery Spot” in No. Cal. One of those places that have optical illusions to fool the gullible into thinking there’s some weird magic happening in the area. “Trees of Mystery”, also in No. Cal., has some interesting stands of trees. (I haven’t been to either of these places since I was a kid in the 70s, but I’ve seen the odd “Mystery Spot” bumper sticker around so I think it might still be there.)

Out toward Palm Springs there are the dinosaur structures that were used in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

New Orleans. 'Nuff said.

A good source for finding cool local stuff is the Let’s Go series of books. Here’s a link for Let’s Go 2000 Alaska & the Pacific Northwest : Including Western Canada (Let’s Go. Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, 2000) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312241372/qid=972230045/sr=1-61/103-5059148-0141444 Amazon.com has several Let’s Go books.

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Your always welcome in Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of the worlds longest arial tramway. Carlsbad about 3 hours to the southeast has an impressive array of caves.

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Also in the area of the Dakotas …

for a different kind of Americana, visit the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Big Bat’s Deli/Diner/Gas Station is a great place to stop for a meal. It is located at the only traffic light on the reservation, so you won’t have any trouble finding it. IMHO the reservation is a fascinating place just to drive around (much of it is in the Badlands) but if you like stopping at places, you can visit the Wounded Knee Memorial.

Just north of the reservation is a town called Interior, South Dakota. It’s on Highway 44, just south of the I-90. To the best of my knowledge, it consists of two bars and a handful of other buildings. Stop by and have a cold beer and listen to the country music on the jukebox. There is a KOA campsite a few miles east down 44 past Interior.

In Wyoming, Devil’s Tower (site of alien contact in “Close Encounters”) is a nifty place to visit. It is a National Park, and the camping was pretty good. Keep in mind that most US National Park Camping means that you are in close proximity to other campers, but it is a great way to meet people from all over the US and the world.

http://www.newyoming.com/DevilsTower/

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Some suggestions from someone who has driven across the US on back roads several times (and across Canada a time or two as well!) :

The world’s largest ball of twine, on US Route 24 in Cawker City, Kansas (north central Kansas). IMHO this one is much better than the one in Darwin, Minnesota. The Minnesota ball is behind a clear plastic wall, but you can walk right up to the Kansas ball and embrace it. This is a great photo op and also may be a good place to meditate on the meaning of life.
Monument Valley, in southern Utah and northern Arizona. While you’re in that part of the country, check out Utah’s spectacular National Parks (Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Zion NP, Capitol Reef NP, and several others.) Don’t forget the National Monuments that are also in that area.

If you cross the flat, central part of America that lies between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, don’t spend all your time on the multi-lane interstate highways. Take a little time to see the land you’re driving through by traveling on back roads. Stop in some of the small towns and walk around a little. One of the best traveling days I ever had was spent crossing Nebraska on back roads, sharing the trip with locals instead of with cars and trucks whose only interest was getting through the Midwest as quickly as possible.
Here are a couple of sights that I selfishly add just because they are close to home:

Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC: This road runs down the Mall, an open space that runs from the Lincoln Memorial to the United States Capitol. The road runs past the south lawn of the White House and offers good views of the heart of Washington’s downtown. Right across the river in Virginia, check out the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. They have an hourly changing of the guard ceremony.

Charlottesville, Virginia: 100 miles SW of Washington, DC. Home of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president and founder of the University of Virginia. The Rotunda, lawn, and gardens at the University are worth seeing if you’re passing through this part of the country-- they have been called the greatest achievement in the history of American architecture.

Wherever you go… have a great trip!

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The Mystery Spot is in Santa Cruz, probably way out of the way for Gretchen and her friend. Its bumper stickers are fairly ubiquitous, though. I saw one on a car in Jerusalem. Never went there myself.

This sounds like a fun trip, Gretchen. Don’t forget to post pics when you’re done!

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The “Trees of Mystery” are still there, though I didn’t visit them on my latest trip up the 101. The short-lived but very humorous TV series “Johnny Bago” (about a guy who travels around the country in a Winnebago) did a whole episode in “The Trees of Mystery”, though. I still have the episode on tape, it was priceless! There is also a spot up near Ukiah (?) or perhaps it Willits (N. CA, both on the 101) that sounds simular to “Mystery Spot”. I cannot remember the name of this attraction, but I think I went there as a kid.

If you end up in N. CA, do try to see the Skunk Train. It is around Willits (Hwy 101) and I took a ride on it about 12 years ago. You ride in an old-fashioned steam engine through the redwoods. It’s fun, and quite stunning. I need to take the Skunk Train again!

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If you plan on entering US via North Dakota, I would stop at the geographic center of North America just outside Rugby. I believe it’s identified with a monument of some sort.

I hope to get there someday (along with geographic center of United States - located in South Dakota). Weird, I know…but what can I say? I’m a geographer.

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Oh, how I love giving travel advice. How about the following suggestions:

Enter into Montana. Glacier National Park is right near the Canadian border. Then head for Deer Lodge, where you can tour the old Montana State Prison, and there are some other cool museums nearby as well. East on I-90 brings you to Bozeman, where there’s a Computer Museum.

From Bozeman, it’s a short hop to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is big, and if you’re into nature, you might very well want to spend more than one day there and in neighboring Grand Tetons National Park. At night, drive east to Cody, Wyoming, home of the Cody Night Rodeo (actually, if you’re from southern Alberta, especially Calgary, this might not be a new experience for you. Calgary’s big on Rodeo, isn’t it?). There are also museums around, including one dedicated to the American icon whose name the town bears: Buffalo Bill Cody.

Head west for another day in Yellowstone. From Yellowstone, you can head west into Blackfoot, Idaho, home of the Idaho Potato Expo.

South of Idaho is Utah, where you can slide the Alpine Slide in Park City and see some of the most gorgeous scenery that America has to offer: Arches and Zion National Parks. Not much further south is Arizona, which serves up Petrified Forest National Park (including the scenic Painted Desert) and, to its West, Grand Canyon National Park.

North of Grand Canyon is Las Vegas. I don’t think I need to say any more about that.

From Vegas, you might want to go west to California, where you’ll get your fill of movie and television studios and stuff. Try out for a game show or two, tour the areas where the Hollywood stars make their homes.

Or you might want to head East. That’ll take you back through Utah, but there’s enough scenic stuff in southern Utah for more than one trip. I-70 will bring you into Colorado. The Rocky Mountains are quite scenic, and I’d recommend taking the cog railway up Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs. Idaho Springs, Colorado has an old gold mine where you can pan for gold and semi-precious stones (we got ten, which I later had made into a bracelet for my wife), and Boulder contains the headquarters of the Celestial Seasonings Tea company.

You can head north back into Wyoming, and then East to South Dakota. The Black Hills of South Dakota are nothing short of spectacular, featuring Mount Rushmore (mentioned earlier in this thread), the Black Hills Caverns (it’s no Carlsbad Caverns, but still quite nice), the Black Hills Reptile Gardens, and Badlands National Park. If you go all the way to the eastern end of that state, you can visit the Shrine to Music Museum in Vermillion.

Heading north from Vermillion, you end up in North Dakota. The University of North Dakota at Grand Forks had a pilot’s training program which you can get guided tours of.

And that should bring you close to home again.

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Wow! you guys rock! I never realized how much, well, stuff the Dakotas had! I think that this will be a good trip - there will be six of us, but only myself and my co-planner will have a vague idea of where we are going . The others will just be told to book a certain week off and be on the doorstep with a suitcase on the morning that we leave. Not even Mr. Gretchen will be savvy to the plans!(hee hee. I love surprise travel more than anything in the world!)

Er, eponymous, I don’t think it’s the least bit weird to want to visit the geographical centre of the continent (Speaking as someone working towards TWO geography degrees)

I’ve checked into roadsideamerica.com before, and it seems to be full of good bits.

Thanks again, and are there any Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or Illinois dopers with any thing to share? We may head towards that area. Personally, I’d like to make it to Chicago.

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Moline Illinois: John Deere HQ. See the machinery that revolutionised American farming. Visit the lovely gift shop! Charles Dicken’s son is buried in Moline, too.

If you haven’t already, you must see Las Vegas. It’s even weirder than LA. If you come to LA, you can get studio tickets at http://www.tvtickets.com. Reserve early.

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Miss Gretchen:

Some of my favorite states!

Minnesota: Awesome stuff in the Twin Cities area. Rogers has the Ellingson Car Museum, with some pretty interesting-looking antique cars. Minneapolis is home to the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, a must-see whose name speaks for itself. And if you like malls, you’ll love the Mall of America in Bloomington, although someone who lives in reasonably close proximity to the West Edmonton Mall might not be so impressed with it.

Wisconsin: Baraboo has the Circus World Museum, which is not only a museum dedicated to circuses, but also has a mini-circus (few acts, but very impressive ones) there. Wisconsin Dells is a tourist mecca, and the big must-see is Tommy Bartlett’s Thrill show. There’s a Lumberjack Rodeo which takes place in two cities on alternating nights of the week. One of those cities is Hayward; I don’t recall what the other city is. In Appleton, the Outagamie Museum has a big exhibit dedicated to Harry Houdini.

All that, and I haven’t even touched Milwaukee!

Illinois: Didn’t get to spend much time there, but in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry is amazing. Ditto Iowa. The only thing I saw there was the Potawatomi County “Squirrel Cage” Jail in Council Bluffs, which is pretty cool…it’s an old jail which could spin around. I’m sure others have more suggestions that I do on those two states.

Chaim Mattis Keller

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If you want some advice about what to see in Saskatchewan just let me know what your planned routie is and I’ll come up with a list of the appropriate sights :wink:

(God I haven’t closed a post with this line for about 8 months)

Keith in Saskatchewan