# Holiday in USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889 "2008-01-09T19:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/21 "2008-01-09T20:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Maybe I’ve seen to many films but what would worry me about Texas is the car breaking down in the middle of nowhere. Not a soul for miles and yours truly is found 2 months later, dessicated and half eaten by desert critters and/or cannibals [/QUOTE] While our critters are something to fear, history would suggest our cannibals normally just stick with their girlfriends. [Four Corners Parks](http://raysweb.net/canyonlands/pages/parks.html). Seriously, world class vistas, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/22 "2008-01-09T20:32:27Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Florida! There’s more to us than theme parks, mate. [/QUOTE] Dude. He’s talking about _late August_! We don’t want to kill him. He should visit _us_ in, say, March. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/23 "2008-01-09T21:03:17Z")
Another vote for saving Texas, Florida, or other southern states for a different trip, that isn’t in late August. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/24 "2008-01-09T21:24:24Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Another vote for saving Texas, Florida, or other southern states for a different trip, that isn’t in late August. [/QUOTE] Me too. North Florida is great in around March or April. Southern Florida is great in late December. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/25 "2008-01-09T22:10:44Z")
I agree with the Northern California/Oregon/Washington/British Columbia road trip idea. Drive Highway 101 from San Francisco to Ashland, OR (be sure to stop in Tillamook and Canon Beach), then visit the Columbia River Gorge (waterfalls on the Oregon side). Drive up to Seattle, visit Mt. St. Helens and/or something else. After Seattle, take a ferry to Victoria and/or Vancouver. (just a suggestion) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/26 "2008-01-09T22:19:41Z")
However, if in the US for a month, that could put him in Texas to catch the end of September. It’s still hot, but not blazingly so. And there’s high school football! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/27 "2008-01-09T22:24:06Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] Dude. He’s talking about _late August_! We don’t want to kill him. He should visit _us_ in, say, March. 🆒 [/QUOTE] I’m English and I survived. He will too. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/28 "2008-01-09T22:51:23Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] I’m English and I survived. He will too. [/QUOTE] Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that… ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/29 "2008-01-09T22:56:49Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] I agree with the Northern California/Oregon/Washington/British Columbia road trip idea. Drive Highway 101 from San Francisco to Ashland, OR (be sure to stop in Tillamook and Canon Beach), then visit the Columbia River Gorge (waterfalls on the Oregon side). Drive up to Seattle, visit Mt. St. Helens and/or something else. After Seattle, take a ferry to Victoria and/or Vancouver. (just a suggestion) [/QUOTE] I agree with the agreeing. This itinerary looks like my trip up the coast 15 years ago, except that when I got to Seattle, I stopped. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/30 "2008-01-09T23:01:15Z")
[QUOTE=Pork Rind] I agree with the agreeing. This itinerary looks like my trip up the coast 15 years ago, except that when I got to Seattle, I stopped. [/QUOTE] Alas, me too. This is close to what my wife and I did quite a few years ago, but we couldn’t wait around in Seattle for the next ferry due to time constraints. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/31 "2008-01-10T06:33:43Z")
I second Washington, but I’d spend the whole trip there. (A road trip is a good idea if you’ve got a whole month, though.) I visited the Seattle area a couple years ago, and we fell in love with the area so much that we’re planning on moving there within the next two years. (It also makes economic sense; we’re not that crazy.) Before I went, my grandpa told me he’d been there for some reason when he was in the army and that it was the most beautiful place he’d ever seen. I agreed. I can’t do it justice–mountains, clean lakes, busy city, relaxed atmosphere, cool climate…but I loved it, so I’m sure I’ve got a skewed perspective. You’re also pretty close to Vancouver, so that might be another fun place to visit while you’re there. Colorado is also nice. It’s sunny and cheerful. Denver and Boulder are pretty vibrant, clean cities, and there are some neat places to visit in the surrounding area like the Flatirons, Dinosaur Ridge, and Red Rocks. Boulder’s more of a college town, but it’s a nice day trip from Denver. If you’re looking for low humidity, Denver’s the place. The first time I visited, I was there for a week. Every single morning, it felt like someone had dried out my whole head with a paper towel. That doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but I’d drink a few glasses of water and feel better, and I felt very energetic throughout our stay. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/32 "2008-01-10T08:00:03Z")
Righto chaps I’ve taken on board all that’s been said and thus far **lieu** has nailed it. Today I’m going to buy _The Lonely Planet, USA_ and take a butchers through it, I really don’t know why I never bought this book before ::smack:: Thanks for all advice and info ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/33 "2008-01-10T08:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Righto chaps I’ve taken on board all that’s been said and thus far **lieu** has nailed it. Today I’m going to buy _The Lonely Planet, USA_ and take a butchers through it, I really don’t know why I never bought this book before ::smack:: Thanks for all advice and info [/QUOTE] You wont go wrong if you visit OHIO, some of the friendliest girls I have met have been from Cincinati or Cleaveland. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/34 "2008-01-10T08:22:48Z")
[QUOTE=Taters] Washington is not humid like the south. There are loads of places to see and stopover in Washington and Oregon and Northern California. Travel is easy via the coast highway or I-5, although I-5 is not as scenic. At any rate, travel is easy and maps are easy to understand. Scenic drives are clearly marked and posted on highways as well. We have beautiful state and national parks in Washington. I’m not as familiar with Oregon’s parks. [/QUOTE] Seattle was so lovely that I didn’t want to leave. The weather, the scenery, the people … I loved it. I was there for a month. And then I came home to South Australian summer and spent the next week (Well, month. Well, ever since, really.) depressed as hell about being here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/35 "2008-01-10T08:36:37Z")
Since you claim to dislike Hot ‘n’ humid, what’s wrong with Alaska? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/36 "2008-01-10T08:39:26Z")
Sodding big polar bears that’s what ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/37 "2008-01-10T09:08:33Z")
I agree with **DMark** - go west young man. I have done several road trips across west Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Colorado. Altogether my favourite (vast) part of the US. You don’t know what the sky is until you’ve been out in the deserts. It’s _big_. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SamuelP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelP)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/38 "2008-01-10T12:50:05Z")
Texas. It’s very, very unlikely that you will “break down in the middle of nowhere” any place a tourist like yourself would want to hang around. Despite what every slasher film of the 80s would have you believe, it’s not miles and miles of country roads littered with deranged hitch-hikers(ok, there are miles and miles of country road, but again, nowhere near where you would be hanging out). Though if you do like living on the wild side, you could do as I did on my first visit to the States(Texas): drive in the middle of nowhere until you come to either a cheap barbeque shack, run down strip club, or cheap motel. Closest I came to deranged hitch-hiker was the guy at a rest stop that tried to get me to buy some shotguns from his trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/39 "2008-01-10T12:59:22Z")
The bar in Prairie, Idaho – best approached from the northwest. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889/40 "2008-01-10T13:32:21Z")
Having bought _The Lonely Planet_ I now have to take off my English think hat. ::hat removed:: OK Having been to the USA a number of times and being aware that it’s big, I’m now faced with the fact that it aint just big, it’s bloody enormous. This puts a bit of a kybosh on my grandiose plans of just tootling around from one state to the next, a simple thing if you live in the UK going from one county to another, an almost impossible task in the states unless I want to spend all day driving, which I don’t. On the face of it I would appear to be heading to Rhode Island yet again but this time I figure with a bit of planning I can get to see a fair bit of New England. With it being almost Autumn when I’m there the sights should be something beautiful to behold. Again my thanks to y’all. ::hat back on:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-in-usa/432889.md?page=3)