L.A. to New York...

[STARGAZER]

Hey guys.

So this summer I've decided to go to the states. I'm getting hold of the 'ameripass' for the greyhound bus, and I also have a rail pass.

BUt here's the thing...I'm not sure where I wanna go. I DO know I'm gonna start in L.A. and finish in NY. But inbetween that I have about 3 months.

Any ideas?

I guess I'm just interested to see where you guys might haver been. Where you'd recommend? Where you wouldn't?

Thanks anyway....hope to hear from you...

[xanthuos]

Originally posted by STARGAZER@May 21 2006, 02:17 PM


Hey guys.

So this summer I've decided to go to the states. I'm getting hold of the 'ameripass' for the greyhound bus, and I also have a rail pass.

BUt here's the thing...I'm not sure where I wanna go. I DO know I'm gonna start in L.A. and finish in NY. But inbetween that I have about 3 months.

Any ideas?

I guess I'm just interested to see where you guys might haver been. Where you'd recommend? Where you wouldn't?

Thanks anyway....hope to hear from you...

[snapback]121995[/snapback]

Hmmm, I've grown more and more fond of Amtrak recently...so I would say forget the Greyhound pass and just stick with the rail pass. Amtrak serves just about all the major cities in the US, so it's not like you're missing much. Then if you *really* want to hit somewhere that's not served by Amtrak, you can just buy an advance purchase (7-day) ticket on Greyhound usually for a cheaper price.

As for suggestions on where to go? It's like asking people where to go in Europe hehe There's so much in the US. My favorite city is Nashville, which is not served by Amtrak. Memphis, TN is, however...so even rather than the Greyhound, go to Memphis, spend a few days there, and rent a car and go to Nashville. I'm sure other folks will have suggestions to.

[TheJake]

If you are going to go to tennessee there are so many thing other than nashville and memphis but that's for a different thread.

If you are starting in LA you are starting in the right place. I would say find a group at your hostel that's headed to the Grand Canyon, hit that up, spend a night in Flagstaff, AZ.

Other than that you could spend months just on the West Coast. As for hostels there I would highly recommend that you DONT stay in the HI hostels there. Stick with http://www.bananabungalow.com/ and I recommend their hostel in santa barbara to get out of the stench of LA.

After Santa Barbara I would say head either north to portland or just straight west to Las Vegas just to say you've been there (you could do that on the Grand Canyon trip too) and then head towards Denver.

Denver is an awesome town. You'll notice some similarites between the surfers of california and the ski bums of colorado in the malls on 3rd st in Santa Monica and the mall on 16th St in Denver. From Denver I would take the snow train up to Granby/Winter Park Colorado for a day or two. There is not a youth hostel up there but there are several locations you could camp and enough temporary people there that if you hit the Winter Park Pub you could easily find someone willing to give you a bunk for the night. Hitchhiking in that part of the rockies is also fairly common (i wouldnt recommend it for denver though...)

From Denver you could take the train to Chicago or try to go even more MidWest and hit up Kansas City or St Louis for some down home midwest farm life. Chicago would be choice though. After toolin around in chicago for a bit, eating some white castles and some pizza (try Geno's East downtown) and hitting some blues clubs you can head south or further east. I think youll find the most enjoyable times along the west coast though!

*Banana Bungalows also offers a work to live program most of the time from what i can tell. You work like 4 hours a day and get a bed for the night. They prefer that you stay at least 3 weeks.*

[astro25e]

I would have to agree that the greyhound is not the best way to get around. i have no qualms if you need to get form place to place, but it's not a choice way to do the entire trip. i can barely handle six hours on the thing, let alone going DAYS on it! if you have time, chicago is a great central destination. but i hear st louis is great as well. my friend is from kansas city though, and she doesn't recomend it, but she tries to pretend she's not from missouri, and hides her southern accent! it could be a fantastic town. colorado is a state not to be missed. there's a reason everyone goes there! have fun seeing what many people who just do the east and west coasts miss! you'll have an awsome time!!!

[omisan]

I would rather use nail clippers... on my scrotum... than ever ride Greyhound again.

[lauren313]

Originally posted by omisan@May 22 2006, 09:01 AM
I would rather use nail clippers... on my scrotum... than ever ride Greyhound again.

[snapback]122058[/snapback]

I don't even have balls, and that makes me want to cry.

[anthony85]

Hey again. Its 'stargazer', just under a different name. (technical glitch).

Thanks for the great advice there. Got everything from Nashville to scrotums. One thing I do know, judging by what you've said, will be taking Amtrak for the most part.

I don't want to plan it all, I'll see where the wind takes me...but thanks a lot for your replys. Appreciate it. Feel free to keep 'em comin'.

[anthony85]

Oh and thanks TheJake for that bananabungalow info, might come in handy. Being able to work for your bed would be great. Will def check out that santa barbara hostel.

Thanks man.

[tumblezweedz]

Some years back I did a round the US trip by Amtrak. Covered about 10,000 miles in a month, and traveled through every region except the extreme north east (north east of Pennsylvania). Basically, the train coverage is pretty extensive (I think it goes to every continental state except Wyoming, South Dakota and West Virginia), so you can pretty much get anywhere you've a mind to see in the country.

There are basically three main west/east routes, in the north, centre and south of the country, though the north and central routes both go through Chicago, as I recall. Personally, I prefered the northern and central routes, but since I was living in the southwest and moving to the southeast, I did take that one as well.

From LA I'd head north to the Pacific Northwest and then east, either through Glacier National Park and across the northern Plains, or down through the Rockies farther south in Colorado (Denver might be a good place to stop for a bit) and across the plains of Nebraska and Kansas. You can't really avoid great long stretches of space, but that's part of the whole American ethos, and it's worth experiencing.

Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon are also high on the list, but if you're in that area, I'd also head to Santa Fe. The train actually stops in Lamy, as I recall, and then you catch a bus to Santa Fe. I stayed in a hostel there, but can't remember the name. As I recall, both Albuquerque and Santa Fe had either free or dirt cheap public transit, which was an added bonus.

Since you've got lots of time, consider stopping in a smaller middle-American city, like Wichita, Kansas or Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most people's impressions of the US are based on TV or fleeting visits to either the east or west coast - visiting the midwest gives you a lot more insight into a less well-known America. In Wichita, you can check out an America's Cup racing yacht (yes, in Kansas), the Kansas Aviation Museum (Kansas was a hotbed of early aviation and still has quite an industry today), and quite a good art museum, as well as a nice cafe district. I was quite surprised... I don't recall if the train goes right to Wichita - Newton may be the closest stop, and then you could hop on a bus.

Haven't spent much time in Tulsa, but there's quite a good zoo, if you're into that sort of thing, and it's about as middle America as you can hope for. Harder to get to without a car, but worth it if you have one, is Bartlesville, Oklahoma. You drive through wild grass prairie reserves and if you're lucky you might see wild horses and buffalo, but in the town itself there are a whole bunch of Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings. It's quite unexpected to say the least. Although I recently heard that the main one was burned in an arson attack, so try to get confirmation before making that particular trip.

I guess the bottom line is, by all means, visit the great, famous places and big cities, but try to spend at least a little time somewhere a little farther off the usual route; spending a week a farming community in Nebraska - or even a city there - is going to give you quite a unique experience, unlike any you'll have in New York or Chicago or LA.

[TheJake]

^by "unique" I am pretty sure she means "boring"

thus the cactus

[iomaggio]

Good thing avoiding Greyhound. It's really no fun.

I think most people responding to your post have been mentioning their own cities. Which is fine. But if you're starting out in LA then you want to head up the coast to San Francisco, which is my city, and which is far different from almost everything else in California -- and the country, for that matter. Then Portland and Seattle are very beautiful in the summertime. So basically my advice would be to travel north up the coast before you head east.

[Hollz]

I wouldn't recommend the Greyhound either for a long trip either. I took it from Winnipeg (middle of Canada) to Vancouver. The trip really only takes 24 hours of driving time and it took about 40 on the bus. That was fine when I went on snowboarding trips and took the bus and we drank the whole time and then passed out for the rest- but for traveling through the states you are going to get SICK of stopping off at every little small town for no apparent reason. After about 8 stops you'll be thinking to yourself 'I don't NEED another rest/smoke break- let's just GOOOOOO!!!'

It's very slow and frusterating and NOT fun if you don't have a group of friends. And I'm guessing you're not going to be allowed to drink on the bus either.

That being said, North America doesnt' exactly have the same cheap airlines as Europe, flying- even for just one or two stops- might be a little expensive. Amtrack sounds like a good plan.

I really liked Arizona. I went to Tuscon and I thought it was really cool, with the cacti ,and going to the wildlife park there. (Don't really remember much else though!)