I have two weeks in Vegas coming up which is loosely a business trip from 6-17 July and have from 18th to 29th free (flying out the night of the 29th, probably from LAX). Any suggestions on what I should do? I like natural scenery, roadtripping and fun (but reasonably chill) places to go out. Bars and pubs, not clubs, I'm too old. I'm 38, male, single.
Cities/areas I have already been to: LA, San Francisco, Napa/Sonoma, NYC, Boston, Niagara Falls, some of New England, Miami, D.C., Seattle
National Parks I have already been to: Yosemite, Glacier, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon.
Ideas I have:
- California Highway 1 drive, Big Sur etc.
- A Pacific Northwest trip, Oregon coast, Olympic National Park, Washington State wine tasting, etc
- Some sort of road trip involving the Great Smoky Mountains and New Orleans
- Some kind of Yellowstone/Colorado thing
Right now probably planning to drive out of Vegas and through Death Valley/Sequoia NP and bypass LA, joining Highway 1 near Cambria. Then just drive north and see how far I get. Seem like a plan?
California Highway 1 is overrated, if you've already been to Cali there's not much new you will see, I'd rather do Oregon coast. New Orleans is nice but very hot in the summer
Northwest would be my pick by far. Oregon coast is a trip I've been dying to do. You mentioned WA wine tasting -- there's also a lot of wine in Oregon and in fact I think some of their pinor noir is considered world class (?? someone correct me if I'm off), if you're into that.
I also hear the San Juan Islands are really nice but I haven't been, so I'll let others elaborate.
California Highway 1 is overrated, if you've already been to Cali there's not much new you will see, I'd rather do Oregon coast. New Orleans is nice but very hot in the summer
This is crazy talk. What parts have you driven? I've done the whole thing and it's by far the most amazing drive I've ever done. Oregon 101 you can't even see the ocean most of the time.
This is crazy talk. What parts have you driven? I've done the whole thing and it's by far the most amazing drive I've ever done. Oregon 101 you can't even see the ocean most of the time.
I bicycled Highway 1 along the coast and a lot of the time in Oregon and Washington it zigzags back and forth. I remember that well because every time you turn to go towards the ocean you are fighting the wind. It's all nice but I think the highlights on the coast are up in northern Washington and through coastal redwood forest in Northern California.
It's pretty amazing how sparsely populated the west coast is outside of Los Angeles San Francisco San Diego and Seattle.
The Smokies are great, really beautiful, and being one of (or THE?) oldest mountain ranges in the world are also kind of more accessible. Like, you don't have to have the gear to climb Everest, you know? That said, I don't know about a road trip involving them and NO. That sounds kind of like a reverse trail of tears, but instead of terror and displacement you get sheer boredom for long stretches.
I strongly recommend the NW as well. Every time an Australian has gone to Vegas and I recommended California I got a pretty lukewarm response along the lines of "Oh yeah... nice beaches just like Australia."
Gorgeous to me, but I guess it's just more of the same for an Australian.
Yep, it is. Big Sur is now reopening just in time (July 20) so I'm flying to Seattle 17th and then basically driving south all the way to LA for my flight out night 31st.
awesome! Shoot me a PM if you need any wine+beer+food recs. I would recommend staying in Portland for any Wilamette visits. If you aren't spitting then it's easy to hire a driver
