What are the best things about your state? Especially western US. Road tripper wants travel tips :)?

Question

I live in northeast Arkansas. I absolutely love to road trip/travel more than almost anything. I have been to 29 states. I have not traveled in the west at all except for a trip to the Portland, OR area a few years ago.

I love visiting different states, seeing what is different, trying local food, etc etc. I want to visit all 50 states.

So here's what I want! Tell me some things that are great about your state! List your state, interesting things about it, museums, good restaurants, or anything else I should know about. Even if you're from a state I've already been to I don't mind to go back and revisit.

Thank you! Can't wait for your responses.

Answer 1

Oregon has so very much to offer:

Cities:
Portland Metro Area ... the excellent Oregon Zoo, Oregon Museum of Science and Technology (OMSI), a terrific downtown area, Rose Garden Event Center, and many other museums, art galleries, clubs, as well as the yearly Rose Festival and Parade.
http://www.travelportland.com/
http://www.oregonzoo.org/
http://www.omsi.edu/
http://www.rosefestival.org/

Salem ... Oregon's capitol city.
http://www.oregonlink.com/

Eugene ... one of the few 60's era counterculture cities still basking in it, with the Oregon Country Fair the big event in July. It's also a laid back and beautiful, very livable, city.
http://www.planeteugene.com/
http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt

Further south ... Medford, Grants Pass and Ashland (home of the Oregon Shakespearean Festival). All the major cities of Oregon are on the Interstate #5 corridor, I listed them north to south. One notable exception is Bend, which is becoming as much a major city for Oregon as the others, and it is nearly dead center of the state, on the east side of the Cascades.
http://www.ci.medford.or.us/
http://www.grantspassoregon.gov/index.aspx?page=8
http://www.orshakes.org/
http://www.visitbend.com/

Other notable towns:
Astoria, on the far northwest edge of the state along the Columbia river. Pristine and scenic, a number of movies have been filmed there including Kindergarten Cop, The Goonies and Short Circuit. Fort Clatsop, very near Astoria, is where Lewis and Clark wintered during their expedition.
http://www.oldoregon.com/

Coos Bay, on the southern Oregon Coast, once the worlds larges lumber export port until the timber industry dried up. Now home to a casino and the primary town in southwest Oregon along the coast.
http://www.coosbay.org/

Sisters, just east of the Cascades, near Bend, a resort and tourist town with lots of art and culture.
http://www.el.com/to/sisters/

Junction City, north of Eugene, home of the yearly Scandinavian Festival where the downtown area is turned into a Scandinavian City for 4 days.
http://www.scandinavianfestival.com/

Notable scenic spots:
Multnomah Falls, just east of Portland ... recommend you take the old scenic highway from Portland all the way to the Falls ... you will pass Crown point viewpoint, several other falls, and see a fantastic view of the Columbia and Washington State.
http://trips.stateoforegon.com/multnomah_falls/
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_150.php
http://www.vistahouse.com/

Oregon Caves, in southcentral Oregon, an awesome sight, with walk through tours of the caves, simply amazing.
http://www.nps.gov/orca

Crater Lake, also southern Oregon.
http://www.nps.gov/crla

Sea Lion Caves, Florence Oregon, central coast, the only caves on the mainland where you can see Sea Lions in their native domicile.
http://www.sealioncaves.com/

Things to do in Oregon:
Water sports of every sort, beach combing, hang gliding, sailing, deep sea fishing, whale watching, hiking, snow boarding and skiing, rock climbing, mountain climbing, windsurfing, camping, exploring wilderness areas, white water rafting, you name it, it can be done in Oregon!

I have only scratched the surface! There is so very much more, but I already made this way too long!

Answer 2

CALIFORNIA
Southern California=San Diego-best weather! Saugus Art Festival, or Festival of Living Arts. San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Lego Land. You can drive from San Diego all the way up the coast to Monterey. 17 Mile Drive, into Big Sur is beautiful. Great campsites in that area Pfeifer Big Sur.
Santa Cruz=good surf spots, beaches too cold to swim, but pretty. Forest of Nicene Marks-in the middle of the city is a great forest to 'hike' through. Funky beach towns there, Capitola, Santa Cruz itself. Stop in Watsonville at Hectors Panderia and pick up the best tortilla's ever. Also, they make their own sausage at the Market in Corralitos.
San Francisco=what can I say? Neat place to visit, everyone should go there once. In LA, (back tracking!) you have great museums, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills with all the Hollywood stuff. See if you can get tickets to a game show!
Yosemite=beautiful, beautiful! You can spend a couple of days there. Stop by Clovis on a Friday eve if it's during the summer-they have a great farmers market.
Sacramento=state capitol=great train museum. They have a place, forget what's it's called that is like the old west days. You can go to Jamestown, Sonora area, and see Mark Twains old house where he wrote Jumping Frogs... You can go to Columbia, which is in that area, and pan for gold, walk the streets of an 'old' town, and sip on Sasparilla.
Have fun on your trip!

Answer 3

UTAH
There are so many great things in Utah and such a varied landscape. Here are the parks:
Zions National Park, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Flaming Gorge, we also have Promontory Point (Golden Spike National Monument), the Salt Flats, Antelope Island, and probably a bunch of other things I'm forgetting about. One of the prettiest scenic byways in the U.S. called the Nebo Loop is a must see, Salt Lake City is pretty cool and Park City is neat too especially during the Sundance Film Festival.
Don't plan on swimming in the Great Salt Lake or Utah Lake though because they are both gross.
Have fun on your trip!

Answer 4

Arkansas is a beautiful part of the country. But it is fun to travel to other states....
I have lived in California all of my life. The once thing that you can't help but notice about California is the wineries. No matter where you go in California there are wineries not far away. Many of these have tasting rooms with free wine tasting. It's a fun way to discover new wines. For info on wineries throughout California go to http://www.cheers2wine.com.

If you come to California, the most spectacular scenery is Yosemite National Park. The huge granite mountains with large waterfalls are absolutely breathtaking.
For more info on Yosemite go to http://www.nps.gov/yose/

San Diego is one of the best cities to visit for coastal beauty and lots of things to do. For info on things to do in San Diego go to: htpp://www.sandiego-romantics.com

I'd love to go to all 50 states someday, too!

Answer 5

The best thing about California is the weather. The weather in certain areas like Los Angeles and San Diego are wonderful all year round.
I also love the cultural diversity. You meet people from all over and most of them are very friendly.
Geographic deversity is also something special. Mountains, beaches, rivers, bays and so much to do.
but I guess the best thing about California is its welcoming atmosphere.

Answer 6

South Carolina , visit Charleston for some southern Hospitality,
visit Myrtle Beach for the Golf, visit Greenville downtown in summer for Friday Jazz, Pumpkintown for blue grass,

Answer 7

MONTANA!!

Really.. dont bother with eastern montana.. its flat and not too interesting.. but western montana is beautiful!!
Missoula is the home of University of Montana
lots of hiking/fishing/outdoor things to do.. here is the perfect article to find the best places to go while you are here!

http://www.missoulanews.com/News/News.asp?no=5541

Missoula has little to no crime and has a wide variety of people and places to see and meet!
Hope this helps.. everyone wants to see the BIG SKY!
;)

Answer 8

Spanish in name only. And yes the should learn English!