East Coast as good as West Coast?

Hi Jamie,

I looking for some advice in regards to the 2011 trip I am going to take across the US. My wife and me had completed 17 days this year starting from LA to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley then back to LV and to San Francisco. We are from Europe, and we were absolutely mesmerized by the beauty and the people of US.

I am planning similar journey by car sometime around April or May 2011.I was looking to start in NYC drive a bit into Pennsylvania then to Washington DC.From there across the Appalachian mountains to Atlanta and New Orleans.From New Orleans to Orlando , Miami and Key West. The itinerary would include around 28 days to take in the sights.

However what is baffling me is whether the east coast has so much to offer in comparison to California? Will we not be disappointed due to the "less attractiveness" of those states? Would you say it would be better to kick off in Boston and drive all the way to New Orleans and leave Florida for a separate trip? Would you suggest any more attractive route instead?

Your help is much appreciated.

Kind regards


Greg

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Hello Greg --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and rest assured, there is plenty more good stuff to see and enjoy in the eastern half of the USA!

There aren't the same wide open spaces and amazing landscapes of Monument Valley and the like, but the rich history and cultural variety is at least as fascinating.

If you could kick off in Boston, you could maybe take in some of the sublime mountains of New England (like Mount Washington in New Hampshire), or the coastline of Maine. Then wind south via New York and Philadelphia and maybe Washington DC, to sample some city life before heading along the Appalachian Trail into the rural American heartland of Virginia and Tennessee (where there are some spectacular mountains and waterfalls along the Blue Ridge Parkway.)

If you like music, you'll want to see Nashville and especially Memphis, which is a fascinating city for all sorts of reasons.

Then, rather than head to Atlanta, I'd recommend you head south into Mississippi and cruise down along the Great River Road into New Orleans (again, music and food both feature prominently on the visitor agenda!)

May is a perfect time of year to be in the Deep South, which has all sorts of gardens and cultural festival at that time of year -- in fact, you may want to plan your trip around the world-famous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which takes place the first week in May 2011.

The eastern US is certainly very different from the Wild West and California, but I suspect you'll find enough mesmerizing people and places "back east" to make your visit unforgettable.

I hope so, for sure -- just stay off the freeways, and you'll see plenty of delightful places.

Thanks again for writing, and Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Turning 30 - Road Trip!

Hi Jamie,

A few friends and I are planning a West Coast USA road trip for a few combined 30th birthday's next Summer (August 2011). It will be an all-boys trip with about 6 or 7 of us, some will be single, some have girlfriends. So we will be looking for places to have a good time, but also we're very keen to see all the amazing sights and make the most of the experience.

The main idea is a 2-week tour from start to mid-August, flying in and out of Las Vegas. So into Vegas (probably do a day trip to Grand Canyon from there), pick up a car (Mustang?), down to Palm Springs, over to San Diego & LA, LA to Santa Barbara, across to either Monterey or Santa Cruz, over to San Francisco, up to Yosemite NP, back to Las Vegas!

Looking at 2 nights in the main places- San Diego, LA, San Fran and Vegas and 1 in the rest. Obviously don't want to spend all the time driving but also want to pick up a cool car and do the scenic routes, big sur, death valley, etc. Just looking at all the possible advice you could give us really?! What things we have to do, things to avoid, places we have to go, routes we must take etc. Even what you think the best car to pick up is and how much you might suggest the trip might cost?

Thanks in advance,

Andy

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Hi Andy --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- sounds like you've got a great adventure planned for next summer. Your outline sounds pretty good -- my main concern is that all half-dozen of you boys (plus a few females..) may not want to cram into the same car.

Unless you can lay your hands on some huge old Elvis-worthy Cadillac convertible...

:-)

Car rental rates for such a trip would probably run around $250 a week (per vehicle!), so even if you have to get 2 cars for some of the trip, splitting the costs 6 ways shouldn't be too painful. Be warned, though, that "classic cars" like a nice Mustang can cost $100 or more per day, so maybe you'll want to consider getting an extra "special" car for cruising around Las Vegas or Los Angeles, then all cramming back into a more economical rental car for getting around between cities.

Also, as you probably know August in Palm Springs and Death Valley will be HOT -- at least in the low 100s, maybe as hot as 115 degree F. So carry LOTS OF DRINKING WATER and use lots of sunscreen, too. Do your exploring early in the mornings, and don't tempt fate by wandering off into the desert on your own (especially not if you've had a few beers, which I suspect is part of the plan for this road trip!). If you need to cool down in Palm Springs, consider hopping onto the gondola-tram which climbs up to the top of 10,000 foot Mt. San Jacinto -- the alpine forests are an amazing contrast to the desert below.

This all sounds like a fantastic trip, and I'm sure you'l have a grand time. I cover quite a lot of your routes in Road Trip USA, so I hope you'll get to check that out. Yosemite is fabulous, and in August you can do the drive over Tioga Pass down to Mono Lake, which is another other-worldly place to see (there's also a cool old Wild West ghost town near Mono Lake, called Bodie, which you might like to check out, and teh drive down US-395 along the eastern Sierra Nevada is amazing, too.)

You've got a great trip planned -- hope you all have very Happy Birthdays!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Southern Pacific Road Trip - October!

Hi Jamie!

My friend and I have been wanting to take a roadtrip for quite some time. We plan on starting in Washington, DC, and doing a round-trip style trek to the west coast and back. The only months we will both be free would be mid October, November, and early December. I'm nervous about the weather during this season, and wanted to know your advice on the best general routes for the late autumn time frame.

Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely,

Jennifer

====>>>

Hi Jennifer --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and as much as I wish I could control the weather, I think that will be the main determining factor for your late autumn road trip.

Basically, the main advice would be to head south -- just like all those migrating waterfowl, flying down to the Gulf Coast for the winter. But you don't have to bomb along I-95 -- if you have the time to amble, there are some lovely ways to go. Starting from DC, in October, the obvious route would be to follow what I call the Appalachian Trail; it's lik ethe hiking route, but for cars and drivers (and day-hikers, too). This follows the Skyline Drive west from DC and south, linking up with the Blue Ridge Parkway via Asheville NC, for glorious "fall foliage" driving all the way to Atlanta.

And if you prefer oceans to mountains, October and even November can be lovely times to visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and other wild areas of the Atlantic Coast

Florida of course is a classic winter road trip destination, but If you have more limited time, I would detour around Atlanta to see Savannah and Charleston, two lovely old cities. There are many nice beaches nearby (like Georgia's Jekyll Island, and Cumberland Island for a bit more "wildness"). You could then go west, detouring to New Orleans or the rural Deep South, depending on your taste.

(The famous "Fall Pilgrimage" in Natchez MS runs thru mid-October, I think).

From here west it's a bit of a long-haul -- at that time of year, I prefer the route via Houston (and maybe Galveston), and Austin, and San Antonio, then up thru the "Hill Country" along my "US-83 / Road to Nowhere" route, maybe visiting Carlsbad Caverns (which, because it's indoors, is nice at any time of year).

Then on to California! If the weather's looking good, I might suggest veering slightly north. to follow Route 66 up through Santa Fe NM and the Grand Canyon. Because these are high elevation attractions, if you wait until full winter hits, you may get snowed out -- the rim of the Grand Canyon is around 8000 feet above sea level, and gets a lots of snow (which is pretty, but an obstacle to hiking.) Taos New Mexico is gorgeous at any time of year, but between Thanksgiving and Christmas it's very special -- they light up the plaza with "farolito" lanterns, which look magical.

But if the weather's already turning, you may prefer to stay south, and follow my "Southern Pacific" tour via Tombstone and Tucson, and on to San Diego.

Then on the way back east, you can visit the places you had to race past on your way west -- London Bridge at Lake Havasu has an irresistible kitsch value -- hopping on to Interstate freeways when driving in inclement weather, or at night.

Interstates are dull, but very much safer than the "old roads" I recommend for the sort of scenic, recreational driving I proselytize about in Road Trip USA.

OK, that's a lot of slightly random road trip advice -- I cover all these routes in my "big" Road Trip USA book, and have done more recent "mini-books" on the Appalachian Trail, Atlantic Coast and Great River Road trips, too . Hope this all helps you have a great trip,

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Nov / Dec Road Trip - ski + poker + wilderness!

Hi Jamie

I’m enjoying the site. I’ve lived and travelled in the USA before and hope to grow old there (in NYC) in 15 years or so. In the meantime, I’m stuck here in old blighty grabbing the occasional chance to fly over.

Along with a few friends, I’m planning a road trip in November / December. This would be about 10 days long. As far as driving goes, we would want to do a about 4 or 5 hours a day. I’m a big fan of the west but haven’t travelled much of it outside of vegas, the Colorado and Wyoming ski resorts. Since we all like poker, an obvious stop off point for a day or so would be vegas and onto hoover dam and grand canyon. I guess a question would be go north or south from this point? Wilderness (deserts and mountains especially) , stuff to see (especially spectacular natural landmarks) and a variety of landscapes would be the order of the day – dotted with a few interesting towns (with decent food and places to stay). Depending on how touristy it would be at this time of year, the grand canyon is a place we would love to visit. I’d also be very interested in going to Yosemite (is it open at this time of year?) and see el capitain and just wander about in the park a bit! Perhaps this means a trip from san Francisco , via grand canyon, to santa fe (south) or somewhere great and wild in the north ending up in Montana or oregon (fly out of Portland?). I guess fall will be working its way down from the north so if we headed north we could see some leaf changing stuff which would be great too.

I know this sounds a bit like asking you how long a piece of string is, but can you suggest a route or things we should see along the way?


Cheers, Harry

===>>>>

Hello Harry --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you plan a great trip this winter. You have quite an ambitious list of things to see and do, but between California and Santa Fe, I think we've got all your travel needs well covered.

Since yo sound like a civilized chap, starting from San Francisco (where I live) makes good sense. There is no better city for getting over jet lag -- so eat drink, and stretch your legs climbing the hills and enjoying coastal walks.

(I don't know of any card games, though there are some across the bay in Emeryville, at the venerable Oaks Card Club (URL: http://www.oakscardclub.com/ )

Then it's time to hit the road: Yosemite is definitely "open" in November, and the waterfalls should be flowing at full speed. There's some very nice lodging options, from the historic and gorgeous Ahwahnee Lodge to the newly renovated "eco-rooms" at the Yosemite Falls Lodge (URL: http://www.yosemitepark.com/lodge-green-room.aspx ) Hike and walk while admiring the granite icons of El Capitan and Half Dome, and even ski at California's oldest resort, at Badger Pass.

Bigger, better skiing options can be found a hour or two north of Yosemite, at Lake Tahoe -- where there is lots and lots of poker played, too (on the Nevada side of the lake, it's legal!). Tahoe's Squaw Valley is rated as one of the most challenging resorts in the US, and there are many more ski slopes around Tahoe at all levels. For your trip, the only real issue is whether it snows in time -- main season is usually February-March, but last year was fantastic; over the whole season, Squaw had over 500 inches of snowfall!).

SF + Yosemite + Lake Tahoe and back could easily fill a very nice, 10-day trip, but if want to hit the road more intensively, you could pick up the pace and drive on from Yosemite to Las Vegas (via Death Valley, which can be gorgeous in winter).

And if you feel very energetic in your 10 day trek, you could race on from Las Vegas to the wonderful ski resorts in the Wasatch Front above Salt Lake City, Utah.

(Squaw hosted the 1960s Olympics, and SLC had the games in 2002. Both have great skiing, though Tahoe has the better nightlife!)

The drive back from Salt Lake City to SF is potentially fantastic -- following in the footsteps of the old Pony Express riders along US-50, across the lonesome sagebrush plains of northern Nevada, where there are spectacular mountains (including Great Basin National Park), two tiny ghost towns, and almost no people, for more than 500 miles. I have done the entire, 750-mile SF-SLC drive in a day -- actually, it was a full moon night, but that was in summer, when the weather makes driving a lot easier.

It can be done, though -- especially if you have some willing co-drivers along.

Then after all this, you can hop a flight home, returning satisfyingly sunburnt and probably totally exhausted.

Sounds fun, doesn't it? :-)

Hope these assorted ideas help you to plan a great trip --

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
----
Road Trip USA

PS: btw, I cover the SF-SLC trek in my US50-Loneliest Road route, on the website and (more fully and accurately...) in my book, Road Trip USA, which just happens to be on special offer at Amazon.CO.UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Trip-USA-Cross-country-Cross-Country/dp/1598801015/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247063396&sr=1-4

Wild Western Road Trip

Dear Jamie,

Congratulations on the new edition of your book! Thank you, too, for your kind offer of free road trip advice! Can I take you up on the offer?

Here’s my situation. I’m married with two young boys (4 and 3 respectively). We’re New Zealanders presently living in Dubai. In about eighteen months or so (approximately summer of 2012), we hope to leave the Middle East and return home to New Zealand. Our dream is to return home via the USA and visit some family I have in central North Dakota. After spending a couple of weeks with them, we’re thinking of doing a road trip west, eventually winding up either in LA, San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver – all of which provide easy access to flights to New Zealand.

Essentially, we’re looking to spend around 3-4 weeks on the road (though this is flexible). We need to travel fairly comfortably, but also affordably. Our main purpose is to give our boys (by then, they’ll be about 7 and 5 years old) some opportunities to enjoy wildlife and nature up close. Visiting national parks and wilderness areas is our hope.

What would you suggest? Specifically, which route/s would you suggest? Also, what would you suggest is the most cost-effective way of travelling from the prairie states to the west coast over a period of 3-4 weeks? I’ve considered buying, using, then selling either an RV or an SUV. Renting one seems very expensive, but then perhaps there are good deals? We’d probably be travelling in August or September of that year.

I’d be very grateful for any help you can offer!

Thanks so much for your time.

Jonathan

===>>>

Dear Jonathan --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA. I hope I can help you have a great trip -- even if the trip doesn't start for 18 months. Planning such a big adventure can be almost as much fun as taking it, though nothing beats the real thing. I did a similar "family road trip" with my Dad & brothers when I was little, and I still remember the thrill of seeing bison and bald eagles, and rivers and waterfalls, up close and personal.

You seem to have seen quite a lot of the world -- New Zealand to Dubai -- but I think you'll find the US has quite a lot of unique beauty of its own to offer. Having an entire month, in summer, to explore the country is a real luxury, even if your budget doesn't stretch to full-time resort-style pampering. (Luxury is wasted on youngsters anyway -- I generally find that kids are happier camping out and running around outdoors than they are anywhere else.)

Seeing as you have family in North Dakota, my first impulse after reading your letter was to say: get someone there to find you a mini-van or small SUV, one which you could use to go car-camping. Not necessarily full-on RV-ing, but one spacious enough to keep all the tents and stove and fishing gear you'll want to have, so you can appreciate the Rocky Mountain "Wild West." (And don't forget Canada -- the Canadian Rockies are spectacular, and in many ways better set up for family travel, with lots of inexpensive but very well-maintained hostels, in places like Banff and Jasper.)

I cover a lot of this region in my US-93 chapter, aka "Border to Border", online and in my Road Trip USA book; see also the US-2 and US-20 routes. There is just so much wonderful stuff to see, it is a perfect locale for what you seem to want to do.

For foreigners, the real difficulty about buying a car in the US is mostly the legalities -- you need to register it to drive it on the road, and to do this you need a permanent local address. You'll also need to arrange insurance, though if your ND "family" is agreeable and capable, maybe you can get them to add you as a driver to their insurance policies. Cars themselves are often very cheap in the US.

Still, it's worth looking into getting your own vehicle, because as you suggest, renting a car, or an RV / camper / combi, can get very expensive, very quickly. Not outrageously expensive, once you factor in savings on hotels etc, but it still adds up. I myself would rather spend the money on a nice tent I could use later in life, rather than just saying goodbye to a few $1000s of dollars in rental fees. If you buy something, you could mentally "depreciate" the cost of the vehicle against what you save from not renting an RV -- an any residual value you get from selling it when you leave is a bonus.

(That said, by 2012 the US dollar may have lost all its value and no longer be worth anything, so you may be able to live like kings on your UAE dirhams!)

Or as another option, maybe you break your trip into 2 parts: could rent a camper or RV for a 2-week Rocky Mountain wilderness and wildlife tour, maybe out of Denver? (must sees: Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier and Banff!).

Then for the 2nd leg you could fly to the West Coast, and do another, more town-based driving tour in a rental car, maybe looping between SF and Seattle and LA. (Or take the train -- there is a spectacular Amtrak route from Glacier NP to Seattle, called the Empire Builder, with bedroom compartments!)

However you get to the West Coast, here a few of the many must sees: San Francisco (where you really don't need or want to have a car, so maybe this would be a good plae to fly in and out of?); the Humboldt Redwoods on the Northern California coast; Olympic National Park, west of sensational Seattle (where you look for "killer whales" while you ride ferry boats with your boys, out to the lovely San Juan Islands!); also Yosemite National Park in California, which to me is the most spectacular place on Earth.

Hope this scattershot reply helps with your planning -- please feel free to write again once you get closer to a plan.

With best wishes,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

The Art of Nowhere

Hi Jamie,

From the years 2001-2005 I traveled across the USA a total of 4 times and always had an older edition of you Road Trip USA book riding shotgun to guide me to sites I may not have otherwise known about. During my first trip (from San Diego to Maine) in the summer of 2001 I cut directly across the Southwest on Interstate 10. In your book I read about a man who collected bits of junk and transformed them into sculptures of sorts and I decided that he would be an interesting person to meet. I spent a couple of hours at this gentleman's home drinking lemonade and eating watermelon as he told me the story of his life. (With his daughter translating from his native Spanish.)

The memory of this experience recently came back to me and I have since been trying to locate the man's name and exact location. Since my wanderlust was finally sated in 2005 I have donated the older edition of your book to a friend who was looking to do some traveling and so I can't turn to it to track this man down. Google searches have failed to turn up any results and the new edition of your book no longer contains any mention of him. I believe the man's name was Senor Analise or Alanise and he lived somewhere in southern Arizona or New Mexico.

All I remember for certain is that he was an elderly man who collected junk and made wonderful, thought-provoking art, circa 2001. If possible can you provide this fellow's name/location so that I can finally convince my girlfriend (and myself to a certain extent) that he did exist and that entire afternoon was not just a figment of my imagination ? !

thank you so much for your help,


Matt


===>>>

Hi there Matt --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I think I can help reassure you that you really did meet a fascinating sculptor in the middle of the New Mexican nowhere.

I'm 99% sure you are thinking of Francisco Alaniz, who lived and worked in La Mesa NM, in between El Paso TX and Las Cruces NM. Like you, I had a wonderful afternoon listening to him tell tales of his boxing career (he called himself "Kid Chimuri"), and talking about the artworks he had made out of junk and found objects. He lived very near a popular Hispanic cafe called Chope's, which is how I found him -- he has never been written about anywhere else, as far as I know, which is why you may have had trouble tracking him down.

So yes he did exist, but alas the last times I've been through La Mesa I could find no trace of him, which is why he is not in the book any more. He was nearly 90 when I met him, and that was more than 10 years ago, so I assumed he passed away, but I honestly have no idea what became of him, or his sculptures -- which I thought were brilliant and smart. I've attached a picture I took of him and his art, probably in 1998.

Your letter spurred me to do some research, and thanks to Mr Google I found this (not unexpected...) obituary:

>>
Las Mesa, Jan 26, 2002
Alaniz
Francisco "Chimuri" ALANIZ, 89, lifelong resident of Las Mesa died Jan 24, 2002 at his home. Born Jan 29, 1912 in Jimenez, Chihuahua, Mex. to Juan and Ignacia GUTIERREZ ALANIZ. Served in the US Army during WW2, member of American Legion Post # 0122 in Anthony, TX. Retired as a cement finisher and construction laborer. Survivors include his wife of sixty five years, Maria SAENZ ALANIZ, four sons, Ruben, of Los Angeles, Ca, Francisco Jr., of Torrance, CA, Willie of Wilmington, CA, Johnny of Las Alamitos, Ca; four daughters, Amelia ALANIZ and Micaela ORDONEZ of La Mesa, Isabel GARCIA of San Miguel, Evangeline APODACA of Farmington., 17 g-children, 12 gg-children. Preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Angela ALANIZ. Interment at San Jose Cemetery with military honors. Baca’s Funeral Chapel.

>>

Not a bad life, I'd say.

If you discover anything more about him, especially about what became of his artworks, I'd be very interested to know -- and at the very least, I hope this info helps you convince your girlfriend that you are not a fantasist. (At least not in this instance.)

Thanks again for writing, and for reminding me of this remarkable if "unknown" man.

With very best wishes,



Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA