SAV's America Tour 2020

too good for tennessee i guess

I’m joking. I’m just talking about driving across Tennessee. West Tennessee is pretty flat and kind of boring in comparison to the mountainous middle and eastern region. You’re the one who brought up Memphis. Stay on topic.
 
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I’m joking. I’m just talking about driving across Tennessee. West Tennessee is pretty flat and kind of boring in comparison to the mountainous middle and eastern region. You’re the one who brought up Memphis. Stay on topic.

Can't go to Graceland if you don't go to Memphis.
 
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I’m joking. I’m just talking about driving across Tennessee. West Tennessee is pretty flat and kind of boring in comparison to the mountainous middle and eastern region. You’re the one who brought up Memphis. Stay on topic.

It has to be better than Kansas. Last time I was driving through that place while leaving Kansas City I saw a billboard advertising the next big city which was 300 miles away
 
It has to be better than Kansas. Last time I was driving through that place while leaving Kansas City I saw a billboard advertising the next big city which was 300 miles away
Nebraska isn’t fun either. Omaha, Lincoln, and North Platte on the western border near Colorado is all there is.
 
Beauty wise it is. Time wise it sucks. Although it can’t hold a candle to the beauty of western Montana.

Living in western Montana is nice because you don’t have to drive across the flat, eastern parts of West Dakota to get to most cool places.
 
It has to be better than Kansas. Last time I was driving through that place while leaving Kansas City I saw a billboard advertising the next big city which was 300 miles away

Kansas is indeed the worst. Very clean air though.

And Tennessee is a beautiful state all the way around. I just prefer the eastern portion.
 
It has to be better than Kansas. Last time I was driving through that place while leaving Kansas City I saw a billboard advertising the next big city which was 300 miles away

Nebraska isn’t fun either. Omaha, Lincoln, and North Platte on the western border near Colorado is all there is.

All true. Those Midwest states don't look intimidating on a map, but they go on forever. I hunted a few times outside a town of like 20 and if you didn't catch the one gas station open from like 7-4, you were SOL and had to rely on paying people for gas at their house if they were nice enough to allow it.
 
West Dakota is what people from western Montana pejoratively call everything east of Bozeman/Livingston (basically, where the plains start and the mountains end).

But the Black Hills and North Dakota Badlands are both pretty dope oases amongst the plains, yes. Ditto the Devil’s Tower area in NE Wyoming
 
Opinion:

Panhandle to Texas was very meh. Lots of bad pavement on the interstate from AL-MISS-LA.

Driving the entire state of Texas, there are beautiful parts in the West, but other than that, it's miserable and laughable when I left San Antonio and it said El Paso: 800 miles.

Driving from Southern California to Sequioa was nice. NorCal is beautiful.

Oregon is gorgeous. Leaving Crater Lake to go to Eugene, on the state highway back roads was amazing. Just loved seeing just an army of trees everywhere. Sad to see what's happening right now there.

Washington State is tremendous, well the PNW in general. Love it everytime I'm there.

The drive from Seattle to Jackson, Wyoming was beautiful. Never would have expected Idaho to be so pretty and mountainous. Western Montana was breathtaking to drive through, and I was told by someone that there used to not be a speed limit. I was easily going 95-100 on the interstate there, and it's a shame there was smog from some forest fires there. I could still see mostly everything, but I'm sure it would have been even better.

Only drove through Wyoming through the night after I left Tetons to South Dakota. The Black Hills of South Dakota are gorgeous, as are the Badlands of North Dakota. Once you leave Roosevelt National Park area in North Dakota it gets pretty boring.

Minnesota is just brutal to drive through, their roads have to be one of the worst in the Union.

Iowa was to be as expected.

Missouri, my second time driving through, surprisingly had a lot of shape to it. Will have to check it out one day.

Tennessee from Nashville to the Georgia State Line (the second one), is really a beautiful scenic drive. Not sure what zb's complaint was, but I will say this: It's taken me driving around the country for the last month to really confirm the South has a lot of egregious and stupid drivers.

I've never seen so many entitled idiots hold up the left lane on the highway, so blatantly, as if they own it and don't need to move over. Semis cruising on the left lane as well. I've never had to pass so many drivers on the left, coming from the right lane on this entire trip, until I came back to the South. This is maximized on steroids even more when you go to Atlanta where it's 4-6 lanes.
 
Time to Rate Parks I went to in the last 3.5 weeks:

Grand Canyon Skybridge: 5/10. Wasn't the federal park, just a Native owned cash cow tourist spot for pictures. No trails really, but it was still gorgeous, just super overpriced for everything.

Sequioa National
: N/A. Can't really judge it because when I went, the fires from Fresno/Bakersfield were so bad that hiking was out of the question. Only got to take pictures with the Sherman tree and did a small trail.

Muir Woods/Mount Tamalpais double: 9/10. Muir Woods is very pretty. Mount Tamalpais summit was awesome, getting to see all of the Bay Area. The trails were decent, not too physically taxing but enough of a workout.

Crater Lake: 9/10. The trails aren't as challenging, but the view is absolutely stunning anywhere you go. I got lucky I went a day later as the Park Rangers told me if I had come the day previous, the lake's visibility was cut in half due to fires in Oregon.

Mount St. Helens: 9/10. Trails are not as physically demanding. It's really cool how wide open it is.

Olympic National Park: 9.5/10. Really wish I could have spent more time here. MAJESTIC. Was surprised at just how enormous the park is. Did a very physically taxing 6-7 hour hike here starting at Hurricane Ridge to the summit of the Klahhane Ridge. First time I've ever felt some sort of acrophobia as the dirt path was so sandy and narrower than the human body, whilst having a super steep drop off. The incline the last hour going up the ridge was brutal itself.

Mount Rainier
: 10/10. Did the double, started at Sunrise Park in the morning, then did Paradise in the evening for sunset. Panoramic point on a clear day, being able to see Adams, Hood, and St. Helen's is probably my favorite view in the world. The King of Kings IMO.

Grand Teton: 9/10. Would have been higher but only spent half a day here. Did an unmarked trail to go the top of Delta Lake, which is at the top of a waterfall. The actual park itself is spectacular. Already planning another trip there.

Custer State Park: 8.5/10. More recreational than anything. Hikes weren't the most challenging. But you do get some great views of the Black Hills. Probably need to come back and do more.

The Badlands, South Dakota: 9/10. No actual trails or anything, but still probably one of the best scenic drives you'll ever take. Saw it bright and sunny at dawn last year, this year went when it was snowing and pouring rain. Great contrast, still gorgeous.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 9/10. Didn't get to go to the North Unit, which has some better trails and is according to zb, much prettier. Some of the major parts of the South Unit were closed off due to rockslide. But getting to see Bison herds up close like that was more than worth it. And there are still just some wonderful views to be seen around the park in general.


Also went to a few other places, like Mount Rushmore again, Crazy Horse, Cowles Mountain, Golden Gate Bridge, Chambers Bay, Riverwalk in SA.
 
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