Ultimately, in America, everything boiled down to the journey for us. All fears, doubts, worries, and such faded away when we remembered why we were working, why we tolerated the manager's bad moods, why we spent days out in the heat, etc.
I am not a proponent of the idea that you should travel with a plan. Spontaneity is the main thing that has driven us all for the last 3 years, from starting university to deciding to buy squash caviar and going to eat it by the Neva River.) But all arguments against planning a trip fall apart when you realize how much you don't know and how much you will miss if you don't dedicate time to it. But the main thing is - DO NOT PLAN THE TIME you will spend somewhere, PLAN THE PLACES. And leave yourself at least 7 days as a buffer, in case you get stuck somewhere (in a good way). So, what cool things are there in America that we have a chance to visit.
Quest 15. ROUTE
- Cities.
Cities that beckon in pictures or with phrases like "We were walking through Miami, and I realized that this sea, sun, and the scorching life of a sparkling city were what I had been missing my whole life" or "Times Square is not bad, but you can't describe it, bro, you have to see it," are actually different. In the sense that they are different for different people, at different times, and especially in different weather (perception probably depends on that even more than on the city=)). But even more often, they are the same. If you like Europe and its diverse elegance and style, you will likely get bored with American cities quickly. You can find coolness in factory districts or concrete jungles, but it takes time, and after a while, you realize it's not worth IT.
It is worth noting that most American cities are monotonous to the point of absurdity!! I know only a few exceptions - San Francisco and Chicago - the two main ones. Plus New York and, according to stories, Portland and Seattle. You can also visit Miami and St. Petersburg in Florida, and maybe Las Vegas just to check the box. There is absolutely nothing to do in all other cities. (Not to mention thousands of small clones, like drops of water similar to each other and scattered all over the country).
Now, remembering dozens of cities we've seen, we identify them as "city with a tower," or "where the river and bridge are," or "where a black guy bothered us." Therefore, do not pay much attention to them unless you are a super Urbanist Fanatic. (I admit that I might not know something, but imho and as far as I know)), something like that).
But the local nature, as if resisting the persistence and straightforwardness of man, on the contrary, is very diverse and amazing. Perhaps these are the most monotonous cities and the most diverse nature in the world. And its pearls are enclosed (unfortunately or fortunately) in national parks.
- National parks.
Do not confuse them with State parks, which are most often like our city parks. The National park system is almost 400 objects. A bunch of them are like places where Lincoln was born or the first Indian made friends with white people, but there are also things you can't miss. Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite. Sounds good, doesn't it?) A little lower I will tell you what we saw where we were. Some of them are really not as cool as it might seem, but most of them are ..... Yeaah...))) Sigh...) and other similar reverent mooing))
Parks are made on the same principle - you drive in by car, show your pass. (It costs 60 dollars per car. A one-time visit to Yellowstone is $30, and this pass is for the whole year for all parks. You can buy it in any park in the country.) In return, you get a booklet and a map that has the main road through the park, laid out so that the coolest places are at most 40 minutes on foot (and more often one=). The map also marks the most interesting places. In short, we visit the Visitor Center, ask some ranger what is cool here, and go there. A ranger is like a Jedi, he will never lie.
We drive and hang out as much as we want. You can spend the night in the parks (although it is very difficult to find a place in early autumn), walk, climb, and run after wild animals if you are not scared at all). Despite the abundance of tourists, the parks seem untouched, sometimes even too much))
- National Scenic Byways.
Something that few people have heard of, but which is SOOO COOL!) About 30 years ago, Americans started making "scenic roads" across the country, i.e., laying them out not on the principle of shorter-is-better, but through the most beautiful places in, excuse the tautology, the area. There are roads made of red asphalt in the land of canyons, and roads leading along mountain peaks, and winding through waterfalls, and breaking off into the ocean... This is done because the majority of the population travels by car, which means it was necessary to make it so as to combine "the pleasant with the useful." It is worth saying that they succeeded. Beautiful roads differ from ordinary ones as Ryazan differs from a log. So much so that sometimes you can't believe it's the same territory, just from different sides.
- Special places.
Niagara, Cape Canaveral, Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, etc. They are not parks, not cities, and not anything else. Just cool places. Wikipedia seems to have a list. It's called something like National memorials or something like that. Also, the internet is full of all sorts of "1000 best places in America," etc. And there are really a lot of them. Choose what your soul likes and boldly hit the ROAD!!
THE MAIN THING (you will understand this yourself, it just took us a long time to pack it compactly into our brains) - VALUE TIME!!! Do not sleep until 12 so that you can make it to the place by 4-5 PM. It is better to go to bed earlier (I know, I know, easy to say, but still=), because THE SUN SETS at 7 and outside the city YOU WILL SEE NOTHING!!! AT ALL! This is the subject of our biggest stupidity throughout the trip.
Like it or not, you have to live by natural time, because there is no point in doing otherwise. It's the same with cities. Chicago, San Francisco, New York are AWESOME during the day, don't deprive yourself of this time. We regret this the most, what we did/didn't do on the trip. Just hammer it into your cerebellum right away, otherwise later there will be 170 on the highway to make it somewhere before sunset))) You make it, of course, but the stress is something else sometimes)))
