What part of the country surprised you the most?

[GreyGoose57]

For those of you that have traveled to previously unfamiliar places in the country, what state/area surprised you the most vs. your previous perception of the area?

For me, it was eastern Oregon along rt 20 from Bend to Vale. I expected Oregon to be predominantly trees and hills. The hills were present but I was surprised to see so much wide open prairie.

[Podivin]

For us (so far) the middle of Florida.
I did not expect to find farming country there.
Small (!) towns, beat up pick-up trucks (work trucks, not junkers), country stores with the old guys from spit-and-whittle club sitting out front, one town even still had a service station (a SERVICE station, not just a place where you put gas in your tank).
To us it felt like we'd slipped back in time to where we grew up in Tennessee.

[hammer55]

the beauty of New Mexico high plateau's

[GreyGoose57]

That's an area I want to visit. I imagine it to be similar to the grand canyon with desert landscape. Were there many trees there?

[inlineskater]

The Painted Dessert and The Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook AZ. The trees now rocks were just incredible, we were there in March.

[Oldman5145]

West side of Lake Okeechobee and the HUGE cattle farms. The other place was north western New Jersey and the mountain! I had been up and down the NJ Turnpike and 95, but I didn't expect the hills and rocks I saw.

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose57

For those of you that have traveled to previously unfamiliar places in the country,

what state/area surprised you the most vs. your previous perception of the area?

For me, it was eastern Oregon along rt 20 from Bend to Vale.

I expected Oregon to be predominantly trees and hills.

The hills were present but I was surprised to see so much wide open prairie.

First - Great Question!

Surprised me MOST? vs "previous perception"

For me the "Simple - First" answer is Colorado -

Having grown up as a Navy Junior, my early years were filled with trips from one coast to the other the ultimate "Road Trip" - seemed like every year or two, we would pack up - jump in the Car and Drive ("Are we there yet" - and - "I have to PEE") even with the pain of driving forever we did see the USA, like few have. Spending time in, through, and around the National Parks and the beauty of the Country, seeing the Mountains, the Canyons, the Lakes, the Rivers, the Redwoods, the 14'ers, the Geysers, the Deserts, and so much more..........

When I Married my DW we took the - "Ultimate 23 day Trip - Loop, across the country and back" - exposing my wife to as much as possible of the US I had seen as a kid. (We all know this trip - the one we say is impossible - the one we say "NO Way" - you will not enjoy it - are you crazy - yes we took that trip - Coast to Coast - all through the the Rockies - PCH - Redwoods - Yosemite - Disney - Las Vegas - GC -Home in time to rest for a couple days at the beach)

Then as a Family we took - A few road trips to the Rockies, Glacier, RMNP, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone - Many plane trips to Ski, Utah - Many Road trips to Ski - Drove up and down the East Coast, spending time in the Mountains and the Beach.

So after reviewing the History here the simple answer is now blurred - Upstate New York is Amazing, and is just not anything like I perceived, because of NYC!

The Carolina Mountains, are a place you can just become lost in, still unspoiled and Beautiful.

But - Colorado - is still the WINNER - Where can you just get into such unspoiled Beauty, and not see People? Colorado. Estes is crowded, yes, but there are so many ways to get there, RMNP, many that have these great little treats that you can Hike up - in - to - over every pass is a new adventure - around every corner, down every back road, there is more to see - the Aspen - the 14'ers - the Rivers the Lakes - the 4X4 trails that just take you to places and spaces that are just Dreams.

Let me add a couple more thoughts to this - the People you are with - and the Weather - can make everyplace visited a special memory, IMHO it is amazing what a little - Snow does - a Sunset does - Beautiful Blue Skies do - being with your Family, seeing their excitement as they discover the places and things you discovered and have enjoyed. The reality comes clear, when you ask your Granddaughters how they enjoyed an Epic Hike in Maroon Bells - "It was so much fun to skip rocks in the stream" - That says it all.

JMHO,


......

[GreyGoose57]

Thanks Busskipper. It was great reading of your travels. I agree with your comment regarding how the people you are with and the weather can make all the difference.

I was amazed at how wide open the west was vs the east. I enjoyed Wyoming but was disappointed to only have seen 2 buffalo as I travelled across the state. My brother and I figured out why they named the Black Hills in SD. The sudden appearance of trees on the mountainside made the hills look black, whereas all of the previous mountains to the south had only sparse tree formations. Very neat.

[Cooperhawk]

Near Grants, NM I suddenly realized we were driving through a LAVA FLOW! Yep, it's so big you can see it on Google Earth. I looked it up and it's thousands of years old but looks just like it erupted yesterday!

Just enter Grants, NM into Google Earth and it will zoom right to it.

[BandSA]

I was on I-80 to I-84 a while back. What surprised me the most was the mountains in OR and WA.

Then earlier this year, DW and I went out west and NM and AZ surprised us the most, just the beauty of the deserts, and the mountains. Just awesome! And totally agree with Cooperhawk!!

On a side note: I told a guy at Quartzsite that I did not want to be around all those volcanoes when (if) they blew. He replied that there was no volcanoes in AZ. Their all up North. I replied back to him stating that that was all I had seen was lava rock all the way to Quartzsite.

[Isaac-1]

While I could name many impressive and spectacular parts of the county, here are a couple that have surprised me the most:

Recently crossing East/West across southern Mississippi, Alabama and NW Florida, from Tallahassee FL to Dothan, AL then mostly on Hwy 84 (Dothan, AL to Natchez MS) I was surprised by the variation in scenery and topography (I was particularly surprised by some of the large hills and bluffs by rivers), things I would more associate with the northern part of Alabama. I had crossed these states many times on I-10 and I-20 going east to west, and I-55, I-65 and I-59, as well as the route now known as I-22 over the years, yet this drive across the south central part of these states still surprised me.

[TonyDi]

We went to Glacier National Park two years ago, and we thought it reminded us of the Alps only the people spoke English. We're headed back there this summer.

We were also surprised at how desert like SW Colorado was.

[waterboy10]

The Black Hill were the best now if it only never winter.

[ArmandV]

Originally Posted by hammer55

the beauty of New Mexico high plateau's

I was just going to mention New Mexico. I thought it looked more inviting than Arizona when I drove through both last October. That was the first time I've driven through New Mexico.

I also agree with the OP on Oregon.