Off to the USA ...

[D-rock]

If he reads this tread, he's probably become more confused than when he started.

 

[Clueless]

Oh yeah. If you won't to pick a fight real quick, just ask 'what is real BBQ, anyway'. The US has several regional variations and even more micro-regional. KC style is one of the more dominant, but I'm more of a southern pork or Texas brisket kind of person myself.

*grin* North Carolina - vinegar based. All. The. Way. Anything else is *not* BBQ.

One quick way to get a sense of scale is this actually: Spain (that nice Big country on the map there) can fit *inside* of Texas. Just Texas. That can very quickly give someone an idea of the scale we're talking about - each state (with some notable exceptions in the north-east) can be considered the size of a country from the European standard. So always check your driving time and be prepared to drive out to a place - spend three days there running around in the area - then drive to the next, try to put your tourist spots in groups like that.

 

[qstor]

*grin* North Carolina - vinegar based. All. The. Way. Anything else is *not* BBQ.

One quick way to get a sense of scale is this actually: Spain (that nice Big country on the map there) can fit *inside* of Texas. Just Texas. That can very quickly give someone an idea of the scale we're talking about - each state (with some notable exceptions in the north-east) can be considered the size of a country from the European standard. So always check your driving time and be prepared to drive out to a place - spend three days there running around in the area - then drive to the next, try to put your tourist spots in groups like that.

Speaking of Texas, no one's going to brag about Texas BBQ vs NC BBQ?

Mike

 

[Desdichado]

Don't expect to see a lot (geographically) in three weeks. Colorado is big enough to keep you occupied for severl months (esp if you like outdoor activites). If you go someplace else, choose 1 area. Don't try to hit Califonia, Texas & Arizona in 1 trip.

Why not? My wife and I hit Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona all in one trip, seeing Salt Lake City, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Devil's Postpile, and the Grand Canyon. And we also traveled through Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. And we did it in less than two weeks.

 

[Desdichado]

OHHH-Klahoma-TAYA!

Huh? I thought you were trying to make a joke about the famous song from the musical, but I have no idea what TAYA is supposed to be.

 

[Desdichado]

In Colorado, I'd strongly recommend Rocky Mountain National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve.

I also really enjoyed RMNP. A ride on the Durango/Silverton railroad would be fun. Garden of the Gods is pretty neat too. Hmm... what else is quick and dirty in Colorado? The Manitou cliff dwellings I remember thinking were pretty cool. And there's one 14,000+ peak in Colorado that you can easily just walk to the top of, although I can't remember which off the top of my head. That's worth doing just to say you've done it (I actually haven't, but I've climbed other, more difficult 14,000+ peaks in Colorado.)

And the best BBQ I've ever had was still in Texas. I'm more of a pulled pork or brisquet guy, with a spicy (not sweet!) red sauce.

 

[Andor]

If you want to try some really good japanese food there is a wonderful resturant/ culture museam/ dojo in Denver called Domo. It's well worth a visit. You already know about the parks.

 

[jester47]

If you go through Utah, be sure to check out the rocks and stuff, really pretty. There is not much to see in Salt Lake except refineries and the mormon temple. Its a pretty building. The Refineries are cool in a Dusseldorf sort of way. All of it makes a great photo-op, but I wouldn't want to live there. There is a lot of history in CO, UT, and such.

 

[Dakkareth]

Ok, only two days left which will be spent driving mainly and I don't have much time on the internet ...

We were in a LOT of national parks and did a fair bit of driving - 3000 miles it will be, once we're back in Denver. So of course it wasn't really more than a quick overview over the south-west, noting places to come back to, but it was still GREAT so far . Especially cool were Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon and the Black Canyon of the Gunnisons. In Arches we actually could stay a whole day and did a very cool hike across rock fins, through arches and on trails where there hadn't been people for at least two days or so - brilliant!

Anyway, more on that once I'm back home

 

[Desdichado]

d00d, you rock! I've always wanted to do a Nat Park tour of Southern Utah. When I was a kid I did one of those survival juvenile delinquent type trips in a big ole hunk of public land, and the scenery was fantastic. And that was the scenery that wasn't good enough to be made Nat park.

And no, I wasn't a juvenile delinquint! We had a friend that used to be a counselor of those when he was in his twenties. In his mid-thirties, he wanted to go back and retread the whole thing, so he took all the teenage guys from my church group hiking through the same area not far from Lake Powell.