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Old 06-24-2009, 06:40 PM
 
Location: Hell, NY
3,187 posts, read 5,129,963 times
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I was completely freightened and amazed the first time I drove through the Rocky mountains on my way to Los Angeles.

I was in complete awe the first time I rode through the Adirondacks. With all of their beautiful ponds, rivers and lakes everywhere you drove and the beauty of the mountains. Especially in the morning with the mist.

I was shocked at how warm Daytona Beach was. The water in Florida is like bath tub warm in the summer time.

I was shocked at how flat Florida was.

I was surprised at how mountainous California, Wyoming, and Utah were.

I was shocked that their were mountains within a few miles on both sides of Las Vegas. I always imagined it completely flat in the dessert.

I was in complete awe of the Grand Canyons.

I love the beauty of the New England towns. Almost all of them. My mother is from New Hampshire. I've been to almost all of the cities in New England.

I was shocked the first time I saw NYC. I remember thinking. Why didn't someone ever say, no more buildings. I was in utter shock at all the graffiti I saw back in 81 going to the Yankees game. They had graffiti in places I didn't think people could get to. Needless to say, I was always in shock throughout the 80's and 90's with New York. The shock wore off thanks to Bloomberg and Guilliani. They took the excitement out of it with their disney land version. NY?,..Where did you go.... I still love you though.

I was shocked at how crappy Jacksonville and it's pathetic downtown was.

I was impressed with Harrisburgh's downtown. For a city of 50,000, it was huge.

I was let down at the steps Rocky ran in Philly. They seemed bigger on t.v.

I was actually impressed with downtown LA. Wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be.

I was impressed with Chicago the first time I saw it back in 92. Have been there four times since.

I was surprised at how many cornfields are between Chicago and Colorado. And how flat everything between there was.

I have been in almost all of the states except 7 and I was surprised by something even if it was something small everywhere I have been.
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Old 06-24-2009, 06:51 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, United States
4,230 posts, read 10,440,870 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by portyhead24 View Post
I'm not sure how those lanes are used in other states, but in Texas those are left turn lanes only. They're not MEANT for people to enter and exit however they please but I do see people do it all the time as I'm sure you've seen people do it to. Also, people like to drive in it like it's an extra lane. Had to say something about this cause this is like my major pet peeve when driving. I've had numerous close calls with head on collisions and side swipes because people don't use that lane correctly.
You rarely see those here. I can think of only 3 streets in the area with the center turn lane and none of them are actually in the city. We have neutral grounds so if you want to go left, you have to U-Turn. Even at lights you have to turn right and U-turn or keep straight U-turn then right to make a left.
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Old 06-24-2009, 07:30 PM
 
Location: 30-40°N 90-100°W
13,809 posts, read 26,459,115 times
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I guess on my one trip to Washington, DC there were two things that really surprised me.

One: There were trees all over the place. At that point the only big city I'd ever visited was Kansas City and DC seemed to me like it'd be more "hardcore." So I was thinking DC would be all skyscrapers and concrete.

Two: At least where I was staying there was a large Arab-American population. It was the first place I ever heard radio stations in Arabic or met someone from Cairo.
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Old 06-24-2009, 09:34 PM
 
Location: MI
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Being from FL I visited New Hampshire in the fall and I was amazed at the natural beauty of that state. Hardly any billboards up and down the highway, just trees everywhere. We drank water right out of the stream and it was cold and pure. Just an incredibly beautiful place especially up around the White Mountains area.
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Old 06-24-2009, 09:44 PM
 
12,823 posts, read 24,288,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ki0eh View Post
Remembered another one. Driving around 1,500 miles on back roads on a trip to Oregon in 2001, I remember being surprised at the number of unkempt rural homes, barely an hour outside Portland. It was comparable to some of the poorest areas of Pennsylvania and upstate New York, and worse than anything I've yet seen in WV, VA, KY, and TN.
Same here in California. We have our own Appalachia. But it's slowly yielding to country estates.
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Old 06-24-2009, 09:52 PM
 
12,823 posts, read 24,288,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LauraC View Post
In the Los Angeles area, I was shocked at how close people live to one another in houses. I'm talking expensive houses and you could practically spit in your neighbor's bedroom window. I know why (taxes) people don't seem to have much property there but it didn't make it any less jarring to see it.

Long Island, NY - I was just there in May after having been away for a long period of time and I was shocked at the condition of the roads. I'm guessing having lived there most of my life, it's something I didn't notice when I was there but after being away for awhile, just couldn't believe the bumpy drives with potholes, I took. Which brings me to my next one...

I make a 10.5 hour drive from where I lived in Maryland to where I live now in Tennessee and never pay a toll. That's right, 10.5 hour drive, no tolls, a good deal of that trip going through Virginia, mostly on Interstates. But I paid $8 to go over the George Washington Bridge and $5 (or $6) to go over the Throgs Neck Bridge and $9 and change for the pleasure of riding on the NJ Turnpike when I went from MD to NY and that doesn't include the tolls in Delaware. And it's a bump, bump, bump ride or pothole dodging drive most of the way in NY/NJ (but mostly in NY and that's all the way out to Eastern Long Island). Just where is that toll money going?

I was shocked that I cried the entire time I was in the Kansas City area. There's something in the air there that makes water pour out of my eyes when I am outdoors, that I have never experienced in any other place in any other state I have been to and I've been to about 33. I'm talking non-stop water pouring out of my eyes, even when in a car.

I was surprised at how beautiful Utah is. I was in Ogden and Salt Lake City one year during Halloween week and there was some snow in the mountains. I guess with the salt flats, I just had in my mind that it was flatter than what it is. Flying into Utah is also beautiful from the air.

I was surprised at Tennessee's distinctive regional music roots and that influence on music from a national historical perspective. For those that don't know, Tennessee is divided into 3 regions: East, West and Middle. The historical influence in the East (Appalachians) is bluegrass, the historical influence in the Middle (Nashville) is country and the historical influence in the West (Memphis) is blues/rock and roll. I had been to Memphis and Nashville on visits in the past before moving to East Tennessee and music wise they are as different as night and day. I think it's very rare for a state to be so well known for it's historical impact on the national music scene.
Tennessee set the tone for much of the frontier. So much of what is said to be "Western" originated in some fashion, in TN.
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Old 06-24-2009, 10:27 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington
2,316 posts, read 7,790,985 times
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I was shocked by the humidity in the Southeast. I was 14 and had never been east of Colorado before. It felt a lot more humid on the Front Range than on the West Coast when I'd gone there, but getting off the plane at Dulles in D.C. in the summer was just incredible... The air was so heavy and breathing felt horrible for the first couple of days. I was also shocked by how dirty the city was! I'd been to LA dozens of times, but D.C. I just could not believe.

I haven't been off the West Coast since then (except to Las Vegas) but I don't think I'd be too shocked about much of anything after spending so much time on this forum and being aware of all the regional differences. I imagine I'll be shocked by the flatness of the Midwest or Florida and the density of the Northeast someday.
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Old 06-24-2009, 11:15 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,741 posts, read 40,796,799 times
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I thought of another one that shocked me about Los Angeles. At 10:00P on a Sunday night there was traffic on the freeways equivalent to rush hour almost anyplace else.
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Old 06-25-2009, 02:01 AM
 
Location: US Empire, Pac NW
5,004 posts, read 12,317,165 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AZLiam View Post
Don't be such a drama queen with your sweeping generalizations. You worry about your water issues and AZ will worry about their issues. I've never heard anyone in PHX demand that water from the coast get desalinized and sent to them or diverted from the Great Lakes. BTW, do some research on where PHX water sources come from before you post. Perhaps Phoenicians didn't take kindly to your attitude which may be why you only made friends with two people.
And it's true! LOL.

No, I really did give Phoenix a chance. But that HUGE SUV or truck 3 inches off your ass as you're OBEYING THE LAW really gets wearing on you. THEN they rush in front of you to go NOWHERE FAST. OOORAH!!!! LOOKIE ME MAW! I CAN DRIVE FAST AN FURIOUS!!!

Aaaaand I did do my research. The only reason why Phoenix taps so much groundwater and rainwater is because there is a pact among the states and provinces (that's states in Canada) to not allow anyone to divert the largest natural source of freshwater for irrigation or other uses.

There were some politicians in the 90s who actually went to Congress looking for funding and that's when the pact was made, and many other people were just looking at these people from the SW and were like "are you crazy?"

So yes, yes they did demand that at one point. And given half the chance they'd do it again.
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Old 06-25-2009, 02:24 AM
 
Location: 30-40°N 90-100°W
13,809 posts, read 26,459,115 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by backdrifter View Post
I was shocked by the humidity in the Southeast. I was 14 and had never been east of Colorado before. It felt a lot more humid on the Front Range than on the West Coast when I'd gone there, but getting off the plane at Dulles in D.C. in the summer was just incredible... The air was so heavy and breathing felt horrible for the first couple of days. I was also shocked by how dirty the city was! I'd been to LA dozens of times, but D.C. I just could not believe.
I went to DC because I won a contest. I did not intend to win, I only entered to win a bit of cash and maybe some food. Instead I won the trip. At the time all I ever heard of DC is that it was a murder capital and crime cesspool. So when I won the trip I started crying because I was terrified of being sent to what I thought was equivalent to Beirut. (Which was then a warzone) I was initially insistent on refusing the trip, but ultimately agreed to take it.

So compared to my expectations DC was actually much much cleaner and prettier than I expected. That said the contest people kept me away from the more dangerous areas.
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