So, my bucket list is to visit all 50 states. As of this time, I have visited 42 of them, at the age of 30. The only ones I have left to visit are: MN, ND, SD, MT, WY, AR, AK and HI. Anyway, I am now wrapping up a road trip out West and would like to share my impressions. I flew to Las Vegas from Hartford, rented a car and drove up to Salt Lake City, then Kennewick, WA, then Seattle, WA, then through Portland and Salem, OR, then down to Reno and back to Las Vegas (approximately). So, about 3,500 miles in total. It was exhausting to do in a 4-day period of time, but I did it, took LOTS of amazing pictures and even met up with relatives along the way. The entire vacation cost me $2,000, but who cares. I have the money.
Anyway.....here are my impressions...
IN GENERAL, I really, really
love the West more than ever now. The scenery is very diverse and there's always an amazing, scenic view right around the corner. There's just so much space, big skies and it never gets boring. I'm sad that the vacation is over.
LAS VEGAS -- When I first arrived, I could not
believe how hot it was. It was nothing like back east. Despite people on these forums always saying, "eh, I would rather have 100's and no humidity than 90's with humidity," I thought it was harsher than heat back east, at least during the day time with full sunshine. It was SO hot (100's) like an oven that I didn't really want to be outside at all. I'm sorry, but I thought the desert summer heat was worse than anything back east. However, at night time, I would say the reverse is true. 87 degrees at night in Vegas felt rather mild, to the point that I didn't want to even swim in the pool. As for the other aspects of Vegas, I thought it was a really neat city. Yes, it's extremely artificial and lacks a cohesive society, but it's still neat. I don't think I would live there though, because the whole vibe is about casinos, and I found it to be a bit too intrusive.
UTAH -- Unbelievably beautiful. Wow. I went to the Kolob Canyon, which was stunning. The air was amazing and felt good.
SALT LAKE CITY -- I was rather impressed! The people were pretty nice and cool, and the city in general had a progressive vibe to it. The area was beautiful and green, too. I also went to Antelope Island State Park and saw the Great Salt Lake and some bison roaming the land, which was neat. I also thought the stretch of I-15 from Provo through Ogden felt very much like the Bos-Wash corridor, in that it was a continuous stretch of development for tens of miles.
IDAHO -- I loved it! The scenery was incredible. I stopped by Twin Falls and saw a nice basin. Then I went to Boise, which was quite impressive and is very up and coming, even though people don't mention it much in these forums.
WASHINGTON -- Beautiful!! Especially on I-90 as you approach Seattle. It was super dark green, beautiful mountains, water and everything. I stopped by Snoqualmie Falls. The air was mild, in the 60's and it was drizzling the whole time.
SEATTLE -- The entire metro area was quite impressive. It had a "new" look to it, for the most part. The scenery around the Puget Sound is amazing. I also spent time in Pike's Market Place, had lunch with a relative and the air and weather was amazing. 70 and sunny. I know it's not like that all the time though. Oh, and the evening rush hour traffic was TERRIBLE! It was just as bad as Fairfield County in CT. I was stuck in it for 90 minutes.
PORTLAND -- Unfortunately, I only drove through it, due to time constraints, but visually, the city looked NICE!
OREGON -- I.....LOVED it!!! It was indeed very GREEN like everyone on here has claimed. The people of Oregon are pretty cool, people, too. I'm not talking about hipsters, but regular people. In fact, they remind me much of New Englanders in many ways. I got along with them very easily (relative's friends, etc.). The only downside was that about 80% of the time I was there, it was nothing but CLOUDS and RAIN like the WHOLE time! And it was only in the 60's at best. The weather was very depressing IMO. It was constant and after 24 hours I couldn't wait for the sun, but it never showed up. I drove along the Oregon coast on the 101, which was phenomenal. Then, I went up to Crater Lake, which was incredible. The moment I left Oregon into northern CA, it got sunny again.
NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA -- I only drove through it for a couple hours, to get to Reno for the night. But it was very remote and some of the roads were horrifying, with no guardrails next to cliffs.
RENO -- As I was driving in, I was like "oh wow....this is neat...kind of like a mini Vegas." But when I was actually out and about in the city, I realized that there are so many sketchy people and just plain weirdos there. Also, the entire city was poorly lit, making it hard to see at night and get around.
NEVADA (BETWEEN RENO AND VEGAS) -- I absolutely loved this segment of the trip. Nevada is amazing. I love the extreme remoteness. I drove about 200 miles without seeing a gas station at one point. Many of the state roads are VERY remote and look like you're on Mars, which I loved!
I wanted to go to Death Valley, but was running low on gas and didn't want to risk it.
So there you have it....I absolutely LOVE it out West. I couldn't even choose which state was the best, because all of them are amazing in their own ways.
Now I have to head back east to miserable Fairfield County, Connecticut.
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