Our daughter is on the way to North Carolina for a wedding. I asked her about the scenery along the way.

That has be wondering about the different places the 'fire crew gets to,

What states, or provinces do you folks like to enjoy, or not?

Don't travel much.......but.......

Kansas ?

flat as an ironing board ? what goes on there......

Tornadoes & corn fields ?

I gotta have mountains & deep desert canyons......

Don't think I could live east of the Divide......Dakotas.......maybe

I think Pennsylvania, across I-80, is awfully nice.

Iowa, on the same highway, is corn, corn, corn, soybeans, corn, Des Moines, corn, cows, corn, corn, corn, ad infinitum.

Missouri, on I-70, is no great shakes, on I-44 it isn't too bad.

I thought I-70 across West Virginia was pretty nice, running along the mountaintops and all that.

I-70 across Kansas is not recommended, dullsville.

Not a fan of I-71 across Ohio, either.

I don't think the view from the interstate does justice to any state. Except Nebraska and Iowa, we are boring almost everywhere.

I'm not that fond of Missouri, no offence intended, but the time I spent at Fort Lost-in-the- Woods was more than enough of that state.

There are areas of TX I enjoy but obviously all know where I prefer to spend most of my time.

Flat doesn't work for me. Out of sight of mountains bothers me.

Coast areas down south really suck to me.

Lots of states with mountains are cool, but such liberal politics for whatever reasons suck

Nevada is an outlier for scenic because access to certain places can be a challenge. Hwy 95 from LV to Reno is mostly boring but Hwy 93 from LV to Jackpot is wonderful. You have to be willing to work for it but Nevada is the most mountainous state in the lower 48 w/ 314 named ranges and 172 peaks w/ >2000' of prominence. There are 39 peaks >10k'.

I enjoy the fact that few people travel the back roads and trails and most areas require that you be self reliant and a good navigator. Wildlife is not abundant but is always there if you learn where to look. Nevada has the countrys' highest population of wild sheep and is a predator hunters paradise. Towns and services are few and far between
and as Fieldgrade has mentioned carry 2 spare tires and lots of water.


mike r
.

When it comes to dullsville scenery Nebraska is #1 if you are doing I-80. Get off of I-80 and it gets a little better. (think the Lincoln Highway) Great people but the scenery needs some work. Pennsylvania along I-80 is somewhat boring but better than Illinois, Indiana and Ohio combined. Get off of I-80 in Pennsylvania and it really gets interesting. Pennsylvania is a favorite of mine.

kwg

I really want to go 4 wheeling with you sometime Tikka. It appears you know all of the good places.

kwg

Most people crossing Idaho never leave I84 so all they see is the Snake River plain and 300 miles of sagebrush. They never see the other 80 pct of the state with some of the most rugged mountains in the country.

The drive from Stanley to Salmon in the fall is my all time favorite.


mike r

Very true on first sentence, but keep promoting sentence #2. Thanks.

Not sure why anyone would go to Europe. Too much to see right here in Merica.

The views from Pittsburgh up to I-80 and east to Brookville in PA were very nice.

East TN and the Smokey Mountains area is a must see, IMO.

I travel the less traveled areas........not hard to get 'lost' easily for the day......or two

Alabama is only state east of the river that I enjoy going to. If I travel it's northwest!

I wouldn't give 15 cents for any of the northeastern seaboard states!

I'm a long time Christian. People keep telling me I need to see the holy lands. I've never seen a picture from over there that I'd prefer to see in person. There's just too much of home I haven't seen yet.

The I84 corridor of Idaho does nothing for me though I like it to the north and S in such state.. And once in Oregon I like 84 a lot, generally.


I love it across either Dakota but for some reason find Nebraska to be a bore.


I-70 from Denver to I15 is one of the best Interstate routes there is for scenery, when you are not chained up going 15MPH..


If one doesn't think there's Mountains in the east, I40 NC and TN will be a surprise.


What the hell is that Pike in PA that has 13% grades? Damn.


A nice lightly used route is from US395 N of Winnemucca on NV then OR 140 as far W as you need. Late spring being swell for greenup and birds.


Most big game per dozen miles? I25 in Wyoming, I90 and 94 in MT. Maybe 80 in WY as well. Nowhere is anywhere close that I have seen as WY and MT.


I do like I80 through NV and CA to ALMOST Sacrachitmento.


Southbound or northbound CA, definitely the 5 over 99.


I like the east side of the Sierras too in CA, whatever those routes are.


Can't recall without looking it up but in AZ and CO I took a zig zaggy route from Pheonix to get to Denver IIRC and enjoyed the desert and mountain scenery.


On some assignments I'd be on the east coast for a week or more. Getting back west of the ol' Miss was always a good thing. But, ya'll don't fret, it's dandy over there....


That's just a sampling. A tad over 300,000 miles since June 2017. No LA or NE of NY but hit the rest of the country. The one and only good thing about those 300,000 is seeing the country.

What area in N.C.? There's some pretty decent scenery in the western part, just stay away from Asheville ( L.A. of the southeast) and the town of Cherokee (tourist trap). The center part is pretty much devoid of anything to see of much interest. Some pretty nice ocean views on the outer banks this time of year, since tourist season is pretty much over.

Some of Upstate NY and the rest of New England for that matter is pretty in a pastoral kind of way. Not the grand views of the West except maybe in the Adirondacks but more rolling green terrain and granite outcroppings with a checkerboard of farm fields and woodlands and little picturesque villages every few miles with tall white church steeples. The fall foliage can be spectacular. Politics and taxes suck big donkey dicks but I can't say anything bad about the terrain.

They can keep this area. Sales tax and traffic and rain.

MT I15

UT I80

WA14

PA love those PA dairy barns

CO

AZ

MT

AZ

SD

ID

OR

CA

Made this drive from Minn to Ca end of August. Just reinforced and intensified my love of this country we call America.

I'm pretty much a fan of ................ 'murica.

Some have mentioned it, driving from Denver area to Mpls/St Paul was one of the most boring trips I've been on, but I did get to see and imagine what the Great Plains might have been like.

I love oceans, so both coasts, or part of, that I've seen area always wonderful. Except maybe the Jersey Shore part ...I prefer less crowded areas. SoCal beaches make up for it in two legged bikini clad scenery.

The mountainous West is another favorite, having said that the Adirondacks and Catskills of New York will show a person that big parts of that State are not at all like the City.

Texas is.............well........................Texas. Great place but way too much private land for this Westerner. When I see open land I want to go play in it like the Explorers did, without the encumbrances of paying for entry.

lvmiker, I take exception to your dislike of US95 between LV and Reno...............then again, I love the desert (see signature line). And the view of the mountains from 95/6 looking west toward the NV/CA border is pretty spectacular. But 93 north is a nice road too.

Anyone who ever has a chance should take 299 west from Redding CA to the Coast along the Trinity River Canyon. And enjoy the Redwoods when you get to the ocean too.

So much to see, so little time, and gas is too expensive too.

And don't forget to take a back road or two and get out of the car to enjoy the real America.

Geno

Your perspective is like mine.
A truck driver that has covered 48 states, extensively.

Posts here condemning certain states are because someone
lacks knowledge of that state.

Kansas isn't all flat, little of it is flat. It rolls.

Texas coastal plain is flat.

There are some nice hilly parts of Iowa.

For me, Florida is probably the worst. Cities, swamp, pine trees.
But, any coastline is bound to have some beauty. Somewhere.

Iowa...

I had to rent a car to get to Florida. Hit a couple places. Living there wouldn't be for me but glad I did it. That lowland swamp stuff there is peculiar to this PNW guy.



I've not been at it near as long as you, however, every state I have been too, I agree, each has decent places, at least decent from the driver's seat perceptive...
Oh, never imagined Missouri would be on my way to so many places...


As an aside, I always got a kick out of the various ways states say to watch out for ice on bridges.

Texas: Bridge May Be Icy When Cold. LOL No chit, surely not when hot!
There's several versions escaping my memory but generally the further south one goes the sillier they are.


Safe travels all and thank God for our beautiful country worth fighting for!

Yep, NW CA has some dandy country. Trinity River for sure.

Everything looks better from a helicopter. We'll have to check with the judges for a ruling on whether this video is proof of Iowa not being dull.

I'm goofing, there are some beautiful areas in Iowa. Stephens State forest, or down around Rathbun, many river valleys have lovely settings with lots of wildlife. The NE part of the state has some really beautiful areas.

I was going to post, but you Nailed it.

It's all in the eye of the beholder. Working out of the San Francisco office I was assigned to an audit in Huron, SD which is pretty far south. It was spring. Deep into field work, little animals popping up everywhere and still waterfowl. Decided to go to Watertown to buy a radio and the other auditor from outside Detroit decided to ride Now Watertown is in the northeast part of the state and was pretty muck still frozen. So you got to see everything spring, from still frozen to well into spring. I said something about how beautiful it was to see the whole panoply, or something like that. He replied, "Yeah, like the dark side of the moon!"

Between my military travels, trucking, and Wifey and I touring, I’v seen a good bit of the country.
I think everyplace I’ve been has beauty of its own, in it’s own way.
Northern Cali, Oregon & Washington are great, love the Rockies, even the central plains have a personality of their own. Love west Texas, Oklahoma across 40 to Southern Cal, east Texas and southeastern US. Only place I think I’d get tired of is the flattened out midwestern states, but it’s still got a personality to me. Same for New England states. I guess being a country boy makes me appreciate the beauty of different places.
But growing up here in western Pennsylvania, I love these mountains and ridges and rolling hills the best. I could go anywhere that ain’t city, and live just fine. Just don’t stick me where I can’t see sky and fields.
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Hwy15 from LA to Vegas...waste of time wastelands ...then i did vegas to the S rim grand canyon...yet another..... what a waste land... from the dam dam till i looked in to the caynon .....waste land lol....

The one state that seems like an ordeal to drive through, to me, is Georgia. Even the pretty parts of North Georgia are a slog. People from Georgia are great but their roads...

To be fair, though, the East-West drive through KY is pretty bad too.

Alabama the beautiful. Sugar white beaches in a subtropical climate, ranging to snow capped mountains with 4 seasons. Coastal plains, rolling hills, piney woods, deltas, estuaries, cypress swamps, mountains, waterfalls, caves, hardwood forests, etc.

Not a good place to move to though. Hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, blizzards, oil spills, yankees and Texans.

I’ve pretty much found that small town and rural people are easygoing and easy to talk to. Even a hick like me, never been more than 100 miles from home until I joined the Army, and I’d get along fine with somebody from the Deep South, Maine, Michigan or wherever. You’ll find a few idiots, but for the most part, what you see is what you get. Nobody tries to impress anybody else, nobody puts on airs of superiority.
But if you get into a city, Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, Las Angeles Houston or Atlanta. It just seems like the majority of people go outta their war to impress everyone else with their money and education.
This right here is why we have the division and animosity that’s got this country coming apart at the seams. And the more you make or the more you know, the more superior you are to everybody else, and the more you gotta show it by telling them how they oughtta live and raise the families.
It’s a really comforting thought that more and more small town and rural kids are moving into big cities every year. We’re losing the things and the people who made this country what it is and what it’s supposed to be.
If you’re in touch with the earth, you’re in touch with humanity. If you’re not, you’re not.
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I've never been anywhere that didn't have some kind of beautiful scenery. Different, even bizarre, some of it; but always enchanting. Never saw a big city that wouldn't pass as a garbage dump, though.

Been a Westerner now for half my life and wouldn't live anywhere else. Spent the first quarter of it in Illinois and the second in the Southeast. Illinois is my second favorite place on Earth - after everywhere else.

The scenic beauty of I80 from from Laramie to Evanston is not to be overlooked, when I hear someone thinking of moving to Wyoming I always point them in that direction.

I can pretty much find something interesting in about any state. Whether or not I am welcome there determines the level of enjoyment.

I actually dig driving 15, besides when traffic is heavy in LAlandia, LV and SLC. Can't think of a more favorable N-S trending interstate. But, I like rugged and anything that's not urban.

You betcha. There's a willing woman and a cold beer under every tree along that stretch of I-80.

Here in NY we have fantastic scenery,Adirondacks,Catskills,but personally the Fingerlakes region is beautiful,right now it's spectacular with the trees changing.
And we have some really great hunting and fishing opportunities,the big pond to the north,and all of the Fingerlakes.
But the politics SUCK.

my kinda road.........

my kinda steak joint.........

Boomer...............

been across these I 70 bridges ?

Eagle Canyon

Emery County Utah

one of your trucker buddies went over the 330' ledge........

Sure have but they look different from above. Someday I want to get out there and disappear for a few days...


That's a bad day trucking for sure!

came off this ledge at 110+

headed west to LV.......Oct '18

Last thing that went thru his mind? The trailer.

call me..........I can make it happen.............south of bridges

completely loaded full of almond milk...........

jeez that canyon stunk for a week

just west of there exit 116..........

another guy.......

jumped off a 200' ledge..........picked up in a bag

alot of bad schidt seems to happen out there.........

Hwy 170, from Lajitas to Presidio, TX, is about as scenic as anywhere in the US.

Don't leave out Canada, NW Ontario is nice in a rugged way. I'm told the Canadian Rockies are something to see.

The Canadian Rockies make ours look dull. Truly awesome. I'd never have thought that until I saw them. Wow.

There's a lot more scenery than traffic in Seattle.

Lovely, almost like Portland!

No Wizard of Oz without Kansas!

Northern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio are a bit dull. Parts of the southwest are the same, to me. The deep south has a lot of great folks, but that neck of the woods ain't my cup of tea.

I pretty much grew up on I-80 through Pennsylvania. Our deer camp is in Clearfield County which was old Exit 17 until thew switched the exit markers to mileage. Now it's Exit 102. Once you get away from the Ohio border and up in the mountains, the scenery is stunning. There's a couple river crossings on the 80 that offer some great views. I remember going to camp before 80 went through. It was a fun ride through all the little mountain towns. Everything was either on the top of a mountain, or in the bottom of a valley.

Some folks find driving through farm country boring. Not me. Our son lives in Indiana and we run down there from Minnesota periodically. It's really impressive to see the size of these farms. I grew up in northeast Ohio where 100 acres was a pretty good sized farm. Heck, these farms in Iowa, and Indiana have more acreage in their front yards. Big farms mean big equipment. You don't see many N's working the fields these days.

I haven't seen much of the States, but always thought the New England states were nice, incl Vermont and NH.

Way too many Subarus though.

I suspect there are good and bad things about any state if you look hard enough.

And to add...there is 80 plus percent public land. Everywhere I look, I consider mine. Until OnX tells me otherwise as happened chukar hunting yesterday...

I think your post is really dead on.

And then it also occurred to me that the above describes a fairly sizable % of Texans I've met.

Maine VT and NH have some awfully nice scenery. Upstate NY too.

There is a difference between looking at scenery versus using the scenery. Northern Michigan is beautiful and user friendly. I love the West like Montana but not as user friendly unless you have some heavy logistical help. My least favorite place was New Jersey. Place is nothing but endless pay tolls and over crowded areas with seas of strip malls. But even there in New Jersey, I am sure there is a place that I haven’t seen which is beautiful. America is great.

Some folks from Texas go outta their way to let everyone know where they’re from.
It comes off to some people as a little snobbish, I guess. I always like to see people proud of wherever they’re from, be it Texas or Maine or California. Each state seems to have its own unique history and heritage. Texans got a lot of history and heritage to be proud of.
Just as I take great pride in being an American, I also take pride in that I’m from Pennsylvania.
When people are aware of their heritage they usually value that heritage. The leftist want to destroy our unique American heritage and make us ashamed of our history.
I ain’t, and never will be ashamed of where I’m from.
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