I’m a member at the Henry Ford and hope you know that along with the museum there is Greenfield Village which has numerous historic buildings and also you can take a bus to Ford’s River Rouge plant and take a tour of that. If you’re only there for a day it may not be possible to do it all but you’ll definitely have a good time. And I’m thinking you may know that the first production Mustang is in the museum’s collection.
I'm not trying to be contentious, I'm genuinely curious. At Monticello, for example, they eventually reckoned with the reality the Jefferson had fathered a number of children with women he enslaved, most notably Sally Hemmings. I believe Mount Vernon also addresses George Washington's history with slavery. Does the Ford Museum address Henry Ford's virulent anti-semitism and efforts to spread his beliefs widely, including through the network of Ford dealerships? Thank you in advance if you see and reply to this.
The Henry Ford museum is a great place to visit. There are a lot of things to see and a lot of history. Ford and Edison were friends and there are some actual Edison memorabilia there. When you go to Florida, you should visit Tampa and St Petersburg. There is Busch Gardens and a white sand beach in Pinellas Park. The bridge arches high over Tampa Bay.
So, if you go to Key West really consider a trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park. Take the ferry. It is a catamaran sailboat that takes you the 100km over the ocean. So take your Dramamine. However it is such a unique natural environment that it is a treasure for a nature lover. Don't forget to snorkel. The gear is included with the ferry. Avoid the winter because it is windy and the sea gets rough.
Personally would LOVE to see some episodes from North California and the Pacific Northwest. A drive down Highway one would be cool...Hearst Castle, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Pismo, SF are all on that path.
@@3xclusiv3sodak Yeah it is very pretty. But definitely different from Central CA. But she could take one almost all the way up to Seattle. That would be a cool trip if she loves to drive. She could rent another Mustang.
Detroit is actually very nice, especially their downtown. The riverwalk was voted best in the U.S. for the last 4 years. Their town square, Campus Martius, was voted best town center in the U.S. I also recommend that you drive up to northern Michigan and visit Mackinac Island, one of the most beautiful islands in the U.S. where no cars are allowed.
Mackinac is a tourist trap of the gaudiest, kitchiest kind. If you're going that direction, either go to Traverse City, or Sault Ste. Marie. Overwhelmingly more worthwhile. Unless your main goal is to buy overpriced fudge at twenty different places within three blocks of each other.
Well, she said that she likes tourist traps. My family loved Mackinac Island, rented bikes and rode to the Arch Rock and explored the nature. Traverse City is nice. I would also add the Bavarian town of Frankenmuth, Michigan.
I was going to suggest Mackinac in the fall, when it's cheaper and less crowded. Also! You can take part in the Halloween Festival and do the haunted tour.
Austin is always fun, Bob Bullock museum is great for Texas History, seeing the bats, good food. Close to Lockhart for BBQ. Big Bend national park is great. Enchanted Rock and the central Texas German towns near Fredricksburg. Palo Duro Canyon in the panhandle is breathtaking.
Cool video Marie. Take your time. If you rush, everything will run together and it won't be a fun. Thanks for sharing, it was very interesting. I would suggest Custer State Park in South Dakota. You get to see Bison and plenty of other wildlife and you'd be very close to Mt. Rushmore
When visiting Chicago the best months are May, June and September. No humidity but lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. July and August are nice but its very crowded, hot & humid and there are lots of events downtown (NASCAR, Lollapalooza, etc.) that shut the city down on weekends. Great museums and great food.
May and even June can be "cooler near the lake" though. Lake Michigan takes a long time to warm up in spring. Anyone taking an architectural cruise in May needs to layer up!
Best Month is Definitely September, and since global warming the first two weeks of October are really nice as well. In October all the Halloween house decorations are up.
Bonjour Marie! Wow Detroit is first on your list! I hope it's not the first place you're going as it's much better here in Summer than Winter. Oddly enough, as I'm writing this the International Auto Show is going on in downtown Detroit. BTW, Detroit is MUCH safer and bustling now, especially downtown. The Henry Ford is actually in the City of Dearborn which is next to Detroit, and Dearborn has the largest population of Middle Eastern people in the US so there are a LOT of great Middle Eastern restaurants. I have mentioned before, and some also noted in these comments, that on the third Saturday in August is the Woodward Dream Cruise where people from all over the world bring classic cars and modern muscle cars. Ford takes over a whole block and puts new vehicles and specialized Mustangs, but there is also Mustang Alley which usually has one of every year Mustang. Lots of great Detroit/Michigan based foods and drinks you can try while here. Bonne journee! ~Be Blessed P.S. Not sure when (or if) you're coming and I'm sure that you'll have a guide/chaperone, and I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'd love to meet up and say hello. I actually won a contest where you sent me postcards from one of your trips, and I'm the voice from Michigan in your video about different US accents. So you may still have my e m ail, but if not maybe I can contact you. I'd love to say hi and maybe suggest places to go to that I've been that perhaps your guide hasn't, and maybe I can try to see how much I can understand when you speak French!
I live south of Seattle and if you want to get a very Pacific Northwest feel I would suggest things like taking a ferry to one of the islands or to the Kitsap peninsula on the way to Olympic National Park. Also, there are seaplane tours that take off and land on Lake Union in Seattle that circles around both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens (Mt St Helens is the one that blew up in 1980). There are a lot of hiking trails in the Cascade mountains and other things you could do that are not related to being in the city. Just remember, the Seattle area is famously cloudy and rainy so I would suggest visiting between July-September because that is when it is usually sunny. Also, if you plan on going to a national park I would suggest researching when you want to go. Mt Rainier just recently started requiring reservations to visit but you also want to know what time of the year to visit since some places don't open until July because of snow.
St. Pierre and Miquelon by Canada, French Caribbean islands: Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint Barthélemy Dollywood, Wisconsin Dells, Bayfield, Apostle Islands, Mackinac Island, I-80 Truck Stop in Iowa, Sturgis in SD, Mt Rushmore.
For a smaller Texas town, Fredericksburg. If you go to Detroit also go up to the northern part of the state; Traverse City and Mackinac island. st Pierre & ‘Miquelon is one French speaking island. The Isles-de-La-Madeline in Quebec are another option. You said state parks for national parks but the best state park in the U.S. is probably the Adirondacks in New York Banff in Alberta may be Canada’s most scenic National park. You would like the Calgary Stampede too I think.
I would definitely recommend Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. Good place to explore the origins of the United States. Fun fact, Williamsburg is referred to as the Historic Triangle because Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown are all within driving distance of each other (there is a special road called the Colonial Parkway which is deliberately constructed to mimic a colonial-era trail). I never noticed that Virginia is an example of a bookend because British Colonization of what would become the United States started there and ended there making it an example of a bookend trope.
Now THAT'S a bucket! Overflowing with sweet ideas. I've been to some of those places, but my info is decades old. There are many who are more current than I. You're very good at researching the dangers involved in your travels and surrounding yourself with excellent, competent people. So my best advice is to do everything you can to be safe.
Seattle and Vancouver can be the same trip. You could easily get 4 or 5 videos out of that one. There's so much diversity. You have the city of Seattle itself (Space Needle, Pike Place Market, etc.), Mount Rainier, the San Juan Islands, Olympic National Park... You could actually take a car ferry up to Victoria, British Columbia, the provincial capital (making an obligatory stop at Butchart Gardens), and then continue by ferry either to the San Juan Islands or to Vancouver, which is an interesting city in its own right. And don't forget to stop in Everett, WA, an hour north of Seattle, to tour the Boeing airplane manufacturing plant. So much to see and do. By the way...I once sat through a tourist presentation for Newfoundland, and they taught us the correct pronunciation: NEW-fin-LAND, rhymes with understand. Soft emphasis on the first syllable, hard emphasis on the third.
If you go to Seattle, Washington there are many things to see and then Vancouver, Canada is a little over a 3 hour drive. You could probably do both in one week. Or if you have two weeks, Vancouver to Seattle then go see the Redwoods. About a 9 hour drive from Seattle. If you drive that stretch, stop in Tillamook Oregon for their cheese and Pacific City to see the huge Haystack Rock. Whatever you choose to do this year, I know you’ll have fun.
Oh yeah! "Death Valley" didn't come by its name for no reason. Definitely don't want to be there in the summer if you can avoid it. Autumn or early Spring would be optimal, but that's also when everyone else is going to be there, so it's often crowded (or at least as "crowded" as such a remote area can be...). The Mojave and Anza-Borrego deserts also have a lot to offer, but are also pretty scorching in the summer (though not to the same level as Death Valley)
Some great choices. I visited Seattle for the first time in October 2024. The mass transit there is really good and when walking, be prepared for steep hills in downtown Seattle. You can tie that visit to your Vancouver visit. It's been a few decades since I have been to Vancouver but I am sure it is still beautiful. You will definitely enjoy visiting the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I am lucky enough to visit it every few months because of their exhibits and special events. If you visit Detroit, look into mid-August as that is when the Woodward Dream Cruise takes place. Classic cars driving down Woodward Blvd and all types of Mustangs on display at Mustang Alley. I look forward to you sharing more adventures with us.
Resident of Washington State since 58 and I love it. Lived in Tacoma but worked in Seattle for 29 years but live 25 miles from Mt Rainier entrance to Paradise. Eat outside of Seattle City Limits or expect to pay a lot. Washington State minimum wage is $16.66 but Seattle's minimum wage is $20.76 as of 1st of year.
🤠 As a Montana Boy, I Share Your Love For The Mountains! 🤗 Glacier and Yellowstone (Both Must See Places) Are Just Some of The Beautiful Places We Have! 🏔
Chicago in the summer may be my favorite city to visit. I like it more than New York. You have to take the architecture tour on the Chicago River, and check out Michigan Ave.
Your English is amazing. Better and better with each video! My wife and I have been taking 20 to 24 day driving vacations the past few years. We leave Pennsylvania and do these 7,000 mile drives around the desert south west. Yellowstone. Big, holy cow big! Getting around can take hours of driving. Buffalo on the roadways...Even longer trips. We were not prepared for the size of Yellowstone. But, Amazing. Badlands, South Dakota. We again had no idea. Blown away. Beautiful. Very inviting. Very open....If you wanna hike, go where ever you like. From hours to days. Grand Tetons. Breath taking. It is hard to take a picture of the Tetons that people won't say OMG look at that! Zion. Amazing views and some amazing hikes. A scenic drive and massive tunnel cut through the mountain. My wife had me pulling off the road to take photographs, at least 100 times. Some real wow moments. Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase Escalante. Wow. Again, big, lots of driving. Bryce has some great hikes. Short and long trails. Scenic views. The Grand Canyon (North rim and South rim) We have stayed at both the north and south rims. We agreed this year we liked the south rim more than the north. The cabins and the lodge at the north rim were amazing. It is isolated and less of a tourist trap. 54 miles from the main round, through nothing but rolling landscapes. Our feeling is the view points from the south rim are much better. If you drive and make your way to all the overlooks, each one is a WOW moment (South Rim). Arches and Moab, Utah. Beautiful. Great hiking. Tons of easy hikes. Great wildlife. Amazing place. Goose Necks State Park. Drive your car to the edge of a thousand foot drop. Series of river bends carved into the rock. Amazing. 5 other cars in the entire park. Holy Crap! Valley of the Gods, scenic drive on BLM lands. 17 mile dirt road. Through canyons and bluffs. Middle of no where. No cell phone service. Hiking. Remote camping. Picture stop, picture stop, picture stop. We passed four cars during the hour drive. It was like having our own park! My wife is big on sunsets and sunrises. We are up before dawn and then return for sunsets. We have seen sunrises and sunsets that have brought tears to my eyes. There was a thunder storm one evening at the south rim of the grand canyon. She made me drive her into the park, even though I didn't want to. The storm broke as we arrived. A quarter rainbow extending a thousand feet into the canyon and maybe two thousand feet above the rim. The storm kept many people away. It was magical.
I know you love motorcycles, so if you're ever near Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL you should go to the track - they have a vintage motorsports museum that I hear is pretty cool - haven't been there yet but would like to go.
🤠 My Daughter Lives in San Diego and They Have So Many Great Restraunts (Hodad's Burgers, Little Italy, 5 Star Desserts, Real Mexican Food, Sushi, etc...)! 🤯 Their is Alot of Things To See - Like The Air and Space Museum, Catalina Island, Oceanography Institute, Hang Gliding/Parasailing, Sea World, Fishing, Surfing, etc...! 🪂⛵️
There are many spectacular areas in the Northern California region too. The weather is closer to that of Oregon/Washington state than Southern California weather. There are various redwood parks as well as mountain zones like Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, and Mt. Tamalpais.
Big bend is actually extremely close to antelope canyon so you can do both. I live next a state park not a national park. It’s really just some wetlands and a lake. Honestly those wetlands absorb all the water from hurricanes which protects us. It’s ok just kinda stinky if no rain has fallen in a week.
I'm a little confused. The most famous Antelope Canyon is in Northern Arizona - in close proximity to Horseshoe Bend (which is likely what you mean) and many other national parks. Big Bend National Park is in extreme southwest Texas, some 700 miles away, and is where FrenchTastic was talking about in context with her other remarks about Texas.
Bonjour Marie! I’ve been to the places you have mapped out at the 3:34 mark. I recommend you visit the Point Loma lighthouse when you get to San Diego. The view of the San Diego Bay is spectacular. On your drive from Havasu City to the Grand Canyon, make a stop at Seligman - Route 66 which is a one-mile detour off the 40 Fwy. It is the inspiration for the Disney - Pixar animation, Cars. On the way from Monument Valley to Las Vegas assuming you’re on State Hwy 98 and going through Page, AZ, it is a must see to go on a tour of Antelope Canyon and make a stop at Horseshoe Bend. You can park at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and take a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. The Page, AZ tours will take 4 hours. The best time to go to Arches National Park is in the Spring or Fall. I went there in the Summer once and the temperature was 122⁰. I had to stay in an air-conditioned hotel until the late afternoon before I could go on a hike because it was too hot. Make sure you always take plenty of water with you when hiking in the desert. You can take a midnight hike to Delicate Arch in the moonlight. Outside the park there is a trail with dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs such as the “birthing rock.” About 10 miles east of Glenwood Springs, CO, there is a trail to Hanging Lake. I recommend you be at the trail head early in the morning to get a parking space. You can relax afterwards in the Glenwood Springs heated pool. There is also a trail to Doc Holiday’s grave in Linwood cemetery. When you travel from Glenwood Springs to Flaming Gorge, UT, make a stop at the Dinosaur National Monument.
#2 is two to four trips. First Trip - kip LA and San Diego and start in Phoenix. Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab (Arches and Canyonlands), Mesa Verde, (Maybe Chaco Canyon), Rocky Mountain, End in Denver. Next Trip - Las Vegas - Zion, Bryce, Dinosaur National Monument, end in Salt Lake City. Third Trip - Start in Salt Lake City or fly into Jackson, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic, end in Seattle. Fourth Trip - San Diego, LA, Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, end in San Francisco or Portland.
I really enjoyed hearing about your bucket list ideas. I've had the pleasure of visiting many of them, and am certain you would enjoy them as much as I did. As a native San Diegan, I do hope you have the chance to visit my home town again. Definitely try to fit in Balboa Park with so many museums and the San Diego Zoo... one of my favorite places in town to visit, as I live only about 10 minutes away from it. Another favorite spot is the area around La Jolla Cove... including Ellen Browning Scripps Park that runs along the top of some of the rugged shoreside cliffs. There's a nice walking path all along the top of the cliffs and several places where you can go down stairs to get to some interesting beaches and mini-coves. A great place to watch a sunset and listen to the surf crashing on the rocks and cliffs... one of the most relaxing sounds on earth. Chicago is a great city to visit with a great array of museums and dining options. I've visited there many times, some of them in the middle of some of the coldest winters I've ever experienced! The Florida Keys is another fascinating place to visit... I spent several days on Key West. They definitely have their own vibe down there. The wide array of extraordinary big parks could provide you with many years of travel adventures all by themselves! Most of the major ones you mentioned are actually "National Parks" (designated by, and managed by, the Federal Government) like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, Big Bend, Everglades and others. The "State Parks" are those designated by, and managed by, the individual states. Most of them are smaller than the big National Parks, but many are nearly as beautiful without as much traffic and crowds, so would be worth a visit... a couple I've visited in recent years are Snow Canyon State Park and Sand Hollow State Park in Utah. I have my own list of places I'd love to go, either for the first time or revisiting after a long absence. I'll do that in a separate post, as this one is already starting to take on the proportions of a Russian Novel! 😋
That was a great list. I hope someday you can visit Maine and Acadia National Park. Highest point on the east coast which is Cadilac Mtn. You can look out over the ocean and the Porcupine islands. Here is an idea for you someday. Rent a Mustang and drive all over the states and really see nature and cities while traveling. Stay well and do your research to make the most out of your trips. Best wishes.
Chicago is of course the home of Lawerence Brown or as you know him as Lost in the Pond. Chicago is a very busy city. Do not drive in Chicago as it’s impossible simply hop on to the L and get anywhere in the city. The north side is the rich and nice part of town where the gleaming skyscrapers and the magnificent mile is. The south side is rougher and mostly working class which actually is better. The food is midwestern food but in huge quantities. The thing is the winters are very harsh and food helps get them through the three months. Grant park is really nice as it’s right in the middle of the city and divides the city into the north and south sides. Grant park also has the Bean. A solid stainless steel sculpture of an actual bean. There is also the video fountains of people’s faces which looks like they spit water into a fountain. Chicago is very nice but shoulders the burden of being the industrial hub of the US.
Also, if you travel west of Chicago, you will see a combination of French and Indian (Native American) towns. I would suggest taking I-80 across to the Quad Cities (Moline, Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa) along the Mississippi River. There are many pretty areas along the Mississippi. and then head north to Dubuque, Iowa. I'd suggest doing Michigan, then Chicago. Stop in LaSalle along I-80, Starved Rock state park. If you have time, Springfield Illinois has a lot of interesting places to see (Abraham Lincoln's home and gravesite are interesting places I've seen.)
I get to cross another state off my list in November. My family and I are going to Florida, near Orlando and down to the Keys. Cape Canaveral is on the agenda as well! Remaining bucket list trips 1 - NYC. Actually visit, not just travel thru. 2 - New Orleans. It was great to see your videos on Nawlins! 3 - Grand Canyon. I need to witness this 4 - Alaska. Need to complete the whole set of 50 states! 5 - Washington DC. Been there a few times but need to go again and visit the museums and memorials!
A personel favorite park of mine is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is stunning. I was stationed at the Submarine Base on Point Loma in San Diego in the late 1980's. Cabrillo Monument was one of my favorite places in San Diego.
My own "bucket list": There are so many places I'd love to visit! Up in Oregon, I'd love to see Crater Lake and visit the beautiful Oregon coastline (my brother camps there frequently, so that's a real possibility). I'd love to visit Alaska, both the interior with Denali National Park, and a cruise along the coastline to see some of the spectacular bays and glaciers. One place I really want to get back to is Yellowstone National Park... so much amazing scenery and all the geysers, hot springs, and other thermal features that make it so special. I haven't been there since 1973... the last family trip we took before I got wrapped up in my career after college, and was only about a year before my father passed away. He wanted us to see Yellowstone, and Wyoming, as he grew up in Wyoming only a short distance away from Yellowstone and spent his summers during High School working on road maintenance crews in the Park. So I grew up hearing all about the park and loved the trip there, but haven't been back since, as schedules had never worked out to put together a trip.
You have to go to Yosemite. Its the the model for what national park was about. Anyone who say Yellowstone don't know the history of how national came about.
So many places, so many sites to see! A Yukon series would definitely be interesting to watch. Fun fact: Yukon actually has a French-speaking community there (Franco-Yukonnais). Something worth exploring if/when you go there. Cheers! 🍻🇨🇦🇺🇸✈️🌎
Marie , you were talking about state parks.. there are Two you need to check out in New York. 1 . The Adirondack State Park. It's big enough and takes days and months to explore. 2. Letchworth State Park. It's absolutely gorgeous in the Autumn.. it's known as the Grand Canyon of the East.
Hi from Texas. I suggest visiting all of the large Texas cities and hitting some cute smaller towns along the way. For BBQ you absolutely must try Terry Black's!!
If you get back to St.Louis, Missouri, drive south a couple hours to the St. Francois Mountains and the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
You might like to visit Henry Doorly zoo in Omaha Nebrask. 11:59 T hey also have a safari park where u can drive through and see American animals safety from your car. SAC Air Museum might also interest you.
Marie, if you decide to visit Canada and the USA for a long period on one trip then realize that your 90 days in the USA starts when you enter the USA and is not halted if you go to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean from the USA.
You mentioned Sequoia National Park and I highly recommend it. The trees are astonishing and you can hike among them. I have gone there several times in September - the weather is usually good and all the American children are back in school so it is past vacation peak times. Right next to Sequoia is Kings Canyon National Park and you should not miss it. The drive down into the canyon is unforgettable and you can camp down at the bottom where there are trailheads for amazing trails. I hiked up to Paradise Valley and the only people that I saw were a few people on horseback. I always wanted to go on horseback there, up into the remote Sierras. And, on a different topic, I always wanted to go on a float trip down the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon - it offers views you cannot experience from a car. The trips are strictly regulated in number and you must be in a guided group. You can book from 3-day to 15-day trips...
The Yukon has got to be one of the most pristine and beautiful places on earth. You MUST go there, there are no words in English to adequately describe it.
I heard a statistic just a few days ago regarding the wildfires in LA which really blew my mind. The number of acres which have burned now is greater than the size of the entire city of Paris. Think about that for a minute...
San Antonio is a great place to visit in Texas, they have the River walk with stores, restaurants ETC.. lining the beautiful walk along the river, also boat rides and tours. up above it , is the Alamo a historic Texas site and a mall with a Imax theater. There is also a Sea World Park there. I was stationed in Abilene Tx in the United States Air Force for a few years.
Happy New Year Marie. I hope this is your best year ever and you check off most of this list. The Yukon surprised me a bit i must say. The only place that might compare would some regions of Siberia. I had an older cousin who traveled there and his photos were incredible. Of course this was before these small digiital cameras so he didnt get any video, it would have been VHS and the big on the shoulder camera. But he said it is surreal once you see the plane that brought you disappear on its way back. He said the sudden rush of isolation is quite a feeling. Like i said, i hope you get to visit these places, texas to me is a little boring and vanilla as far as sights go. I wouldnt get too high of expectations for it because it looks similar to other places you have traveled, but the food is good. Stay safe and stay cool, take care. ❤❤❤ P.S. almost forgot.....Glacier National Park is my top bucket list, then it would be the volcanos of Hawaii. If im not mistaken, you did Glacier in Montana, not just canada....i think.
If you're curious about visiting a French-speaking island around North America, I'd suggest Iles de la Madeleine in Quebec. Never been there, but it seems exotic and secluded to me. Definitely not a region that gets a lot of attention. As for a place I've been and can recommend, definitely see the Florida Keys. The upper and middle keys are great for relaxing. Key West is great for partying. Definitely go to Sloppy Joe's and get, well, a Sloppy Joe. I've never liked them, until I tried theirs. Absolutely fantastic. Oh, and stop at Stock Island and go to Hogfish Bar and Grill. They have wonderful, well, hogfish dishes.
😊🌄 Bonjour Marie! Other than Texas and Florida, I've not been to the rest of your list. I do hope you can visit them all or at least most of them this year. I'll be right here, enjoying the journey vicariously through you.🍩☕😄
Bonjour Marie! I've been to many of the U.S. National Parks, especially out west,. The ones on the map you showed at 3:54 is pretty good; plus I'd also recommend Yosemite. My absolute favorites are Arches, Zion, & Yosemite. I grew up in Vancouver. You can easily visit Vancouver & Seattle together, though I'd recommend at least 3 days in each place. As for Texas, most people will tell you to go to Austin. It's alright, but I'd also recommend you visit San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Hill Country. Plus, the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo, would be a great stop if you were to attempt to drive Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Bon Voyage!
If you like biking at all - and beer, lemonade, baby goats, pork chops, pie, corn on the cob, camping, partying, etc. - then look into RAGBRAI in the summer. It’s a 7-day bike ride (not a race) across the state of Iowa. You dip your back tire in the Missouri River to begin the journey, and you dip your front tire in the Mississippi River to end the journey. It’s a ton of fun and a great way to see small-town America… just you and 15,000-20,000 new friends. 🚴🏽♀️🥧🌽🚴🏼
Look up P 51rides. Some in Florida. Georgia, Texas, and California. Among others. Very pricy. Or maybe and old time train ride in Colorado, Durango to Silverton. Beautiful ride.
If you go to California you can visit several top national parks: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Death Valley can be visited in one trip. In Northern California, Redwoods National Park is worth going to, maybe as a trip up the Pacific Coast: California to Oregon to Washington. The drive along the Central Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles and then San Diego is one of the best drives in the country. Another way to visit many national parks at one time is to do Southern Utah which has a lot of beautiful places: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches are right next to each other. Las Vegas or Salt Lake City are the best big cities to get to these parks. If you go to South Florida drop by Miami and then head into the Everglades which a huge natural area. Then drive down the Florida Keys to Key West where you HAVE to take a boat trip to Fort Jefferson, which is on a beautiful island with tropical blue water. If you want French islands go to the Caribbean. Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Barts are a part of France!
I can heartily agree with everything said here! Some of my favorite road trips have been a loop of the California parks, and some years back a buddy and I did a road trip spending two weeks driving around all the "Redrock" parks in the "Four Corners" region (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico). Key West and evirons is another fun trip. Especially if you enjoy snorkeling and doing boat tours.
Hawaii is Polynesian. They were never conquered just integrated. Honestly you’ll land at Honolulu international airport which is open air oddly. It’s a different world on Hawaii as what you see on tv isn’t the same as you see with your own eyes. The Hawaii cultural center is a worth dropping into. Tourists flock to Waikiki which is where most of the stores are but anywhere outside that and there are no tourists. Weimeia is a beautiful valley where hikes are done. Honolulu itself is a bustling city in the middle of the pacific, just 5 minutes from the city are little towns that do farming, the crater is worth a hike, there is also the crater that you must make a reservation for. Just go to Hawaii and get lost in it but not in Waikiki.
The thing you should try is a boar hunt as it’s all perfectly legal. There are so many feral pigs on Hawaii that it’s easily the most common thing to do. It’s guided. All you do is finish the boar off. The guides tell you what to do. It’s not the prettiest thing to do but it’s vital to the ecosystem of Hawaii. You will eat that boar that night as Kailua pork. So it’s not wasted. Fishing is also fun especially chasing the big fish like marlin and Wahoo. Always something to do plus Hawaii is connected deeply with Japanese and Chinese cultures that most of the food has an Asian twist or is plain Chinese or Japanese.
Just because there is a road doesn't mean you should take it. There are some roads in the US (especially in Nevada and Alaska) where there is nothing for 100 miles, no gas, no stores, no other cars, no cell service, nothing. If your vehicle breaks down you have to walk out. There is a video on UA-cam of the beginning of the Eaton Fire. It seems to have started at the base of an electrical tower. The winds were gusting to 100 mph so maybe it knocked the power line down.
In Hawaii, the island of Oahu is the main island with the most tourists. You can drive around the island in about 6 hours. There are many beaches you can stop at. The battleship Arizona Memorial is there. Traffic is bad. There is a swap meet/flea market at the Aloha Stadium every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. The island of Maui is a honeymoon island with less tourists.
I always enjoyed Maui more than Oahu. And the "Big Island" of Hawaii is where the volcanoes are, which can be quite the spectacular sight if Kiluea is active when you're there.
Bonjour, local Yukoner here. A few items you may be interested in. The Yukon has a very large Francophone population and is the third largest bilingual region in Canada. En plus, its a short (2 hr) cheap ($125 USD) flight on our own airline from Vancouver. Trips on our many wilderness rivers are a fantastic way to see the area. Despite the sun barely setting, summers can be very hot or very cold on any given day. Last summer it swung from lows of 1C to highs of +29C and back in a coup of days.
Hocking Hills State Park and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (both in Ohio) have Bigfoots or 'the Grassman' as its known in Southern Ohio. I'd love to see you come to Ohio and check these two huge parks out! I am originally from Ohio and live in Austin, TX. If you come to Texas, you have to check out the Central Texas bbq places and try the fatty brisket. Texas Monthly magazine has a list of the best ones.
In the off season. During the tourist season, the highway with a million traffic lights and stop signs is extremely tiresome. Off season, it's much more reasonable. Spring is usually foggy along the coast too, frequently very heavy fog. Burns off around noon, at least in San Diego. Oddly, the time to visit Death Valley is the summer. I've done it three times. No crowds for the simple reason that the temperatures are well over 40C... but during the cooler winter months, it's horribly crowded. The shoulder season of spring and fall/autumn is good, but early fall and late spring (watch for national holidays as the final busy weekend and avoid those). So go when it is hot and fewer people. But not too hot. Even then, engines do boil over. Your grand loop map, of Los Angeles to San Diego to Grand Canyon and the loop up to Seattle is terrific. Los Angeles is going to be a problem for the next few years. LAX will always be open, but it and JFK in New York are my two least favorite international hubs. Newark & Chicago are much better. Atlanta even is better than JFK or LAX. There is a lot of see, if its still there, in Los Angeles. But if the first thing you're going to do is to drive down to San Diego, you might want to just fly into San Diego be begin with. No direct flights from Paris, but Frankfurt and London Heathrow do have non-stop flights. Avoid San Diego in the spring, we get a lot of fog in April, May, June... July has Comic-con convention and rooms are impossible to find within the city. So again, the Autumn/Fall is best. Ditto for the Grand Canyon, etc... After the kids go back to school in September the parks are less crowded. However, the farther north you go, especially into the Rockies and Teton mountains, the more likely you are to hit snow. Yellowstone is gorgeous in the late Fall/Winter, but half of the park is only available with a snowmobile. Do what you seem to be doing, good planning makes for great trips! Good Luck!
@@dking1836 That channel Your New Zealand Family did the big loop in an RV from LA to Seattle to Utah, Vegas etc. this summer and are still releasing videos on it. It's pretty entertaining if you haven't seen it.
A great drive! I've only driven it all the way from Northern California (Eureka) to Los Angeles once, but it's a beautiful (if sometimes scary with all the twisty roads along the sheer cliffs!). The coastal redwood parks are one of the most beautiful sections. Sadly, there are several sections of the PCH (aka California Route 1) that are closed to traffic due to mud and rock slides from the heavy rains we got over the past few years, and much of it on the southern end leading into Los Angeles is currently closed due to its proximity to the horrible fires they're having there right now. Whether it's too much rain or too dry and hot, Mother Nature always seems to find a way to poke us with a stick!
Chicago is great...so is our little guy: Milwaukee...just north about l00 miles. If you like trails: Interurban Trail north by Cedarburg and Ice Age Trail throughout the state. Enjoy!
If ur going to moab area go Cortez Co and look up Mesa Verde National Park. U well see where naive American were from 800 ad to 1200 ad. U can spend a week looking at all the Indian ruins and trails to walk to more in area.
15:23 Ah, second assignment, I got ya. Been in Austin 14 years. It's small for a city, it's compact. Not at at like the sprawling metro of DFW. You could do most things walking around town and taking short Ubers. For more rural there's the capitol of BBQ, Lockhart about half an hour away. There's Fredericksburg an hour and a half away. San Antonio you could even take a $12 train to or drive the hour and a bit. Wimberley is reputed to be the prettiest town in Texas and is very scenic, less than an hour away. Roads around here are full of Mustangs and they are not going slow! We have a toll road here where the speed limit is 85 mph, the fastest in the country. So yes, lots of little old quaint towns in the area if you want to get rural. Then come back for amazing food in Austin. BBQ, Tex-Mex, steaks to veggie. Lots of young aspiring chefs here.
While you're in Detroit, take a drive to N.W. Lower Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes National (lake shore) Park. It's indescribably beautiful, and there is a lot of things to do in and around the area. If you love sand, water, Nature and Traverse City, this part of Michigan is magical.
Please consider Santa Catalina island off the coast of los Angeles. You take a 45 minute ferry. The island only has 2 towns, the rest of the island is full of wildlife you can view like American Bison, and the Trans Catalina trail that people camp & hike on. Cheers!
michigan has so much to offer..museums/coastal towns/beaches/lighthouses/casinos/the mackinaw bridge/mackinaw island(the grand hotel)/frankenmuth(bavarian looking town)/tons of lakes/state parks/hiking trails/waterfalls.and alot of wildlife/beautiful scenery..research it and you will be excited to visit..we are so much more than detroit
Yosemite, Yellowstone, and all the Utah national parks (especially Zion, arches) are a must . As for Detroit maybe do couple things in city but rest of time in Michigan, Michigan has several awesome places.
I’m a member at the Henry Ford and hope you know that along with the museum there is Greenfield Village which has numerous historic buildings and also you can take a bus to Ford’s River Rouge plant and take a tour of that. If you’re only there for a day it may not be possible to do it all but you’ll definitely have a good time. And I’m thinking you may know that the first production Mustang is in the museum’s collection.
Another good place to visit is the Land Of Oz Theme Park in Beech Mountain North Carolina. But it’s only open in Autumn.
I'm also a member. Greenville village is awesome. Got to do both!
I'm not trying to be contentious, I'm genuinely curious. At Monticello, for example, they eventually reckoned with the reality the Jefferson had fathered a number of children with women he enslaved, most notably Sally Hemmings. I believe Mount Vernon also addresses George Washington's history with slavery. Does the Ford Museum address Henry Ford's virulent anti-semitism and efforts to spread his beliefs widely, including through the network of Ford dealerships? Thank you in advance if you see and reply to this.
There are 63 National Parks in the USA and 2472 State Parks. Have fun.
Absolutely! You could make a long career out of visiting all those parks... now wouldn't that be a great career to have?
The Henry Ford museum is a great place to visit. There are a lot of things to see and a lot of history. Ford and Edison were friends and there are some actual Edison memorabilia there. When you go to Florida, you should visit Tampa and St Petersburg. There is Busch Gardens and a white sand beach in Pinellas Park. The bridge arches high over Tampa Bay.
Start in San Antonio. Beautiful Riverwalk downtown
The Cavern about an hour north are very nice. THE ALAMO!
The Yukon is absolutely stunning. Dress warmly though. Once that sun sets, it gets cold even in summer.
Glacier National Park in Montana is majestic.
My #1 destination hands down
@@TheRoman1964 she was there last year
Corvette museum in Bowling Green Kentucky - only $249 to run a Vette 3 laps around the track
20 miles West of San Antonio in Texas is a town called Castroville and It's a town with french heritage with unique buildings
So, if you go to Key West really consider a trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park. Take the ferry. It is a catamaran sailboat that takes you the 100km over the ocean. So take your Dramamine. However it is such a unique natural environment that it is a treasure for a nature lover. Don't forget to snorkel. The gear is included with the ferry. Avoid the winter because it is windy and the sea gets rough.
Personally would LOVE to see some episodes from North California and the Pacific Northwest. A drive down Highway one would be cool...Hearst Castle, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Pismo, SF are all on that path.
One of my favorite things was driving the coastline from Seattle to San Francisco (and beyond). It's gorgeous!
The drive up 1 is arguably better imo. The views on the coast from Ft.Bragg up to Eureka is some of the best scenery I've experienced.
yeah..Pismo.. Guadalupe even...Morro Bay, Cayucos
@@3xclusiv3sodak Yeah it is very pretty. But definitely different from Central CA. But she could take one almost all the way up to Seattle. That would be a cool trip if she loves to drive. She could rent another Mustang.
@@blueboy4244 Borrowed a family friend's house in Morro Bay for a week once. Really nice and laid back there. Love the views of the big rock.
Detroit is actually very nice, especially their downtown. The riverwalk was voted best in the U.S. for the last 4 years. Their town square, Campus Martius, was voted best town center in the U.S. I also recommend that you drive up to northern Michigan and visit Mackinac Island, one of the most beautiful islands in the U.S. where no cars are allowed.
Mackinac is a tourist trap of the gaudiest, kitchiest kind. If you're going that direction, either go to Traverse City, or Sault Ste. Marie. Overwhelmingly more worthwhile. Unless your main goal is to buy overpriced fudge at twenty different places within three blocks of each other.
Yea, Detroit gets a bad rap because out political right has to scare their uninformed rubes.
Well, she said that she likes tourist traps. My family loved Mackinac Island, rented bikes and rode to the Arch Rock and explored the nature. Traverse City is nice. I would also add the Bavarian town of Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Nice fact Detroit. The name is actually French. Then we became a British colony then finally American
I was going to suggest Mackinac in the fall, when it's cheaper and less crowded. Also! You can take part in the Halloween Festival and do the haunted tour.
Seattle in the summer might be one of most beautiful places!
I hear Oregon can be nice.
Austin is always fun, Bob Bullock museum is great for Texas History, seeing the bats, good food. Close to Lockhart for BBQ. Big Bend national park is great. Enchanted Rock and the central Texas German towns near Fredricksburg. Palo Duro Canyon in the panhandle is breathtaking.
Cool video Marie. Take your time. If you rush, everything will run together and it won't be a fun. Thanks for sharing, it was very interesting. I would suggest Custer State Park in South Dakota. You get to see Bison and plenty of other wildlife and you'd be very close to Mt. Rushmore
Hey Carl, it's definitely beautiful there....The Badlands, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore etc. were some of my favorite places in my travels.
San Diego is great. Weather is great, food is great. I wish I lived there. You can hop over the Tijuana and the Baja as well.
Olympic and Mount Rianier National Parks are Amazing and Seattle and Vancouver are all less than 3 hr drive from each other
Go to Charleston, SC
When visiting Chicago the best months are May, June and September. No humidity but lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. July and August are nice but its very crowded, hot & humid and there are lots of events downtown (NASCAR, Lollapalooza, etc.) that shut the city down on weekends. Great museums and great food.
May and even June can be "cooler near the lake" though. Lake Michigan takes a long time to warm up in spring. Anyone taking an architectural cruise in May needs to layer up!
@@quinn-tessential3232 True...and its usually rainy. Still better than the 98 degrees of August or the -20 degrees of January 😅
No, the best month is JULY.
Best Month is Definitely September, and since global warming the first two weeks of October are really nice as well. In October all the Halloween house decorations are up.
Bonjour Marie! Wow Detroit is first on your list! I hope it's not the first place you're going as it's much better here in Summer than Winter. Oddly enough, as I'm writing this the International Auto Show is going on in downtown Detroit. BTW, Detroit is MUCH safer and bustling now, especially downtown. The Henry Ford is actually in the City of Dearborn which is next to Detroit, and Dearborn has the largest population of Middle Eastern people in the US so there are a LOT of great Middle Eastern restaurants. I have mentioned before, and some also noted in these comments, that on the third Saturday in August is the Woodward Dream Cruise where people from all over the world bring classic cars and modern muscle cars. Ford takes over a whole block and puts new vehicles and specialized Mustangs, but there is also Mustang Alley which usually has one of every year Mustang. Lots of great Detroit/Michigan based foods and drinks you can try while here. Bonne journee! ~Be Blessed P.S. Not sure when (or if) you're coming and I'm sure that you'll have a guide/chaperone, and I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'd love to meet up and say hello. I actually won a contest where you sent me postcards from one of your trips, and I'm the voice from Michigan in your video about different US accents. So you may still have my e m ail, but if not maybe I can contact you. I'd love to say hi and maybe suggest places to go to that I've been that perhaps your guide hasn't, and maybe I can try to see how much I can understand when you speak French!
In Philadelphia you can get tons of park stamps
I live south of Seattle and if you want to get a very Pacific Northwest feel I would suggest things like taking a ferry to one of the islands or to the Kitsap peninsula on the way to Olympic National Park. Also, there are seaplane tours that take off and land on Lake Union in Seattle that circles around both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens (Mt St Helens is the one that blew up in 1980). There are a lot of hiking trails in the Cascade mountains and other things you could do that are not related to being in the city.
Just remember, the Seattle area is famously cloudy and rainy so I would suggest visiting between July-September because that is when it is usually sunny. Also, if you plan on going to a national park I would suggest researching when you want to go. Mt Rainier just recently started requiring reservations to visit but you also want to know what time of the year to visit since some places don't open until July because of snow.
St. Pierre and Miquelon by Canada, French Caribbean islands: Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint Barthélemy
Dollywood, Wisconsin Dells, Bayfield, Apostle Islands, Mackinac Island, I-80 Truck Stop in Iowa, Sturgis in SD, Mt Rushmore.
Dubuque is nice.
For a smaller Texas town, Fredericksburg. If you go to Detroit also go up to the northern part of the state; Traverse City and Mackinac island. st Pierre & ‘Miquelon is one French speaking island. The Isles-de-La-Madeline in Quebec are another option.
You said state parks for national parks but the best state park in the U.S. is probably the Adirondacks in New York
Banff in Alberta may be Canada’s most scenic National park. You would like the Calgary Stampede too I think.
I would definitely recommend Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. Good place to explore the origins of the United States. Fun fact, Williamsburg is referred to as the Historic Triangle because Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown are all within driving distance of each other (there is a special road called the Colonial Parkway which is deliberately constructed to mimic a colonial-era trail). I never noticed that Virginia is an example of a bookend because British Colonization of what would become the United States started there and ended there making it an example of a bookend trope.
Now THAT'S a bucket! Overflowing with sweet ideas. I've been to some of those places, but my info is decades old. There are many who are more current than I. You're very good at researching the dangers involved in your travels and surrounding yourself with excellent, competent people. So my best advice is to do everything you can to be safe.
Seattle and Vancouver can be the same trip. You could easily get 4 or 5 videos out of that one. There's so much diversity. You have the city of Seattle itself (Space Needle, Pike Place Market, etc.), Mount Rainier, the San Juan Islands, Olympic National Park... You could actually take a car ferry up to Victoria, British Columbia, the provincial capital (making an obligatory stop at Butchart Gardens), and then continue by ferry either to the San Juan Islands or to Vancouver, which is an interesting city in its own right. And don't forget to stop in Everett, WA, an hour north of Seattle, to tour the Boeing airplane manufacturing plant. So much to see and do. By the way...I once sat through a tourist presentation for Newfoundland, and they taught us the correct pronunciation: NEW-fin-LAND, rhymes with understand. Soft emphasis on the first syllable, hard emphasis on the third.
Love those rides on the ferries between islands. Always got a big kick out of that.
If you go to Seattle, Washington there are many things to see and then Vancouver, Canada is a little over a 3 hour drive. You could probably do both in one week.
Or if you have two weeks, Vancouver to Seattle then go see the Redwoods. About a 9 hour drive from Seattle. If you drive that stretch, stop in Tillamook Oregon for their cheese and Pacific City to see the huge Haystack Rock.
Whatever you choose to do this year, I know you’ll have fun.
The desert parks in California and Arizona are scorching hot in the summer, so schedule accordingly.
Oh yeah! "Death Valley" didn't come by its name for no reason. Definitely don't want to be there in the summer if you can avoid it. Autumn or early Spring would be optimal, but that's also when everyone else is going to be there, so it's often crowded (or at least as "crowded" as such a remote area can be...). The Mojave and Anza-Borrego deserts also have a lot to offer, but are also pretty scorching in the summer (though not to the same level as Death Valley)
This bucket-list thing for National Parks is not just for a "Frenchie," many in the US would like to do the same thing. It is a stunning country.
14:34 Start with San Antonio and Austin.
Some great choices. I visited Seattle for the first time in October 2024. The mass transit there is really good and when walking, be prepared for steep hills in downtown Seattle. You can tie that visit to your Vancouver visit. It's been a few decades since I have been to Vancouver but I am sure it is still beautiful. You will definitely enjoy visiting the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I am lucky enough to visit it every few months because of their exhibits and special events. If you visit Detroit, look into mid-August as that is when the Woodward Dream Cruise takes place. Classic cars driving down Woodward Blvd and all types of Mustangs on display at Mustang Alley. I look forward to you sharing more adventures with us.
Vancouver is a place I've always wanted to visit.. so beautiful and I love cool weather..😢😅. 😎
Go to St Pierre and Miquelon …. Near Quebec but actually it’s part of France!
There is a carousel in Paris that a high school classmate of mine was involved in designing and building the horses.
I've seen some of those in movies. They're pretty neat.
West Coast Trail. Pacific Rim National Park. West Coast of Vancouver Island.
7 day hike. Wild West coast beach hike. 10/10
Resident of Washington State since 58 and I love it. Lived in Tacoma but worked in Seattle for 29 years but live 25 miles from Mt Rainier entrance to Paradise.
Eat outside of Seattle City Limits or expect to pay a lot. Washington State minimum wage is $16.66 but Seattle's minimum wage is $20.76 as of 1st of year.
I hope you get to visit every place on your bucket list. Love your videos and I think you are the best.
🤠 As a Montana Boy, I Share Your Love For The Mountains! 🤗 Glacier and Yellowstone (Both Must See Places) Are Just Some of The Beautiful Places We Have! 🏔
Chicago in the summer may be my favorite city to visit. I like it more than New York. You have to take the architecture tour on the Chicago River, and check out Michigan Ave.
Your English is amazing. Better and better with each video!
My wife and I have been taking 20 to 24 day driving vacations the past few years. We leave Pennsylvania and do these 7,000 mile drives around the desert south west.
Yellowstone. Big, holy cow big! Getting around can take hours of driving. Buffalo on the roadways...Even longer trips. We were not prepared for the size of Yellowstone. But, Amazing.
Badlands, South Dakota. We again had no idea. Blown away. Beautiful. Very inviting. Very open....If you wanna hike, go where ever you like. From hours to days.
Grand Tetons. Breath taking. It is hard to take a picture of the Tetons that people won't say OMG look at that!
Zion. Amazing views and some amazing hikes. A scenic drive and massive tunnel cut through the mountain. My wife had me pulling off the road to take photographs, at least 100 times. Some real wow moments.
Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase Escalante. Wow. Again, big, lots of driving. Bryce has some great hikes. Short and long trails. Scenic views.
The Grand Canyon (North rim and South rim) We have stayed at both the north and south rims. We agreed this year we liked the south rim more than the north. The cabins and the lodge at the north rim were amazing. It is isolated and less of a tourist trap. 54 miles from the main round, through nothing but rolling landscapes. Our feeling is the view points from the south rim are much better. If you drive and make your way to all the overlooks, each one is a WOW moment (South Rim).
Arches and Moab, Utah. Beautiful. Great hiking. Tons of easy hikes. Great wildlife. Amazing place.
Goose Necks State Park. Drive your car to the edge of a thousand foot drop. Series of river bends carved into the rock. Amazing. 5 other cars in the entire park. Holy Crap!
Valley of the Gods, scenic drive on BLM lands. 17 mile dirt road. Through canyons and bluffs. Middle of no where. No cell phone service. Hiking. Remote camping. Picture stop, picture stop, picture stop. We passed four cars during the hour drive. It was like having our own park!
My wife is big on sunsets and sunrises. We are up before dawn and then return for sunsets. We have seen sunrises and sunsets that have brought tears to my eyes. There was a thunder storm one evening at the south rim of the grand canyon. She made me drive her into the park, even though I didn't want to. The storm broke as we arrived. A quarter rainbow extending a thousand feet into the canyon and maybe two thousand feet above the rim. The storm kept many people away. It was magical.
I know you love motorcycles, so if you're ever near Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL you should go to the track - they have a vintage motorsports museum that I hear is pretty cool - haven't been there yet but would like to go.
The country is huge ! See what you can and plan to come back again when you can to see more.
🤠 My Daughter Lives in San Diego and They Have So Many Great Restraunts (Hodad's Burgers, Little Italy, 5 Star Desserts, Real Mexican Food, Sushi, etc...)! 🤯 Their is Alot of Things To See - Like The Air and Space Museum, Catalina Island, Oceanography Institute, Hang Gliding/Parasailing, Sea World, Fishing, Surfing, etc...! 🪂⛵️
There are many spectacular areas in the Northern California region too. The weather is closer to that of Oregon/Washington state than Southern California weather. There are various redwood parks as well as mountain zones like Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, and Mt. Tamalpais.
If you go to Newfoundland, it is a short boat ride to St. Pierre and Miquelon, a French island off the south coast of Newfoundland.
Big bend is actually extremely close to antelope canyon so you can do both. I live next a state park not a national park. It’s really just some wetlands and a lake. Honestly those wetlands absorb all the water from hurricanes which protects us. It’s ok just kinda stinky if no rain has fallen in a week.
I'm a little confused. The most famous Antelope Canyon is in Northern Arizona - in close proximity to Horseshoe Bend (which is likely what you mean) and many other national parks. Big Bend National Park is in extreme southwest Texas, some 700 miles away, and is where FrenchTastic was talking about in context with her other remarks about Texas.
North Cascades National Park, Washington
Bonjour Marie! I’ve been to the places you have mapped out at the 3:34 mark. I recommend you visit the Point Loma lighthouse when you get to San Diego. The view of the San Diego Bay is spectacular.
On your drive from Havasu City to the Grand Canyon, make a stop at Seligman - Route 66 which is a one-mile detour off the 40 Fwy. It is the inspiration for the Disney - Pixar animation, Cars.
On the way from Monument Valley to Las Vegas assuming you’re on State Hwy 98 and going through Page, AZ, it is a must see to go on a tour of Antelope Canyon and make a stop at Horseshoe Bend. You can park at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and take a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. The Page, AZ tours will take 4 hours.
The best time to go to Arches National Park is in the Spring or Fall. I went there in the Summer once and the temperature was 122⁰. I had to stay in an air-conditioned hotel until the late afternoon before I could go on a hike because it was too hot. Make sure you always take plenty of water with you when hiking in the desert. You can take a midnight hike to Delicate Arch in the moonlight. Outside the park there is a trail with dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs such as the “birthing rock.”
About 10 miles east of Glenwood Springs, CO, there is a trail to Hanging Lake. I recommend you be at the trail head early in the morning to get a parking space. You can relax afterwards in the Glenwood Springs heated pool. There is also a trail to Doc Holiday’s grave in Linwood cemetery.
When you travel from Glenwood Springs to Flaming Gorge, UT, make a stop at the Dinosaur National Monument.
#2 is two to four trips. First Trip - kip LA and San Diego and start in Phoenix. Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab (Arches and Canyonlands), Mesa Verde, (Maybe Chaco Canyon), Rocky Mountain, End in Denver. Next Trip - Las Vegas - Zion, Bryce, Dinosaur National Monument, end in Salt Lake City. Third Trip - Start in Salt Lake City or fly into Jackson, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic, end in Seattle. Fourth Trip - San Diego, LA, Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, end in San Francisco or Portland.
All great road trips! I've done most of those.
I really enjoyed hearing about your bucket list ideas. I've had the pleasure of visiting many of them, and am certain you would enjoy them as much as I did.
As a native San Diegan, I do hope you have the chance to visit my home town again. Definitely try to fit in Balboa Park with so many museums and the San Diego Zoo... one of my favorite places in town to visit, as I live only about 10 minutes away from it. Another favorite spot is the area around La Jolla Cove... including Ellen Browning Scripps Park that runs along the top of some of the rugged shoreside cliffs. There's a nice walking path all along the top of the cliffs and several places where you can go down stairs to get to some interesting beaches and mini-coves. A great place to watch a sunset and listen to the surf crashing on the rocks and cliffs... one of the most relaxing sounds on earth.
Chicago is a great city to visit with a great array of museums and dining options. I've visited there many times, some of them in the middle of some of the coldest winters I've ever experienced!
The Florida Keys is another fascinating place to visit... I spent several days on Key West. They definitely have their own vibe down there.
The wide array of extraordinary big parks could provide you with many years of travel adventures all by themselves! Most of the major ones you mentioned are actually "National Parks" (designated by, and managed by, the Federal Government) like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, Big Bend, Everglades and others. The "State Parks" are those designated by, and managed by, the individual states. Most of them are smaller than the big National Parks, but many are nearly as beautiful without as much traffic and crowds, so would be worth a visit... a couple I've visited in recent years are Snow Canyon State Park and Sand Hollow State Park in Utah.
I have my own list of places I'd love to go, either for the first time or revisiting after a long absence. I'll do that in a separate post, as this one is already starting to take on the proportions of a Russian Novel! 😋
That was a great list. I hope someday you can visit Maine and Acadia National Park. Highest point on the east coast which is Cadilac Mtn. You can look out over the ocean and the Porcupine islands. Here is an idea for you someday. Rent a Mustang and drive all over the states and really see nature and cities while traveling. Stay well and do your research to make the most out of your trips. Best wishes.
Chicago is of course the home of Lawerence Brown or as you know him as Lost in the Pond. Chicago is a very busy city. Do not drive in Chicago as it’s impossible simply hop on to the L and get anywhere in the city. The north side is the rich and nice part of town where the gleaming skyscrapers and the magnificent mile is. The south side is rougher and mostly working class which actually is better. The food is midwestern food but in huge quantities. The thing is the winters are very harsh and food helps get them through the three months. Grant park is really nice as it’s right in the middle of the city and divides the city into the north and south sides. Grant park also has the Bean. A solid stainless steel sculpture of an actual bean. There is also the video fountains of people’s faces which looks like they spit water into a fountain. Chicago is very nice but shoulders the burden of being the industrial hub of the US.
Also, if you travel west of Chicago, you will see a combination of French and Indian (Native American) towns. I would suggest taking I-80 across to the Quad Cities (Moline, Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa) along the Mississippi River. There are many pretty areas along the Mississippi. and then head north to Dubuque, Iowa.
I'd suggest doing Michigan, then Chicago. Stop in LaSalle along I-80, Starved Rock state park. If you have time, Springfield Illinois has a lot of interesting places to see (Abraham Lincoln's home and gravesite are interesting places I've seen.)
I get to cross another state off my list in November. My family and I are going to Florida, near Orlando and down to the Keys. Cape Canaveral is on the agenda as well!
Remaining bucket list trips
1 - NYC. Actually visit, not just travel thru.
2 - New Orleans. It was great to see your videos on Nawlins!
3 - Grand Canyon. I need to witness this
4 - Alaska. Need to complete the whole set of 50 states!
5 - Washington DC. Been there a few times but need to go again and visit the museums and memorials!
A personel favorite park of mine is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is stunning. I was stationed at the Submarine Base on Point Loma in San Diego in the late 1980's. Cabrillo Monument was one of my favorite places in San Diego.
If you can make it out of St Louis unscathed, you should be fine in Detroit and Chicago.
My own "bucket list": There are so many places I'd love to visit!
Up in Oregon, I'd love to see Crater Lake and visit the beautiful Oregon coastline (my brother camps there frequently, so that's a real possibility).
I'd love to visit Alaska, both the interior with Denali National Park, and a cruise along the coastline to see some of the spectacular bays and glaciers.
One place I really want to get back to is Yellowstone National Park... so much amazing scenery and all the geysers, hot springs, and other thermal features that make it so special. I haven't been there since 1973... the last family trip we took before I got wrapped up in my career after college, and was only about a year before my father passed away. He wanted us to see Yellowstone, and Wyoming, as he grew up in Wyoming only a short distance away from Yellowstone and spent his summers during High School working on road maintenance crews in the Park. So I grew up hearing all about the park and loved the trip there, but haven't been back since, as schedules had never worked out to put together a trip.
When I went to Zion National Park it was full of French tourists!!🤪
You have to go to Yosemite. Its the the model for what national park was about. Anyone who say Yellowstone don't know the history of how national came about.
Don't sell the Ford museum short. It's fantastic.
So many places, so many sites to see! A Yukon series would definitely be interesting to watch. Fun fact: Yukon actually has a French-speaking community there (Franco-Yukonnais). Something worth exploring if/when you go there. Cheers! 🍻🇨🇦🇺🇸✈️🌎
Marie , you were talking about state parks.. there are Two you need to check out in New York.
1 . The Adirondack State Park. It's big enough and takes days and months to explore.
2. Letchworth State Park. It's absolutely gorgeous in the Autumn.. it's known as the Grand Canyon of the East.
she said 'state parks' - but was talking about our National Parks
I'd go to The Thousand Islands in upstate New York (also in Canada).
If you go back to San Diego visit the Air and Space Museum.
And the aircraft carrier that is there
I hope you make it to all of these places if not this year then in the years to come.
Hi from Texas. I suggest visiting all of the large Texas cities and hitting some cute smaller towns along the way. For BBQ you absolutely must try Terry Black's!!
If you get back to St.Louis, Missouri, drive south a couple hours to the St. Francois Mountains and the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
Outside of North America... one day you need to get to Hawaii. If you go... probaby skip Oahu and visit other islands. Oahu is nice... but crowded.
You might like to visit Henry Doorly zoo in Omaha Nebrask. 11:59 T hey also have a safari park where u can drive through and see American animals safety from your car. SAC Air Museum might also interest you.
As a Nebraskan I'd also add going to see the sandhill crane migration and scottsbluff
Marie, if you decide to visit Canada and the USA for a long period on one trip then realize that your 90 days in the USA starts when you enter the USA and is not halted if you go to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean from the USA.
Research Glenwood Springs Colorado. Beautiful town with great trails and much more.
You mentioned Sequoia National Park and I highly recommend it. The trees are astonishing and you can hike among them. I have gone there several times in September - the weather is usually good and all the American children are back in school so it is past vacation peak times. Right next to Sequoia is Kings Canyon National Park and you should not miss it. The drive down into the canyon is unforgettable and you can camp down at the bottom where there are trailheads for amazing trails. I hiked up to Paradise Valley and the only people that I saw were a few people on horseback. I always wanted to go on horseback there, up into the remote Sierras. And, on a different topic, I always wanted to go on a float trip down the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon - it offers views you cannot experience from a car. The trips are strictly regulated in number and you must be in a guided group. You can book from 3-day to 15-day trips...
The Yukon has got to be one of the most pristine and beautiful places on earth. You MUST go there, there are no words in English to adequately describe it.
I heard a statistic just a few days ago regarding the wildfires in LA which really blew my mind. The number of acres which have burned now is greater than the size of the entire city of Paris. Think about that for a minute...
I take it you want to find "the out of the way" places. Also I'd suggest to find the mom & pop places. Have it be a diners or just a local business.
Don't forget the Lake Erie Islands.
San Antonio is a great place to visit in Texas, they have the River walk with stores, restaurants ETC.. lining the beautiful walk along the river, also boat rides and tours. up above it , is the Alamo a historic Texas site and a mall with a Imax theater. There is also a Sea World Park there. I was stationed in Abilene Tx in the United States Air Force for a few years.
Happy New Year Marie. I hope this is your best year ever and you check off most of this list. The Yukon surprised me a bit i must say. The only place that might compare would some regions of Siberia. I had an older cousin who traveled there and his photos were incredible. Of course this was before these small digiital cameras so he didnt get any video, it would have been VHS and the big on the shoulder camera. But he said it is surreal once you see the plane that brought you disappear on its way back. He said the sudden rush of isolation is quite a feeling. Like i said, i hope you get to visit these places, texas to me is a little boring and vanilla as far as sights go. I wouldnt get too high of expectations for it because it looks similar to other places you have traveled, but the food is good. Stay safe and stay cool, take care. ❤❤❤
P.S. almost forgot.....Glacier National Park is my top bucket list, then it would be the volcanos of Hawaii. If im not mistaken, you did Glacier in Montana, not just canada....i think.
If you go to Mackinac island. Watch the movie “somewhere in time “. Lots of women love that movie
If you're curious about visiting a French-speaking island around North America, I'd suggest Iles de la Madeleine in Quebec. Never been there, but it seems exotic and secluded to me. Definitely not a region that gets a lot of attention.
As for a place I've been and can recommend, definitely see the Florida Keys. The upper and middle keys are great for relaxing. Key West is great for partying. Definitely go to Sloppy Joe's and get, well, a Sloppy Joe. I've never liked them, until I tried theirs. Absolutely fantastic. Oh, and stop at Stock Island and go to Hogfish Bar and Grill. They have wonderful, well, hogfish dishes.
😊🌄 Bonjour Marie! Other than Texas and Florida, I've not been to the rest of your list. I do hope you can visit them all or at least most of them this year. I'll be right here, enjoying the journey vicariously through you.🍩☕😄
Bonjour Marie!
I've been to many of the U.S. National Parks, especially out west,. The ones on the map you showed at 3:54 is pretty good; plus I'd also recommend Yosemite. My absolute favorites are Arches, Zion, & Yosemite.
I grew up in Vancouver. You can easily visit Vancouver & Seattle together, though I'd recommend at least 3 days in each place.
As for Texas, most people will tell you to go to Austin. It's alright, but I'd also recommend you visit San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Hill Country. Plus, the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo, would be a great stop if you were to attempt to drive Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica.
Bon Voyage!
If you are going to Seattle, then you need to also visit Mt Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park. ONP has the only rainforest in the US.
If you like biking at all - and beer, lemonade, baby goats, pork chops, pie, corn on the cob, camping, partying, etc. - then look into RAGBRAI in the summer. It’s a 7-day bike ride (not a race) across the state of Iowa. You dip your back tire in the Missouri River to begin the journey, and you dip your front tire in the Mississippi River to end the journey. It’s a ton of fun and a great way to see small-town America… just you and 15,000-20,000 new friends. 🚴🏽♀️🥧🌽🚴🏼
Look up P 51rides. Some in Florida. Georgia, Texas, and California. Among others. Very pricy. Or maybe and old time train ride in Colorado, Durango to Silverton. Beautiful ride.
looking forward to seeing your CONTINUING ADVENTURES in north america 👍☺
If you go to California you can visit several top national parks: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Death Valley can be visited in one trip. In Northern California, Redwoods National Park is worth going to, maybe as a trip up the Pacific Coast: California to Oregon to Washington. The drive along the Central Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles and then San Diego is one of the best drives in the country.
Another way to visit many national parks at one time is to do Southern Utah which has a lot of beautiful places: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches are right next to each other. Las Vegas or Salt Lake City are the best big cities to get to these parks.
If you go to South Florida drop by Miami and then head into the Everglades which a huge natural area. Then drive down the Florida Keys to Key West where you HAVE to take a boat trip to Fort Jefferson, which is on a beautiful island with tropical blue water.
If you want French islands go to the Caribbean. Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Barts are a part of France!
A drive through the redwoods is definitely worth it imo. Great place to put on some great music and just enjoy the ride.
I can heartily agree with everything said here! Some of my favorite road trips have been a loop of the California parks, and some years back a buddy and I did a road trip spending two weeks driving around all the "Redrock" parks in the "Four Corners" region (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico). Key West and evirons is another fun trip. Especially if you enjoy snorkeling and doing boat tours.
The one summer I tried to go to Lassen in June, there was 2 feet of fresh snow at the entrance, so I need to go back some day.
Hawaii is Polynesian. They were never conquered just integrated. Honestly you’ll land at Honolulu international airport which is open air oddly. It’s a different world on Hawaii as what you see on tv isn’t the same as you see with your own eyes. The Hawaii cultural center is a worth dropping into. Tourists flock to Waikiki which is where most of the stores are but anywhere outside that and there are no tourists. Weimeia is a beautiful valley where hikes are done. Honolulu itself is a bustling city in the middle of the pacific, just 5 minutes from the city are little towns that do farming, the crater is worth a hike, there is also the crater that you must make a reservation for. Just go to Hawaii and get lost in it but not in Waikiki.
The thing you should try is a boar hunt as it’s all perfectly legal. There are so many feral pigs on Hawaii that it’s easily the most common thing to do. It’s guided. All you do is finish the boar off. The guides tell you what to do. It’s not the prettiest thing to do but it’s vital to the ecosystem of Hawaii. You will eat that boar that night as Kailua pork. So it’s not wasted. Fishing is also fun especially chasing the big fish like marlin and Wahoo. Always something to do plus Hawaii is connected deeply with Japanese and Chinese cultures that most of the food has an Asian twist or is plain Chinese or Japanese.
Just because there is a road doesn't mean you should take it. There are some roads in the US (especially in Nevada and Alaska) where there is nothing for 100 miles, no gas, no stores, no other cars, no cell service, nothing. If your vehicle breaks down you have to walk out.
There is a video on UA-cam of the beginning of the Eaton Fire. It seems to have started at the base of an electrical tower. The winds were gusting to 100 mph so maybe it knocked the power line down.
In Hawaii, the island of Oahu is the main island with the most tourists. You can drive around the island in about 6 hours. There are many beaches you can stop at. The battleship Arizona Memorial is there. Traffic is bad. There is a swap meet/flea market at the Aloha Stadium every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. The island of Maui is a honeymoon island with less tourists.
I always enjoyed Maui more than Oahu. And the "Big Island" of Hawaii is where the volcanoes are, which can be quite the spectacular sight if Kiluea is active when you're there.
Bonjour, local Yukoner here. A few items you may be interested in. The Yukon has a very large Francophone population and is the third largest bilingual region in Canada. En plus, its a short (2 hr) cheap ($125 USD) flight on our own airline from Vancouver. Trips on our many wilderness rivers are a fantastic way to see the area. Despite the sun barely setting, summers can be very hot or very cold on any given day. Last summer it swung from lows of 1C to highs of +29C and back in a coup of days.
You'll love Chicago! There are a lot of good people and tourist who show up there every year.
Hocking Hills State Park and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (both in Ohio) have Bigfoots or 'the Grassman' as its known in Southern Ohio. I'd love to see you come to Ohio and check these two huge parks out! I am originally from Ohio and live in Austin, TX. If you come to Texas, you have to check out the Central Texas bbq places and try the fatty brisket. Texas Monthly magazine has a list of the best ones.
Consider a visit to Ohio and the Ernest Warther Museum.
Lived in San Diego for a year ;-) A rad trip from S California into the mountain interior and out thru Seattle? That is a very long road trip.
Yep, I'd set aside at least two, and preferably three or more weeks to do justice to a trip like that.
You should consider taking the pacific coast highway from San Diego to Seattle.
Agreed. Great trip.
In the off season. During the tourist season, the highway with a million traffic lights and stop signs is extremely tiresome. Off season, it's much more reasonable. Spring is usually foggy along the coast too, frequently very heavy fog. Burns off around noon, at least in San Diego.
Oddly, the time to visit Death Valley is the summer. I've done it three times. No crowds for the simple reason that the temperatures are well over 40C... but during the cooler winter months, it's horribly crowded. The shoulder season of spring and fall/autumn is good, but early fall and late spring (watch for national holidays as the final busy weekend and avoid those). So go when it is hot and fewer people. But not too hot. Even then, engines do boil over.
Your grand loop map, of Los Angeles to San Diego to Grand Canyon and the loop up to Seattle is terrific. Los Angeles is going to be a problem for the next few years. LAX will always be open, but it and JFK in New York are my two least favorite international hubs. Newark & Chicago are much better. Atlanta even is better than JFK or LAX. There is a lot of see, if its still there, in Los Angeles. But if the first thing you're going to do is to drive down to San Diego, you might want to just fly into San Diego be begin with. No direct flights from Paris, but Frankfurt and London Heathrow do have non-stop flights. Avoid San Diego in the spring, we get a lot of fog in April, May, June... July has Comic-con convention and rooms are impossible to find within the city. So again, the Autumn/Fall is best. Ditto for the Grand Canyon, etc... After the kids go back to school in September the parks are less crowded. However, the farther north you go, especially into the Rockies and Teton mountains, the more likely you are to hit snow. Yellowstone is gorgeous in the late Fall/Winter, but half of the park is only available with a snowmobile. Do what you seem to be doing, good planning makes for great trips! Good Luck!
@@dking1836 That channel Your New Zealand Family did the big loop in an RV from LA to Seattle to Utah, Vegas etc. this summer and are still releasing videos on it. It's pretty entertaining if you haven't seen it.
A great drive! I've only driven it all the way from Northern California (Eureka) to Los Angeles once, but it's a beautiful (if sometimes scary with all the twisty roads along the sheer cliffs!). The coastal redwood parks are one of the most beautiful sections. Sadly, there are several sections of the PCH (aka California Route 1) that are closed to traffic due to mud and rock slides from the heavy rains we got over the past few years, and much of it on the southern end leading into Los Angeles is currently closed due to its proximity to the horrible fires they're having there right now. Whether it's too much rain or too dry and hot, Mother Nature always seems to find a way to poke us with a stick!
Chicago is great...so is our little guy: Milwaukee...just north about l00 miles. If you like trails: Interurban Trail north by Cedarburg and Ice Age Trail throughout the state. Enjoy!
If ur going to moab area go Cortez Co and look up Mesa Verde National Park. U well see where naive American were from 800 ad to 1200 ad. U can spend a week looking at all the Indian ruins and trails to walk to more in area.
Mesa Verde is amazing! On a road trip in that area with a friend, we visited dozens of ancient Native American sites.
15:23 Ah, second assignment, I got ya. Been in Austin 14 years.
It's small for a city, it's compact. Not at at like the sprawling metro of DFW. You could do most things walking around town and taking short Ubers. For more rural there's the capitol of BBQ, Lockhart about half an hour away. There's Fredericksburg an hour and a half away. San Antonio you could even take a $12 train to or drive the hour and a bit. Wimberley is reputed to be the prettiest town in Texas and is very scenic, less than an hour away. Roads around here are full of Mustangs and they are not going slow! We have a toll road here where the speed limit is 85 mph, the fastest in the country. So yes, lots of little old quaint towns in the area if you want to get rural. Then come back for amazing food in Austin. BBQ, Tex-Mex, steaks to veggie. Lots of young aspiring chefs here.
While you're in Detroit, take a drive to N.W. Lower Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes National (lake shore) Park. It's indescribably beautiful, and there is a lot of things to do in and around the area. If you love sand, water, Nature and Traverse City, this part of Michigan is magical.
Please consider Santa Catalina island off the coast of los Angeles. You take a 45 minute ferry. The island only has 2 towns, the rest of the island is full of wildlife you can view like American Bison, and the Trans Catalina trail that people camp & hike on. Cheers!
michigan has so much to offer..museums/coastal towns/beaches/lighthouses/casinos/the mackinaw bridge/mackinaw island(the grand hotel)/frankenmuth(bavarian looking town)/tons of lakes/state parks/hiking trails/waterfalls.and alot of wildlife/beautiful scenery..research it and you will be excited to visit..we are so much more than detroit
Yosemite, Yellowstone, and all the Utah national parks (especially Zion, arches) are a must . As for Detroit maybe do couple things in city but rest of time in Michigan, Michigan has several awesome places.