Driving cross-country: cool stuff in the middle of nowhere?

[BigKuba]

I'll be driving from Boston to San Diego in a couple of weeks (prolly leaving around Memorial Day) and taking my sweet time seeing all the cool nature once I get to Colorado/Utah. But before that happens I'll be looking at ~2000 miles of flatland. Does anyone have suggestions as to any cool random crap to check out on the way? There has to be *something* interesting in the Midwest, right? Weird truck stops, biggest three-legged cow in the world, that kind of thing...

I think the tentative plan is to go through Columbus (my girlfriend has family there she'd like to see) and then shoot it to CO, UT, and so on.
By the way, once out West, I'd like to hit up as much as possible out of Rocky Mtn N.P., swing by Aspen (Gaperman, you still gonna be down there, right?), Arches/Moab area, Capitol Reef, Zion/Bryce, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Vegas and possibly stop by Joshua Tree if I don't run out of $$$. I've been to all these places but my girlfriend hasn't so I'd like to show her around. Anything good I missed that can be incorporated into a road trip? Can anyone recommend some cheap places to crash or camp at along the way? I remember there being a cheap and comfy hostel around Moab that was run by an ex-Berkeley professor who served 20 types of stale cereal for breakfast, does that ring a bell or am I just making things up?

And while on that note, if any maggots along the way want to have a beer (Gaperman, El Kabong, NHTele if you just happen to be out West at the moment?), do let me know.

Thanks yall.

[MOHSHSIHd]

Great Sand Dunes National Monument!!

[powderwhore]

Don't forget about the giant house of mud, and the worlds largest ball of twine.

[AKA]

Great Sand Dunes National Monument!!

Its a National Park now, boy.

[MOHSHSIHd]

Its a National Park now, boy.

my bad, thats what i thought last time I was there, but all the signs still said "Great Sand Dunes National Monument"

[INDY GS]

Well, Since you will be heading out on 70, in indianapolis, you could swing by the 500 track, the race is on memorial day, and the place will still have a little activity for a few days afterwords. Other than that there is nothing else to see imediately off 70 In indiana. In Illinois, I think in Effingham, which is fun to say, there is a truck stop called Bobbers, they have big fishing bobbers on their sign, nice grungy truck stop to get gas and needed road trip snacks etc. Then there is nothing till St. Louis. See the arch, the Old Miss and maybe some other sites in the gateway city. Then there is nothing till Kansas City. I don't know much about KC, except right off the highway you can stop and see Royals stadium and arrohead stadium next to each other, for some reason I like seeing large buildings. I think Karl Stall lives in KC, if you stay in the vicinity, maybe you can hook uo with him?

Then you have what is officially nothing more than a waste of space and grasslands, Kansas. There is nothing to see here, a not a thingy dingy. Well 'cept for the World largest prarie dog somewhere in western kansas. this backwoods redneck hill jack, has a farm with all kinds of freak animals, 6 legged cows, one legged chickens, a wedge of cheese spliced with a beard and a piece of chalk...you get the idea. Freak show.

Also there is the Bosselman Truck stop in Salina Kansas, about the halfway point across Kansas. They have a display for some powder that they call Monkey Butt Powder for truckers that get sweaty monkey butt from driving all day. You may want to pick some up at this point as you will have been driving for quite some time now.

Soon you will be in Colorful Colorado. Don't let the sign fool you, there is nothing colorful about eastern colorado. It is the land that Kansas rejected, for being too desolate. However you are finally out of Kansas, so there is some relief.

Colorado, there is a lot of stuff to do there and there will be plenty of insight from others.

Have a fun trip, I hope gas prices drop with the miles you will be putting on.

[iceman]

Wall Drug, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, Sturgis.

For starters.

[BigKuba]

Great Sand Dunes National Monument!!

Thanks man. Is it sweet enough to justify 250 extra miles (vs. Denver --> Aspen on I-70 & 82)? I mean this is pretty cool, but can you tell me more?

Don't forget about the giant house of mud, and the worlds largest ball of twine.

You mean this one, in Cawker City, KS? Hell yeah.

Wall Drug, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, Sturgis.

was thinking about all that (the ladyfriend grew up in SD so it would have been nice to go by there) but it doesn't exactly put me in San Diego when the road ends.

indianapolis 500 track... St. Louis...all kinds of freak animals, 6 legged cows, one legged chickens, a wedge of cheese spliced with a beard and a piece of chalk...you get the idea.

Dude, you are full of good ideas. Thanks a lot. I'll give a full TR on the freak show:

[SkiingBear]

How 'bout the Arch in St. Louis?

Or you could come across and see Devil's Tower and Rushmore and then drop down to Colorado.

Being from Wisconsin originally, I'd recommend going through Wisconsin Dells and seeing some stuff there (Dells tours, Noah's Ark - America's Largest Water Park, etc)...but then that's just my nostalgic side.

[CantDog]

You absolutely must stop at Tacos El Mexicano in Topeka Kansas. Sounds unbelivable, but its this little scuzzy mexican restaurant, and the best mexican food I have ever had. Its really good. Good enough that I almost drove back over spring break just for tacos.

Tacos El Mexicano
2002 SE California Ave
Topeka, KS 66607

Its right off I-70, about two blocks from the highway.


Definately spend some time in St. Louis. Chuck Berry has a club there and plays there once a month.

Karl Stall will be able to tell you, but there is an awesome italian sandwich restaurant in South St. Louis(the little italy section) that has amazing sandwiches. Driving back east I ate the sandwich when I got to Louisville, KY, and almost turned around to get another one.

About two blocks from there there is a Diner that is pretty famous(I think Karl will be able to help here too) that has the best corned beef hash I've ever had.

I was only in St. Louis for about an hour and half, but it was the highlight of the drive back east. That and the mexican food.

[BigKuba]

Check out some other crap I've found. Who knew Kansas was such an interesting place:

World's largest pecan:

the Hair Museum in Independence, MO:

and the Giant Shoe Made of Shoes:

[MOHSHSIHd]

BigKuba, here is a link to a page of pictures taken September 04 of Aspen, Pearl Pass, Independence Pass and The Dunes....all taken the same weekend....

7 inches of snow in pearl pass, and 75 degrees at the dunes in the same day...

http://photobucket.com/albums/v467/acecake/

[MOHSHSIHd]

more dunes and zapata falls pics

[meatdrink9]

meats of evil, the mrs, and myself stopped at the giant prairie dog freak show in Kansas once. It was one of the most bizarre experience of my life. We walked into the little store in front (which is filled with the weirdest shit you'll ever see, they literally had animal feces hot glued to hats and were selling them). Meats picks up a pamphlet (from a stack of pamphlets) to read about the place to see if we want to see the animal freakshow. The crazy old guy behind the counter (who just happened to be eating dog biscuits) freaks out and asks my little bro where he got that pamphlet. Apparently there are coupons on the back for a free admission to the freakshow. I guess the guy had been done with this promotion, but didn't realize he had them in a brochure display right as you walk in the door. Anywho, we saw the horrid wonders. The five legged cow is probably really just a four legged cow and I'm sure the crazy old guy stuffs an amputated leg from another cow up its ass each day before opening. He had a pit filled with hundreds of rattlesnakes. For the most part seeing these animals stuffed into tiny cages in a muddy field next to the freeway was a pretty sad experience. But we did leave with a story.

[cloudpeak]

If you take I-90, check out the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

[cj001f]

Remember you can sleep for free in any walmart parking lot.

[Franz Klammer]

The U.S. (and its inhabitants) never cease(s) to amaze me ...

[BigKuba]

The U.S. (and its inhabitants) never cease(s) to amaze me ...

Ahem....


"Fucking is a small village in Upper Austria. The name has been the same for almost a thousand years. Fucking (pronounced fooking) was named in 1070 for its founder. The mans name is Facko and he lived in the 6th century.

The town overwhelmingly voted in 2004 "not" to change the name of its small community. That's fucking tellin' em.! Sweet!"

[vinzclortho]

I just did the drive in the opposite direction, went from LA to Boston. There is NOTHING to see for the most part. I took the more southern route, LA to Flagstaff to Amarillo to Oklahoma City etc... I saw velociraptors, the world's largest dream catcher, a vasectomy/knife shop, some huge friggin cross in Texas and assorted other crap. I would suggest getting some books on tape and not bothering to stop and see much along the way. When you have to go 1400 miles on one highway and it's totally flat, you might as well get to San Diego. Indianapolis is a cooll place, Oklahoma city SUCKS...I mean there is nothing to see there...at all. If I make the drive again, I'll bring more books on tape.

One way to pass the time while driving though is to play leapfrog with the truckers. You may not realize they do this, but some, not all, truckers play leapfrog with other truckers and people in cars if they know the game. It's really not that complicated, just when you are at the back of the line of trucks/cars...you flash your lights twice and make your way to the front. I know, it sounds stupid, but when you have to drive 900 miles a day on some highway it helps pass the time.

Also, if you are going through the Mojave, don't think "oh, I can make it another 85 miles on 1/5 of a tank of gas no problem." for the most part you never have problems along the way finding gas stations. In the Mojave however, there are like 2 or 3 gas stations and they aren't right next to eachother...I coasted into one place on fumes

[truth]

I would reccomend vast amounts of lsd, mescaline and some very clean meth.

[INDY GS]

For the most part seeing these animals stuffed into tiny cages in a muddy field next to the freeway was a pretty sad experience. But we did leave with a story.

Could not agree more on the experience MD9. It is rather disgusting to see these poor animals, but then again if you want a story... its a decent place to stop on the road to the west.

[72Twenty]

Just try and avoid Nebraska.

[Tippster]

Go the Southern Route:

Monuments/National Parks:
Carlsbad Caverns
Monument Valley
Grand Canyon
Joshua Tree

Other Shit:
Roswell, NM: Camp in the desert and look for UFO's
London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, AZ
Salton Sea, CA

[365wp]

When I did Boston to CO, we went north through Montreal, then west through Sault St. Marie, down across the Mackinac Bridge through Michigan, Wisconsin, South Dakota (Rushmore is cool, buffalo herds in Custer are neat), Nebraska, Wyoming. Took two lane roads the whole way, only highway was through SD.

It took about a week, and was really cool for me as I hadn't seen much of the country. It was mostly landscape watching until SD (we managed to hit it during Sturgis, Main St. outside Wall Drug was solid bikes). But it was cool to be in parts of Canada where people didn't speak English, the Great Lakes are beautiful, even found the gravel roads in the prairies of Nebraska to have their own beauty. Much more than doing the slog on 80, which I did last spring moving home.

AAA guidebooks (free w/membership) worked *great* for finding good local non-chain food...and they'll throw together a highlighted map book (aka TripTik) for free.

[Aldo]

Wall Drug, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, Sturgis.

For starters.

Quick question. Where the heck is WALL DRUG?