I fell in love

[un0x]

with the United States of America.. :upstare:

Last month (july) I made a 3,5-week trip tru California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Florida.

I returned to Holland two weeks ago, and eversince I've been thinking and dreaming about the good times in the states.
It's like im in love with a country . How rare..

I really liked the atmosphere, the people and the environment. Especially California. It's beautiful. I've been in San Francisco, Los Angeles and a couple of smaller cities there. I also loved the desert and the Joshua Tree National Park.

Then Arizona, with the beautiful Lake Powell. Stayed in Flagstaff, which was great. The Grand Canyon was nice, but it didnt impresss me that much..

Nevada was nice, I only been to Vegas and Reno. I liked the cities . It was fun to see all the crazy americans throw money away gambling and stuff. Checked out the strip in Vegas at night, was awesome.

Utah is beautiful too, loved the nature there. I liked Zion and Bryce, but Monument valley was best.

We took a last week 'chilling out' in Florida. Stayed in Miami and Orlando. I loved the sea, so nice and warm :E. Checked out some wildlife (loved the gators) and the last day I visited Kennedy Space Center, which was impressive.

I also loved the food in the states, had lots of burgers :imu:. Jack in the box is the best, we dont have that restaurant in Europe .
I'm sure I will return sometime, to study or maybe even buy a house and live there.. I'd like to have a chat with some of you americans

I've attached some of my favorite pictures, shot them with my digital cam.

:cheers:

 

[CrazyHarij]

One of my brothers went to the 'States, he loved it too.

 

[CyberSh33p]

grass is always greener on the other side, my friend

we've got a crapload of controversy over here though, over absolutely everything and nothing. I'd rather go live in sweden personally

we've defnitely got our faults... big ones.

 

[un0x]

Oh someting i forgot to mention -

I also really love American Football and basketball, too bad the seasons havent started yet so I couldnt see anything on tv. Dutch tv doesnt broadcast these sports ...

Cybersh33p, to me it seems like lots of Americans want to go to Europe... thats funny, all Europeans would like to be in the states

 

[CptStern]

you all have too many guns but I like traveling Stateside ..NY is cool, so's chicago ...Buffalo NY not so good

 

[Korgoth]

hey stern come south and hang out with me in the big ky, at least its really pretty here, especially this timeof year.

 

[CyberSh33p]

Oh someting i forgot to mention -

I also really love American Football and basketball, too bad the seasons havent started yet so I couldnt see anything on tv. Dutch tv doesnt broadcast these sports ...

Cybersh33p, to me it seems like lots of Americans want to go to Europe... thats funny, all Europeans would like to be in the states

yeah, its cause none of us lived in the other place for a while

I think people are generally miserable everywhere and searching for escape.

 

[CptStern]

ya I've been as far south as South Carolina and I liked it down there, a bit too preachy, but people were very friendly and I developed a long lasting taste for southern belles

 

[Korgoth]

yeah we do have some (SOME) hot chicas here, and yep the people are very friendly... Absolutely right about preachy part too ( i live in the freakin' bible belt) But even though its sooo pretty around here, you'd be hard pressed to actually find somethign worth a damn to do.

 

[CptStern]

yeah we do have some (SOME) hot chicas here, and yep the people are very friendly... Absolutely right about preachy part too ( i live in the freakin' bible belt) But even though its sooo pretty around here, you'd be hard pressed to actually find somethign worth a damn to do.

heheh that reminds me of when I was in myrtle beach ..a friend I was with met this guy from kentucky and he was a riot ...he got a kick out of us being canadian so he played up his "southerness", he'd say the only thing to do in kentucky was sit on a porch watching world go by with grandama, rufus the coondog and a bucket of chicken ...he also introduced me to a hottie (for the life of me I cant remember her name ...but I do remember other ...things ) I ended up hanging out with her the rest of my time in myrtle beach

 

[Korgoth]

hahaha, thats a great story stern... .Just wondering how the hell that guy knew my dogs name (j/k) But he's pretty much correct. Replace chicken with beer though.

 

[DarkStar]

Damn Un0x. You went to some really sweet spots. Zion, Monument, Joshua Tree and Lake Powell really are badass huh? You should have come to Colorado! The Colorado Rockies are just about the most beautiful mountains in the world IMO.

It's cool that you went to national parks AND to crazy cities like Vegas and San Fran. Sounds like one awesome trip.

 

[un0x]

sure is!! Haha, when I come back, I indeed planned to see the northern states, and Colorado, and somehow I think Michigan would be beautiful, because of the lakes or something I will check out the rocky mountains sometime ... there's so much more to explore

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I went to Denver a while back, and the rockies are great but I really want to go to the Himalayas. In fact, when I was up in the rockies I almost destroyed my back, still it was fantastic driving around up there and I went "tubing" where you sit ina big donut type thing and slide down a hill. We put them all in a big line, because they have these hopps on a rope and hooks on the side, mostly for when they are being taken up the hill. Anyway, it was great, and I was at the back but mine came undone and I started sliding past the peoplein front until my brother grabbed me and held me next to him. Then we did it in a big ring, which was really good but there are 2 foot high walls of ice to mark out the tracks and I was the unfortunated person to on that side, meaing I was pressed up against it. Its not a smooth wall, it has a lot of bumps along it, so my back felt like someone was kicking it over and over, I couldn't walk for a short time after that and I was quite worried that my back was broken...anyway, it was fine after a couple of days.

The other places I've been in the US are California, Arizona and New York. In California, I stayed in San Francisco for most of the time, but I visited San Jose which was quite nice...Seemed like more of an avarge town than a touristy place. I also went to where my brother had lived for a while, and it was this tiny little town...I can't remember the name...but it basically had one road going through the middle with shops and stuff, and that was it. They had a cafe/pub type place with a Union Jack outside and it was just called "The English" . Anyway, we went in and they had some weird stuff in there...It was all supposed to be English food, but it was just plain wrong. The gravy was white, and looked more like slightly melted lard.

In Arizona we were only there for about a day because of the flight changeover, but I got to see a little bit of Phoenix...Its weird going from arid(San Fran just getting towards the summer), to desert(Phoenix), to lush(New York state) scenery really in such a short time. In New York...Well...We stopped in New York city of course We (being me and my friend) stayed over night, and so we just went out and wandered around the city for a while. It was fun

There is so much in the world to explore...Just a shame that life is too short to experience everything really.

 

[Xenome]

Omg you've been in vegas @ the strip :O

That's the area where Rap god tupac shakur got fatally shot :O

Well I also think the USA is a very beautiful country with nice people, I will go there once

 

[un0x]

Omg you've been in vegas @ the strip :O

That's the area where Rap god tupac shakur got fatally shot :O

Well I also think the USA is a very beautiful country with nice people, I will go there once

Hehe I think more things have happened on the strip, it's like the place in Vegas where everything happens... (I think it is, I havent been in the 'old' part of vegas, downtown)..

Nice to see some other 'tourists' experiences Farrowlesparrow

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

What I really wann do in the US though, is drive across it. Take a couple of months just just leasurly drive from New York to San Fran(Possibly LA) or something and see what real America is like. All the small towns, and lesser cities, that aren't really famous.

 

[Tr0n]

I went to Florida a couple weeks ago for my first time.There is so many pine trees!!!Also you gotta come to Alabama....it's beautiful here.But thats why they call it Alabama the Beautiful on the signs at the state line... :thumbs:

 

[B.Calhoun]

New York is a really cool city to live in, but sad to say its not the prettiest. kinda dirty.

Anyway unOx, your trip reminds me of the movie "Eurotrip" but backwards....if you ever saw it. Good movie!

 

[Neutrino]

Whoa, it's nice to actually here a positive post about the US.

If you come back sometime try some of the northern states too. The Northwest is quite scenic in my opinion.

 

[Fender357]

Cybersh33p, to me it seems like lots of Americans want to go to Europe... thats funny, all Europeans would like to be in the states

You have no idea how bad I want to visit Europe.
I'm taking German this semester, so mabie that will help

 

[Fender357]

What I really wann do in the US though, is drive across it. Take a couple of months just just leasurly drive from New York to San Fran(Possibly LA) or something and see what real America is like. All the small towns, and lesser cities, that aren't really famous.

Don't go to LA. For the love of God don't go to LA. It is just horrible.

 

[un0x]

B.Calhoun - that movie was advertised here as a movie about a group of dumb american teenagers sightseeing the most touristic places of Europe... I didnt really feel like a dumb tourist, I liked the small cities maybe even more than the big natural parks , will check the movie some time..

Tr0n - Florida was awesome, lots of pinetrees indeed I loved the everglades and I've been to a wildlife refuge somewhere at Cape Canaveral, that was great

Farrowlesparrow - sounds like an awesome plan, get a car and drive across the continent.... I like the smaller towns maybe even better than the huge cities, the town that now comes to my mind is Santa Marina (not sure, its about 2 hours north from LA), loved the place.

Fender357 - what I've seen from LA wasnt too bad, but I've only been there one day and I havent seen the main tourist sites... Don't really know what to think of it

 

[Adidajs]

What I really wann do in the US though, is drive across it. Take a couple of months just just leasurly drive from New York to San Fran(Possibly LA) or something and see what real America is like. All the small towns, and lesser cities, that aren't really famous.

i'm from Texas originally and my family of 7 (at the time; now it's 9) drove from East Texas up to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then drove across the US to California and then back to Texas. Very cool trip albeit cramped. I would definitely love to do that again.

btw North Florida does have a lot of pine trees, just like home, the Piney Woods of East Texas (Tyler, Texas Rose Capitol)

 

[Andy]

grass is always greener on the other side, my friend

Not true, I went to Australia and found it distinctly browner...

 

[Tr0n]

At first Florida didn't seem much diffrent from Alabama.Then all those pine trees popping up...Also I noticed they loved Mustangs down there.I mean like for everyone I could spot there was 3 or 4 more in the general area.

 

[Adidajs]

in the same way it's still very much like my childhood home.

 

[FoB_Ed]

I went "tubing" where you sit ina big donut type thing and slide down a hill

They don't have tubing/sledding in europe?

 

[un0x]

I've seen some donut type things on water, behind a boat... but not on hills I think

 

[Wraith]

america is nice but our president is a monkey

 

[un0x]

america is nice but our president is a monkey

tried my best not to go into political issues

Where you from?

 

[Pitbul]

Pheonix Az Winters = own all!!!!11!1

 

[Jack_Karverboy]

I like seattle! I got to go to the space needle, I got to go to teh valve! :upstare:

 

[Yakuza]

Pheonix Az Winters = own all!!!!11!1

HEHE, only a few more months....cant wait......To hot now.....like 110 degrees.

I live in Phoenix :cheers:

 

[un0x]

Oh another thing that I wondered about the US: is it just me or aren't sundays in any way different from the other days of the week? In Europe, sundays are very quiet, no people on the street, everybody's just chilling out at home or on the beach or taking a walk in the park... in the US there were lots of people and cars on the streets and the shops were opened and stuff ...

 

[sHm0zY]

Ohhhh canadaaaa
I love canada

 

[staddydaddy]

this is why i'm goint to college in claifornia.

 

[Letters]

Oh another thing that I wondered about the US: is it just me or aren't sundays in any way different from the other days of the week? In Europe, sundays are very quiet, no people on the street, everybody's just chilling out at home or on the beach or taking a walk in the park... in the US there were lots of people and cars on the streets and the shops were opened and stuff ...

Lots of places close an hour or two earlier... that's about it...

 

[Lethal8472]

edit: nevermind. should be in its own thread.

 

[FoxDie]

Then Arizona, with the beautiful Lake Powell. Stayed in Flagstaff, which was great. The Grand Canyon was nice, but it didnt impresss me that much..

You stayed in Flagstaff? That's where I currently reside :O Although, I have infinitely more love for California, where I was born, and where most of my family lives. I hope to move back soon