Traveling the US

[LaceyLady]

That is a great idea! Your route seems very long, though, and your destinations are spread quite far apart. You want to go to the northeast end of the U.S., the southwest end of U.S., the northwest, and places in between, all in one trip! You'll travel the entire United States! It should be very fun, but it will have long bus/train rides. When my parents were living in Ireland (before I was born) they did a similar trip, only flying. They visited NYC, Boston, San Antonio, Houston, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Chicago, and maybe more places I can't remember. They loved it.

There are many places to see, but quite a few of them are not easily reached via public transportation. Distances are shorter, public transportation is better, and there is a lot to see in the Northeast. You could spend a while in NYC, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and the surrounding areas. And these cities are not too far from each other. There is also much to see in the west and amazing natural wonders, but distances are great and public transportation is not great.

The place I know the most about is Arizona, so I will discuss that. The only long distance passenger train station (Amtrak) that I know of in AZ is in Flagstaff, which is 2 hours drive from Phoenix and over an hour from the Grand Canyon. There are Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Flagstaff. Practically anywhere in the West, public transportation is not great. So you need to plan for that.

If you come to Arizona definitely see the Grand Canyon. Other places to see near Flagstaff (within 1 hour drive - no public transportation) include Meteor Crater, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki (yes, we have several canyons and craters). If you want to go up to a high elevation (without hiking or visiting Colorado) and see a great view, drive 20 minutes north of Flagstaff (on the way to Grand Canyon), up a mountain called the San Fransisco Peaks, and take the chairlift up to a height of 11,000 ft above sea level (how many times do you get that high up!).

In the Phoenix metro area there are various sites and museums (off course not as famous as ones you can visit on the East Coast) depending on your interests. There even are Native American ruins in Phoenix (minutes from downtown). Near Phoenix there are various ancient ruins and Old West things (if you are interested in that).

Sorry for such a long post.

I hope this helps, and I hope you have a great trip.