USA

'Pernille and Karsten over there'

I had a dream - and it did come true. Pernille and I made it happen, an experience for life. A 2 months trip you have planed for a whole year will most likely be a memorable trip. Today everybody is talking about being spontainous, thats is a nice thing too, but you don't build up the exitement and 'prejoy'. We where browsing the web, finding the best roads, reading books, listen to other travellers experinces, charging your soul with entusiasm. This dream would be fullfilled in a red Ford Mustang Convertible, what else? An icon of the american car and a good way to excercise your right to freedom on wheels. The Ducati at home would ofcource be envious! Why didn't we choose a two wheeled family member? Because it was to complicated. Renting a car is US is the simpliest thing in the world and you don't have to worry about a thing in regards of your transportation. 

The Rute

We had Airline tickets to Seattle and a the first night booked at Motel 6. Except from great expectations, we didn't have a route, only a rough idea on what we wanted to see, we had a natural operation radius limited in the Missouri River, the Canadian and Mexican border. The route in terms of states ended like this: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska (Iowa), Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington.

Some would be surpriced that we did go so far east, and I agree it's unortodox, but with a good reason. The real America, the america we found fascinating as kinds, are not the skyscrapers and the big cities, it was the Great plains where the Indians roamed and the homesteaders and cowboys tried to make a living in the new frontiers. 

Washington State

Port Angels City

Olympic National Park 
Hoh rain forest National Park 
Cascade Mountains
Ross Lake Area 
Grand Coulee Dam 

Idaho
Lewis and Clark Canoe Camp 


Montana
Missoula
Bozeman 
Museum of the Rockies 

Wyoming and 
Yellowstone National Park 
Jackson Hole

Grand Teton National Park 
Cody City 
The Irma Hotel 

Buffalo Bill Historical Center 
Devils Tower National Monument 

South Dakota 
Custer State Park 
Mammoth Site - Hot Springs 
Wind Cave National Park
Mount Rushmore National Memorial 
Rapid City 
SD Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base 
Badlands National Park 
Siuox Falls 
USGS EROS (Earth Resources Observation Systems)
National Music Museum in Vermillion 
Northern Plains Tribal Arts Wacipi (Powpow)

Minnesota 
Pipestone National Monument 

Nebraska 
Wayne 

Blair City
Omaha
Upstream Brewing Company in Omaha 
Strategic Air & Space Museum 
St. Paul City
Dannebrog City and Dannebrog 
North Platte

Colorado
Boulder 
Rocky Mountain National Park
Lakewood  (visiting friends)
Georgetown - Loop Trail 


Utah
Moab City
Arches National Park 
Canyonlands National Park (Drove through only)
Zion National Park
Las Vegas 

Arizona 

Grand Canyon National Park

California
San Diego 
Campland on the Bay (Mission Bay)
Seaworld 
Octoberfest
Santa Barbara 
Solvang
Goldengate Bridge
Montara Lighthouse 
Half Moon Bay Brewery 
Turlock (visiting friends)
Miranda resort 
Redwood National Park 

Washington State
Seattle 
Boing factory in Everett 
And we marked the ending of a magnificant trip with a visit in the restaurant:
Space Needle 

Special visits

As a new thing for us, we joined the Servas society. The idea is simple, you are invited into peoples homes in an organized way. Which is a comforting thing for the traveller and the host. We used it only ones, we got to comfortable in terms of freedom to plan the next day, based on how we felt that day. Then it didn't suddenly fit us so well to be in a certain town at an agreed day. But I will recommend it, and it's very likely that I will use it another time, I even considered to become a host.

As mentinoned above then we also went to the Great Plains and that was off cource driven by the wish to see the country side that Peter build his live as a homesteader, read more about him and that part of the trip here.

Hints

You can find alot about travelling in the US on the internet an I can hardly add much more to it, which isn't written somewhere else. But I would say that america we saw is not the america we see on our TV screen, the diners might be, but the people where different.