> I've been reading the October issue of Budget Travel magazine and just now found an article about budget traveling all the way across the country. Haven't read it yet, but I did look at the map that goes with the article, and -- why am I not surprised? -- the cross country route stays miles and miles away for The South. If you read enough such articles, you might find one in twenty that is routed through The South. Those folks don't know what they are missing. They probably are victims of the assumption that The South has nothing to offer but Memphis, New Orleans and Nashville. Boy oh boy, have they been fooled.
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> I could travel for years and years without going north of the Mason-Dixon line, and never get bored.
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> Some people go to New Orleans and walk down Bourbon Street and think they have seen it all. Then they take the Interstate up to Memphis and see Beale Street and Graceland. Next stop, Nashville, Printer's Alley and Ryman Auditorium. Then "Hi Ho Ohio, we have seen the south!" They haven't even scratched.
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> You can spend seven days driving Florida's coastline and every stop is different. Start at Pensacola, don't skip the Keys, and then go up to Jacksonville. Seven days will do it unless you fall in love with some of the beaches and inlets along the way.
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> While you are down that way, check out Georgia from tidal flats to the mountains. It's a peach of a state. Then you are ready for Tennessee. The eastern two-thirds of the state is more scenic than the west, but you owe it to yourself to see it from the Smokies to Big Muddy. You haven't really seen Tennessee unless you have been to Sparta, Crossville, Watertown, Loudon, Etowah, Woodbury, Dayton, Puryear, and Paris Landing.
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> Next, spend some time in Alabama and Mississippi. This is the place to get out and talk to people. Stop at the country stores, go fishing in a bayou, watch the races at a dirt track. Then broaden your scientific knowledge with a stop at Huntsville's spaceflight center. Kentucky has Mammoth Cave, Chruchill Downs and Boonesbourgh. You might need to go to Cumberland Gap and see where three states come together.
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> Virginia is wall to wall with beautiful mountain ranges, broad scenic valleys, and a coastal plain soaked in American History.
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> I've saved the best for last. The Carolinas! High mountains to Pamlico Sound and on to the outerbanks, North Carolina is a place of variety. Don't miss Ashville, Charlotte or Raleigh. South Carolina is the jewel of the Atlantic. Palm trees, white sand beaches and a laid back population. For history, go to Charlston. That's a good place to sit on a bench looking out across the water. You will find somebody to talk to there. Don't pass up the true Old South which still lives in inland South Carolina.
> See? A perfect cross country trip, and I never left the south.
> How"been there"ard

Out of all the places I've been, I've never been in the south east. Two years ago, I went with my mom and my brother out to Arizona and back. We drove his F-150 truck all the way there and all the way back. I'll admit this. We went from New York to Illinois in one day, and probably the best part of it was seeing all the Tom Raper RV ad's throughout Indiana (My brother and I found those signs so funny). There really isn't much but that's probably because I've seen New York all my life. One thing great about New York though is the trees in the western part. One of the most beautiful parts. I remember passing the Indiana/Illinois border at about 5-6 o' clock at night. It was so beautiful seeing the sun starting to set on flat fields and more flat fields of hay and corn. I wish I would have taken a picture. I don't remember Illinois too much since it was dark whenever I looked and I was always working on homework that teachers gave me.

We stayed in Springfield to visit relatives for a few days. When we left, we ended in Colby, Kansas. Missouri was so green! I've never seen such green grass and green trees in my life. It was so flat out there. My mom always asks me what state it was she liked and I always remind her, "Missouri". I remember the transfer from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas. We were passed by a truck that had a bumper sticker that said "Horn broken. Look for finger." I've never been to N.Y.C., but I tell you this. Kansas City was so big. So many roadways on top of more roadways.

We went through Kansas when they are brown instead of green. It was so windy and dusty that when my mom was driving, she had the steering wheel turned 90 degrees to the left just to go straight. I hate to imagine the turns. We drove down Interstate 70, by the way. No offense to Kansas, but it was a little depressing since all you ever saw was fields of dust. Ever once in a while you came upon a town that had a hotel and a McDonald's.

The next day, we left and ended in Durango, Colorado. We left Colby at like 5:00 in the morning and all I remember was seeing a darkness on the fields of dust. It was really nice when we were driving into Colorado on flat fields. The sun was just starting to come up and it gave a very peaceful feeling. It was like that until we hit Colorado Springs (that was where they gave us Orange juice instead of Orange soda). As soon as you started to leave Colorado Springs west, it was all mountains and all rocks. That's all I remember. There was so many different kind of rocks. I saw rafters going down the river. It was quite different than New York. A lot different to be exact. We went up hills and hills and more hills. As we started going up, we started to see more pine trees (something I see all the time, woo hoo!). We passed over the Contiental Divide and started down the other side of the Rocky Mountains. We had problems since the timing on the truck wasn't set up correctly so it didn't take off as well as it should have. Plus we're going up mountains with sharp turns and NO GUARD RAILS!!! But I didn't seem to care. I was in the back flipping back and forth from side to side taking pictures looking down. My brother wanted to smack me for that. It was totally different than anything seen here on the east coast. As we were coming down, there was this beautiful lake that had this really really deep blue color to it. It was an actual blue too.

After going over all these mountains, we ended up at the four corners. For people who have no clue what the heck the four corners are, it is the only spot in the U.S. where 4 states touch in one spot. When we went, it costed $2 to get in, but it was well worth it because you can take as many pictures there as you want. It's something that I encourage to go to if you can. There is only one way to describe Arizona...A earth science teacher's dream! So dusty, so dry. One thing I did miss is the Grand Canyon. We were just so tired because we had to be in Phoenix by a certain date. Going through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma is pretty much the same. Dry and there is basically nothing there. It's so spread out. Flat, flat, flat, flat, flat. That's what it is! We did end up staying in Alberque (I can't spell it right...the place in New Mexico). We drove in at like 7:00 at night. I tell you what. It looked like darkness and then seeing all these lights in one area. I wish I would have taken a picture.

I loved it. I wish I could do it again. If anyone gets a chance to take a trip like that, I encourage you to do so. It is so worth it. I truly believe that it changed me as a person. If anyone wants pictures of a certain part, let me know and I will see if I can e-mail you some pictures. It is totally different that the south east...but every part has it's own uniqueness to it. And as a Northeastern to be out in the South West really did open my eyes. I can't wait until I can do that again. Then, I will take my time and actually take time to stop and "smell the roses".

~x~Band-"A pretty good cross-country trip."Aids~x~