"Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost"  

Tolkien

 

See The USA!

Why Go To Utah?    Because...

Mounument Valley

Monument Valley is awesome!

Besides all the old John Wayne westerns filmed in Monument Valley here's a list: Easy Rider, National Lampoon's Vacation, Forrest Gump, Con Air, Vertical Limit and streaming right now Frontier Crucible. 

 

Canyonlands National Park

So...Blue John Canyon in Canyonlands National Park is where Aron Ralston had to cut off his hand that got trapped by a boulder while hiking alone (book-Between a Rock and a Hard Place; movie-127 hours.) I thought it would be nice to see Canyonlands. Word of advice-don't go in July it's toooo hot. Don't go alone. 

Dinosaur National Monument

There's actually a national park called Dinosaur it is near the town of Dinosaur Colorado on the border of Colorado and Utah. So far they have disccovered over 1500 fossils. You can drive through there, hike the trails and visit the awesome museum.  Dinosaur National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

"Houston, we have a problem!"

This is a picture of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Remember the famous line "Houston We Have A Problem?" from Apollo 13. Once a rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral then operations are turned over to Houston (at least back during the moon landings.) The tour is fascinating. It's not far from Galveston Bay where the hotel was. To get there you drive past the oil refineries. I don't think we think of space flight as dangerous as it really is. Back during the Apollo missions we had already landed twice on the moon so it was sort of a "yeah, whatever" attitude by most people when Apollo 13 took off until it almost didn't make it back. The movie by Ron Howard (little Opie Taylor from the Andy Griffith show directed it, is fabulous). 

Houston and Galveston Bay have some pretty interesting things to see. Commemorating the battle of San Jacinto is a the world's tallest war memorial. 

Mississippi Blues Trail-Road Trip 

Head to Mississippi and check out the Delta Blues Museum, The BB King Museum, Robert Johnson Museum (if you haven't watched the movie Crossroads with Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid) and Steve Vai you need to.) There a lot of road markers and neat things to see along Hwy 61 (Blues Highway). 

The Lynard Skynard memorial and crash site is in Gillsburg, Mississippi. I suggest you play Freebird while driving down the road to see it.

After you have driven around Mississippi stay at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi and go to the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and museum known as Beauvoir, it overlooks the Gulf of America. Then the next day head to Montgomery, Alabama for the Hank Williams museum-tiny but very cool.

When you are in Alabama you may want to check out the Moundville Archeological site in guess where? Moundville Alabama. 

I do like to stay at a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino when I get the chance. This one is in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Hard Rock Hotels are loaded with rock and roll history. They aren't too bad on price either. You can get a room for around $125 and it's a luxury hotel for sure. 

Don't eat here, there is a nice seafood restaurant next door where you can get gulf shrimp that was really reasonable and very excellent!  

Don't forget to see the Fred Haise Apollo 13 astronaut statue by the beach. 

Cherokee North Carolina

There's alot to do and see in Cherokee, North Carolina. Check out the Great Smokey Mountains National Park Oconalufte Visitor Center.   There are elk everywhere, in the fields, along the roads. They have Elk Rovers who keep the tourists and elk apart! They come right up to your car and will chase you down the road!! Besides the hiking trails and beautiful scenery the town of Cherokee has the Museum of the Cherokee People, the Oconaluftee Indian Village,  and the Qualla Arts & Crafts building. Plus there is Harrah's Casino!

From Cherokee you can drive 15 minutes to  Bryson City, NC and see the fly fishing museum then rent a kayak at the Nantahala Outdoor Center or do some whitewater rafting. They offer water classes and also outdoor survival classes. It's also where the US Olympic athletes train. Head over to  Dillsboro and Robbinsville to see the dam and train crash from the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford. 

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all"-Helen Keller