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Grand Canyon - Surprisingly green driving up to the canyon rim, it was wooded and looked more like Maine than the desert SW. The north rim gets like 40 inches of rain and has bison too! (another surprise). The canyon itself deserves it's reputation though, it's even more amazing than I imagined.
Memphis - I expected the inner city to be more vibrant, but aside from Beale it was eerily empty.
Texas - Greener than I expected...for some reason my image of Texas comes from cowboy movies, but those are mostly set in the arid far west. Even in the panhandle it was mostly tilled green fields.
Northern Arizona and New Mexico - it's probably just where the interstate went, but for the height I didn't see that many mountains. It's mostly elevated tablelands.
Virginia was really nice.
DC was cooler than I expected. I like the vibe there. I expected it to be more staid but it's actually kinda hip.
Share some things you found surprising about a place you visited.
San Francisco - colder than I expected. I was a little confused when my dad told me to pack a hoodie. I realized why when I got there and it was 50 F in June.
Alaska - warmer and more mosquitoes than I expected. Juneau surprised the most because I thought it would be a lot smaller considering it was isolated by road.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Iowa - Probably the most scenic farmland I've seen in this country with charming bucolic little towns and rolling hills, not very much of it is flat.
Durango/Telluride and SW Colorado - I knew the Rockies were impressive but this part of Colorado is just outstanding and quite colorful and amazing mountain peaks and terrain. The towns also have a lot of historic charm, fairly affluent, with plenty to do and that came quite unexpected since this area is relatively isolated.
Flagstaff, AZ - Before I had any familiarity with the Southwest I assumed it was just another small city in the Arizona desert, but it's definitely not. Flagstaff is a little slice of Colorado high above the deserts in Arizona covered with ponderosa pines forests with impressive alpine mountain peaks nearby. The downtown has quite a bit of pioneer charm and it's a nice college town as well. Flagstaff gets a lot of snow in the winter and it's a great place to cool off in the summer.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 07-30-2013 at 04:44 PM..
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,754 posts, read 23,832,257 times
Reputation: 14671
Quote:
Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus
This seems a lot like the first impressions thread....
Let this be what it is, First Impression thread seems to be all about big cities anyways. This thread is about pre-conceived impressions that changed when they actually got there.
Grand Canyon - Surprisingly green driving up to the canyon rim, it was wooded and looked more like Maine than the desert SW. The north rim gets like 40 inches of rain and has bison too! (another surprise). The canyon itself deserves it's reputation though, it's even more amazing than I imagined.
Memphis - I expected the inner city to be more vibrant, but aside from Beale it was eerily empty.
Texas - Greener than I expected...for some reason my image of Texas comes from cowboy movies, but those are mostly set in the arid far west. Even in the panhandle it was mostly tilled green fields.
Northern Arizona and New Mexico - it's probably just where the interstate went, but for the height I didn't see that many mountains. It's mostly elevated tablelands.
Virginia was really nice.
DC was cooler than I expected. I like the vibe there. I expected it to be more staid but it's actually kinda hip.
Share some things you found surprising about a place you visited.
Eastern Texas is very lush/green & forested. It takes a lot of people by surprise.
My first time in Houston 13 years ago I sure wasn't expecting palm trees mixed with piney woods.
San Francisco - How Cold and windy there summers can be (It was 80 degrees in Seattle at the time)
DC- How many cool museums there were
Memphis - How dangerous the city actually was (A police officer told us to stay away from downtown at night)
Oregon Coast - How many really cool towns are along it (Newport, Seaside, Cannon)
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What things surprised you about cities, states or places you've visited?
