Dallas to Seattle - Need suggestions!

[Art Vandelay]

Hello all -

This spring myself and my girlfriend will be flying from Seattle down to Dallas to pick up a car and drive it back up to Seattle. We have a rough idea of the route we are taking, as follows:

Dallas, TX to Carlsbad, NM
Carlsbad, NM to Roswell, NM
Roswell, NM to Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque, NM to the Grand Canyon, AZ
Grand Canyon, AZ to Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas, NV to Anaheim, CA
Anaheim, CA to Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA to San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA to San Francisco, CA
San Francisco, CA to Portland, OR
Portland, OR to Seattle.

This is where you come in - we need ideas for weird, fun stops along the way - think along the lines of Wall Drug, South of the Border, House on the Rock, Rock City, Carhenge etc. Any sort of off-kilter, weird, fun stuff. Spooky stuff too - we eat it up! We aren't against going outside of our planned route, especially if the attraction is cool enough. A couple that we are already planning on visiting are the Roswell Crash site and the Winchester Mystery house...I'm sure you've got the idea by now.

Also, any suggestions of great places to eat along the way - the sort of stuff you see on food network's Diners, Dives and Drive-ins - one of a kind greasy spoon-type fare.

Finally any suggestions on cheap places to stay or cool things to do in or around any of those locations (Vegas in particular), we would love to hear it.

Thanks!

[howard]

Welcome to the forum, Art.

You can find a bunch of suggestions for places to eat and things to do in Albuquerque right here. You might get a kick out of the Rattlesnake Museum, and Tinkertown is a neat place, too. (They re-open April 1st.)

Have a great trip!

[Yeehaw]

Maybe try Roadside America.

[Coast2Coast09]

There is a series of books that provide all of the "weird" things in each state, such as touristy spots, tours, things to do/see, etc.

The series is state-specific and is called "Weird (State Name)", i.e. "Weird California". They are published by Sterling and can be found here on Amazon.

Good luck - sounds like a very fun trip!

[Art Vandelay]

Good call on the "Weird ______" books - I already have the Weird U.S.A. and Weird Washington books, and I will definitely look through those for the states we will be travelling.

We will be staying with a friend in Albuquerque (or right outside of it, Los Corrales to be exact) and will look forward to checking out the suggestions you had there as well as his picks!

Both Tinkertown and the Rattlesnake museum look awesome, and are being added to our must-see list, and I'm finding some more really cool places on Roadside America too.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys...keep em coming!