Best Hidden Gem Vacation Spot in US You Have Found

[ShockBand]

I would love to see this someday.

While on an excursion throughout the US, my wife and I took in a traveling Museum called WWII through Russian Eyes.

Now, absolutely nothing will ever compare with Pearl Harbor and the Museum and the Arizona etc, (there are always so many Asian visitors, mostly Japanese obviously....if the moment doesn't drive you to tears, I don't want to know you) but this historical perspective (saw it in Memphis) was powerful and informative and something we just wouldn't normally get in the US.

The estimate of Soviet deaths during WWII is over 27 million, with 8.7 million military and around 19 million civilians. Staggering.

[pogo]

The estimate of Soviet deaths during WWII is over 27 million, with 8.7 million military and around 19 million civilians. Staggering.

Pappa Joe was responsible for 6 million deaths of his fellow Russians and another 3 million that could be attributed to policy changes such as sending thousand to Siberia

[BAShocker]

Note to self: Don’t go to Siberia for vacation. Got it.

[WuDrWu]

There was a Russian company that had a contract with Boeing for years here roughly 10-20 years ago. I was fortunate enough to meet and interact with many of the people sent over here to work on the project. Made me want to visit but never today.

[Shockm]

A family friend immigrated to America at the age of 5, 6, or 7, with his mother, as a refugee, from Russian (take over) Ukraine, at the end of WW2. His father was given an ultimatum from the Kremlin to either join the Communist Party or be sent away (Siberia). He chose not to join, and his family never saw him again. He was a Russian prisoner, and his family was able to emmigrate to America.

[SubGod22]

Speaking of the San Juan National Forest my dad and I back packed into it and camped and fished at Emerald lake and Moon lake. The last time my five year old son went with us. He had his own back pack and had his stuffed rabbit and a couple of changes of under wear while our packs were a little over 50 lbs apiece. Durango is a nice place with the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde is still a favorite place to visit.

My whole trip to Durango was centered around the Cliff Dwellings. I'd been fascinated with them since I learned about them back in maybe the 4th grade but never got my parents to take me. So I went myself a few years back. Would love to go again some day and actually take the tour down into them. It really is/was a fascinating culture that the Pueblos developed in that region.

Often thought it would be a place to consider setting up shop in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

I also made a little trip down to the Aztec Ruins in New Mexico.

Need to check out the cliff dwellings in Mimbres, NM, Los Alamos, NM, Shonto, AZ, Chinle, AZ, Camp Verde, AZ, Flagstaff, AZ, Roosevelt, AZ, Rimrock, AZ, Sedona, AZ, Bluff, UT, Manitou Springs, CO, Noel, MO.

That mostly covers the list of cliff dwellings and such within the US. The Native American cultures have always intrigued me. I am planning a trip to New Mexico in the late summer/early fall and will try to knock a few more of these off my list as well as check out the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Still trying to figure out how I want to spend my week or so traveling that region. Thinking I'll treat it a little more like my trip to Wisconsin where I bounced around more and didn't stay in any one spot for more than two days, as opposed to my Durango trip where I spent every night in Durango and branched out from there each day.

Any suggestions on things/places I should look into? I'll start in Sante Fe with the O'Keeffe museum. It's about a 9 hour drive so day one will be mostly getting there and setting up shop. I've floated the idea of heading down to Roswell to see how weird that town really is. If I do that I may go check out Carlsbad, but I'm not sure if I want to head that direction or not.

Sorry that I got a little distracted. As I stated earlier, the Cliff Dwellings have always held a special place in my mind.

[shoxlax]

Awesome thread! Keep em coming!

How is the camper?

[shoxlax]

A really hidden gem is Cuchara, Colorado. It is a closed ski resort, however the condos and tiny villiage remain. Cheap nightly rentals, abundant hiking, and an area to get the hell away from people. You are actually in the mountains 7.5 hours from Wichita.

I go out every August for a week to meditate and become one with the spirit of Wu.

[Kung Wu]

How is the camper?

Bah, we rented one when we went to the Formula One race in Austin a few years ago and we didn't enjoy it. At least not enough to want to purchase one. I love camping in tents and staying in cabins, but don't think RVs are my thing at this stage in life. My wife hates camping (well she loves the idea of it, but hates the reality of it). So it's AirBNB or cabin for us for now.

[Kung Wu]

A really hidden gem is Cuchara, Colorado. It is a closed ski resort, however the condos and tiny villiage remain. Cheap nightly rentals, abundant hiking, and an area to get the hell away from people. You are actually in the mountains 7.5 hours from Wichita.

I go out every August for a week to meditate and become one with the spirit of Wu.

Ooooh, I need to check this out!

[ShockBand]

My whole trip to Durango was centered around the Cliff Dwellings. I'd been fascinated with them since I learned about them back in maybe the 4th grade but never got my parents to take me. So I went myself a few years back. Would love to go again some day and actually take the tour down into them. It really is/was a fascinating culture that the Pueblos developed in that region.

Often thought it would be a place to consider setting up shop in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

I also made a little trip down to the Aztec Ruins in New Mexico.

Need to check out the cliff dwellings in Mimbres, NM, Los Alamos, NM, Shonto, AZ, Chinle, AZ, Camp Verde, AZ, Flagstaff, AZ, Roosevelt, AZ, Rimrock, AZ, Sedona, AZ, Bluff, UT, Manitou Springs, CO, Noel, MO.

That mostly covers the list of cliff dwellings and such within the US. The Native American cultures have always intrigued me. I am planning a trip to New Mexico in the late summer/early fall and will try to knock a few more of these off my list as well as check out the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Still trying to figure out how I want to spend my week or so traveling that region. Thinking I'll treat it a little more like my trip to Wisconsin where I bounced around more and didn't stay in any one spot for more than two days, as opposed to my Durango trip where I spent every night in Durango and branched out from there each day.

Any suggestions on things/places I should look into? I'll start in Sante Fe with the O'Keeffe museum. It's about a 9 hour drive so day one will be mostly getting there and setting up shop. I've floated the idea of heading down to Roswell to see how weird that town really is. If I do that I may go check out Carlsbad, but I'm not sure if I want to head that direction or not.

Sorry that I got a little distracted. As I stated earlier, the Cliff Dwellings have always held a special place in my mind.

Two things I recommend in the ABQ area are the Atomic History Museum and the Sandia Peak Tram. If you are venturing out to Los Alamos, on the way there just before the turn to the west is the Poeh Cultural Center, which houses artifacts of the Tewa Pueblo, many of which were "rehomed" there from the Smithsonian. Also in that area is the Bandalier National Monument, which has many ancient dwellings and petroglyphs, but we didn't venture out this last time because the walk and hike is getting too hard on my old knees. If baseball season is still running, I'd suggest taking in an Isotopes game in ABQ!

[WstateU]

A really hidden gem is Cuchara, Colorado. It is a closed ski resort, however the condos and tiny village remain. Cheap nightly rentals, abundant hiking, and an area to get the hell away from people. You are actually in the mountains 7.5 hours from Wichita.

I go out every August for a week to meditate and become one with the spirit of Wu.

Agree, visited there about 10 years ago... it's isolated away from civilization, but I recall a small grocery store and a 'dog' bar... we enjoyed staying there in a buddy's condo.

[Kung Wu]

Two things I recommend in the ABQ area are the Atomic History Museum and the Sandia Peak Tram. If you are venturing out to Los Alamos, on the way there just before the turn to the west is the Poeh Cultural Center, which houses artifacts of the Tewa Pueblo, many of which were "rehomed" there from the Smithsonian. Also in that area is the Bandalier National Monument, which has many ancient dwellings and petroglyphs, but we didn't venture out this last time because the walk and hike is getting too hard on my old knees. If baseball season is still running, I'd suggest taking in an Isotopes game in ABQ!

Is there a restaurant on the Sandia Peak?

[RoyalShock]

Actually a hidden gem (sort of) within DC is the International Spy Museum. Must visit for Cold War junkies.

That is very cool! I wish we hadn't been pressed for time when we went a couple of years ago. Kind of had to rush through it.


We are leaving in a couple of days for Grand Tetons / Yellowstone / Mt. Rushmore / Badlands. I've never been, so I'm very much looking forward to it. Just not the crowds.

[1972Shocker]

I don't travel much anymore but in my heyday I fancied road trips. I don't like flying at all. After graduating from Wichita State with a degree in music performance (violin) my daughter move up to Ann Arbor with the intent of going to grad school with the same professor who mentored her favorite professor as WSU who also was the 1st Chair violinist for the Wichita Symphony. She was there for about 5 years. On our 25th wedding anniversary in 1996 my wife and I took a 2-week vacation (the only time I have ever done that) that would incorporate a visit to Ann Arbor but just for a couple of days as we were passing through. I came up with itinerary that involved staying in 9 different hotels over a 14-day period and involved numerous stops along the way so that we were usually only driving 3 to 4 hours between stopping at an "attraction". I had a blast planning the trip (without the benefit of the internet) and we had a fantastic time. I would have to retrieve that itinerary to remember all that we did. It involved 2 or 3 days to get to Ann Arbor numerous stops along the way. After visiting our daughter for a couple of days we we drove up to Saginaw and then followed the coast of Lake Huron up to the Mackinaw City where we stayed the night. Then next day involved a ferry ride and a day trip over to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island (highly recommended) is a very popular vacation spot from what I can tell and has some very interesting history. No motorized vehicles on Mackinac Island at that time except for a couple of emergency vehicles. The next day we headed across the Mighty Mac bridge into the upper peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. We visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park (highly recommended) and the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point (highly recommended -- some of you may have heard of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- "the searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd only put 15 more miles behind her). Next big stop was Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior (very highly recommended but you need to take the boat tour of the lakeshore for the full impact). Near the Wisconsin border we drove the Black River National Scenic Byway that begins in Wisconsin and heads north into the Michigan Upper Peninsula and finally empties into Lake Superior. While only 30 miles long, the river drops over a 1000 feet on its way to Lake Superior. The last few hundred feet of this drop are part of the Black River Scenic Parkway that includes hiking trails to five waterfalls, an attractive picnic area, a 40 unit campground, and a boat launch and harbor docking area. I was planning on hiking to all five of the waterfalls but it was later in the day and we only were able to do 3 of them IIRC. But they were fantastic. The next day we did a boat tour of the Apostle Islands off the shores of northern Wisconsin. Not nearly as spectacular as Pictured Rocks but pretty interesting. There was a sailboat Regatta going on when we were on our tour and that was kind of cool. After that it was time to head back south. That included a stop in Hayward, Wisconsin and the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. After staying in our best hotel room of the trip in tiny Luck, Wisconsin (that was a whole other story) we did a day trip to Interstate State Park including a paddle boat tour on the St. Croix River (highly recommended). The next day was a stop at the Mall of America. The huge Lego store was cool otherwise just a big mall. I don't recall any stops we did after that in returning to Wichita. That was 28 years ago. I will have to find my itinerary for that trip.

Another very interesting stop in the U.P. of Michigan, although we did that on a later trip, is a visit to the Soo Locks in Sault St. Marie on the Michigan/Canada border.

Now that was a road trip. While we had to go back to work to rest up we loved that trip and ever since then almost all of our travel have been planned in that manner although none for more than a week at a time. I can't remember how many trips we ended up making to Ann Arbor while my daughter was there but we took a different route on every trip, trying to avoid the interstate's as much as possible. I consider myself very knowledgeable when it comes to what's there to do between Wichita, Kansas and Ann Arbor, Michigan (and in Michigan) and you would be surprised by how much that is. We have done similar trips to the Black Hills in South Dakota, to Colorado, to Phoenix and a number of long weekend trips. I have what I call a Fall Foliage Tour through Arkansas that my wife and I have done several times and love it. It is amazing what all there is to see and do in this great country if you just take a little effort to look for it. I quite enjoy finding these hidden gems off the beaten path.

If you like this kind off the beaten path stuff you should follow Shocker Track and Field Associate Head Coach John Wise's travel blog: https://www.youtube.com/c/TravelWithaWiseguy/videos