(Part 2) Best western us general travel guides according to redditors

This is pretty awesome: https://www.amazon.com/San-Gabriels-Mountain-Country-Soledad/dp/0961542152

There are so many campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra, practically every road coming off of 395 has one or more. Chances are there will be plenty of spots. This book is pretty thorough

https://www.amazon.com/Eastern-Sierra-Valley-Camping-Privacy/dp/1515196208

If you want real privacy, just drive east off of 395 instead of west (Saline Valley, Inyo Mountains, etc)

Hidden L.A., 1998

Hidden Los Angeles, 2004

Alakai swamp trail.

Lots of people do the helicopter tour. Personally, if I wanted to see Kauai from far away I could just watch a documentary on my TV. It'd be less noisy and have less vibration. Now if what you want to do is go on a helicopter ride, then, ok. If what you want to do is look off a mountain top while fog rolls down the hills onto a tropical beach, then go walk Alakai. Then again, I've never been on the heli tour, so my opinion is uninformed.

Get a copy of http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Kauai-Guidebook-Revealed/dp/0981461085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343074695&sr=8-2&keywords=kauai+blue+book

I’d feel pretty winded trying to list everything but just make sure, while you’re here, to venture past Waikiki. I like this series of books, although the Oahu one is the only one I haven’t read.

Oahu Revealed

So so so so many recommendations, OP included a great list too. Definitely follow rules and laws for flying your drone. Its VERY tempting to want to fly it everything cause its so MOTHER EFFING beautiful, but stay out of the state and national parks with it.

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I will also suggest, no..HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book https://www.amazon.com/Hawaii-Big-Island-Revealed-Guidebook/dp/0996131825/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ST3GCAV0BCCZMNGAK34N

I normally go anywhere and think I'll just find everything I need online or on my phone, and while you can, this book is CRAZY helpful. Plus its great reading on the plane and will get you more excited. Really helpful tips, hidden gems, etc in this book...cant recommend it enough. And its well written, not boring at all to read.

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When in Kona, check out

• Ali'i Gardens Market Place. Great prices on shirts, gifts, etc - and some good food - including shave ice
  
• Any farmers market will do too, several along Ali'i drive in Kona
  
• Da Poke Shack - best poke bowls on the island. (they also see it at costco and its pretty good there. If you have costco card, definitely go there for shopping and essentials for the week, including gas.
  
• Go to the little surf shop by Da Poke Shack, you can rent snorkle/mask for like $25 for the week. Great snorkling around Captain Cook, and Bay of Refuge - a must do
  
• Eat Breakfast at 808 Grindz - macdamia waffles and pancakes - you can thank me later
  
• If you want to do a Luau, Island Breeze is the best one on the island. We did this in lieu of a wedding reception, it was an absolutely amazing time, great food, and call you can drink mai tais!
  
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  Hilo
  
  
• Check out the zoo, pretty cool little zoo and cheap
  
• Hawaii Botanical gardens - not like any other BG you have ever seen...its truly a treasure to see, plants and it backs up to the ocean at the end....stunning is putting it mildly.
  
  Other Stuff
  
  
• Drive to top of mauna kea - make sure you have 4wd - we rented a 4 door jeep. You have to stop at the visitors center to get acclimated with the altitude. This is no joke, spend the 30 mins there, if not longer. Getting out of your car at the top of the volcano is beautiful, but if you're not ready you WILL get sick. Headache, light headed, vomit, or all 3.
  
• Waipio valley...yes yes, all day yes. You can drive down to the black sand beach there too, just be careful...its not an easy drive down or up

Kids' Travel Guide - Los Angeles: The fun way to discover Los Angeles-especially for kids (Kids' Travel Guide sereis) (Volume 12) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1910994332/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yhYfzbXP30EZV

there's a book that is outdated, but still generally a good way to plan a neighborhood visit - Seattle City Walks

There is the official BaD Tour from the ABQ Trolly Co. that is pretty good. Informative guides with anecdotes and fun facts from personal experience on and around set. They have trivia contests with goofy little BrBa or ABQ themed prizes. They also show some clips from the show that pertain to the set you are at.

There is also the Breaking Bad Experience tour that is run by The Candy Lady, the independent candy shop that made the original rock candy used for the meth in the show. They go to the same locations, however the major differences is that that tour is done in an RV that looks nearly identical to the one on the show. Weather you take that tour or not, be sure to stop by the shop to buy your meth as well as to look at the selection of unique shirts and BrBa merchandise only available there.

If you're not looking for an official tour and just want to do your own, Marc Valdez maintained a high detailed blog that maps out every location from small time placement shots to big event scenes. If you are feeling generous, or want a physical guide that doesn't require the internet, he also published a book of the locations.

Personally, if you are a extremely devoted fan, the self-tour is the best option. The official tours are fun, but they can get expensive for big groups and only take you to the convenient main stops. You also spend almost all of the time driving by in the trolly and not stopping. So if you want nice pictures that dont have blurry backgrounds and heads in the way, you'll have to stop yourself.

That sounds good. I think Billings is usually the sweet spot for price/time. When we went a decade ago we actually flew into Salt Lake City, but that's a really long drive.

Yellowstone is amazing - you'll have a great time. If you haven't come across it yet, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Yellowstone Treasures: The Traveler's Companion to the National Park. The sheer scale of Yellowstone can be a bit intimidating and I found this book to be the best way to get a handle on things - far better than any of the other guides out there.

How long are you going to be here? There's so much cool stuff to do in Oahu. JimmyHavok already grabbed 2 of my ideas, the Diamond Head Hike, and Hanauma Bay (literally 3 minutes from my house) which is pretty solid snorkeling, but it can get crowded quickly. Come early!
There's a lot of pretty badass hikes, ranging from an hour to a full day. If you can find the book Oahu Revealed, I highly recommend it for finding all sorts of fun little trips, and it has contact information for all sorts of places.
One note: If you've heard about Stairway to Heaven / Haiku stairs, don't even try to take them. They post a guard at 3AM (his hours just recently changed from 7AM) and even finding the unmarked trailhead is a huge pain. There's plenty of other fun things to do.

It depends upon how much time you have, but don't limit yourself to national parks.

Resources:

• https://www.nps.gov/
  
• Frommer's National Parks of the American West
  
• Fodor's The Complete Guide to the National Parks of the West
  
• Photographing the Southwest (3 volumes)
  
• Interactive map with ratings of many parks, including photos and links

Pick up a copy of this

I stayed at the Hilo Tropical Gardens hostel. Super nice, great people and quiet. plus, they also run a homemade ice cream shop!

You can get to Mauna Kea no problem with any rental. For Waipio most cars with decent clearance should be fine as long as you take it nice and easy, and ride a low gear. don't be an idiot and burn your brakes out. would recommend a rental with a manual transmission.

But for true back county exploration 4x4 or by foot is your best option.

Big Island Revealed and Big Island Trailblazer are excellent books. you should also get a detailed map.

Check out The Green Sand beach, close to South Point. Its amazing. drive down and spend the whole day, or camp out.

as for the ganja, it's all over. you just need to ask the right person. Pakalolo is it's Hawaiian name btw.

Armen and Lori's Kauai Guide is a good companion to Kauai revealed. It is available in paperback but it's small enough to keep on Kindle or similar phone app and quickly reference.

1. Not true, just not what you want them to be. Skill jobs are hard to find, but unemployment is lower than most states, and very stable.
   
   
2. Being born-and-raised in Hawaii, I can vouch for slowly developing relationships among non-kama'aina. That's because, too often, non-locals will leave, making such relationships fruitless. There is also a significant culture gap between locals and visitors. However, "everyone is unfriendly" is quite a blanket statement.
   
   
3. This can be true, much more so than coke or heroin, and largely due to imported meth from the Philippines. But despite this, having lived there, I can speak for the far greater proportion of the population that does NOT have meth problems, and the crime rate in the Islands is among the lowest in the US.
   
   
4. More like "bipolar" education. Public education is hampered by extremely successful private education, most notably exemplified by President Obama's education at Punahou. One cannot rule out the beneficial effect of private schools in Hawaii even if you have to pay to play. Also, somehow I wound up with an entirely public education in Hawaii but found my way through two college degrees with very high marks.
   
   
5. Cannot argue with this. :) One excellent written example is (appropriately enough) titled The Price of Paradise (warning: Amazon link, for those who do not want it "remembered" by your personal login).

An older article, but still good: http://www.archdaily.com/137692/architecture-city-guide-san-diego

Another good article, but leans more to the modern: http://www.ranker.com/list/san-diego-buildings-and-structures/reference

A few more: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60750-Activities-c47-t3-San_Diego_California.html

You might also enjoy reading one (or both) of these books:

https://www.amazon.com/San-Diego-Architecture-Mission-Modern/dp/0972602003

https://www.amazon.com/San-Diego-Architecture-Downtown-Highlights/dp/0972602011

Check out "Out From Las Vegas" (http://www.amazon.com/Out-Las-Vegas-Adventures-Away/dp/1893343073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371946366&sr=8-1&keywords=out+from+las+vegas) My wife and I have done a few of these and they are generally very good.

(I am not affiliated with the author or the publisher, just a satisfied buyer of it)

Sorry it took me 2 days to see this post- Bad Mod.. bad!

One of my personal favorite can-do-in-stock-form-and-still-challenge-yourself trails (also a bit of proving grounds for any new mods I do as it is so close to Denver- Yankee Hill Road

I would also pick up a copy of this book for future reference.. This one has a lot to do with trails in Southern/ Central CO- but there is a version 2 of it that has trails that are a bit more northern.
I have used these books religiously since highschool for leading trails around CO, and even Moab. It is a great resource. For everything else- there is Traildamage.com- You can use the map to drill into trails closest to you or where you are looking to go out and the descriptions are pretty good most of the time (i.e. written by users... so think of Yelp reviews.)

Finally, It is a bit late for me this weekend, and I am travelling next weekend, but if I remember I will hit you up next time I am headed out/ up- would be happy to show you around.

Never been to Maui, but the Big Island was amazing and much less "built up" - you can go on a day trip?

I would recommend a book called Maui Revealed - the authors write books about Hawaii, and their book on The Big Island was the best we found.