Travelogue: Visiting The West

I came away from our +4,000 mile road trip out West with the impression that I really hit the nail on the head in Blood and Soil: How Southerners Became a Separate and Distinct People.

The theme of that speech was that the South is a distinct bioregion. The climate and geography of the South had shaped its culture. The border with the Midwest and the East is less distinct than the border with the West. The border between the South and West is unmistakable.

It is one thing to understand these natural divisions like the 100th Meridian and the Continental Divide. It is another to cross them and observe the transition. We crossed over the 100th Meridian twice … first on the way in between Oklahoma City and Amarillo and second between Midland and Dallas. My smartphone certainly noticed the difference. It worked perfectly out West and gave me no trouble, but returned to displaying the annoying “moisture detected” drop as soon as we got to humid Louisiana.

East Texas is Southern.

As soon as we got past Dallas, we knew we were home. We were back in the hot and humid climate of Dixie in the Piney Woods. The land of BBQ and Buc–ee’s. Grass and trees. Critters.

Having driven across the desert from Los Angeles to Dallas, I have never been so glad to see trees. I can’t describe the feeling of immense happiness and psychological relief that I experienced when I was surrounded by trees again in the forests of north Louisiana. We spent the night in Winnfield, LA which was the home of Huey Long. The drive back home from Winnfield to Montgomery was uneventful.

Obviously, the sheer emptiness and vastness of the West is the most remarkable thing about it. You can look out the window and see nothing for a hundred miles. We enjoyed it. Needless to say, it is not the sort of place that you want to break down though when you are traveling with your family. Fortunately, we made it back home without any issues. No flat tires in the desert in the heat wave out there.

Of all the places we visited, we enjoyed rural Colorado the most. We really liked the pine trees and mountain streams. The Rockies are so beautiful that shitlibs want to live there. Beautiful places everywhere in this country attract rich assholes who buy up the land and drive out the natives. Laguna Beach in California is also beautiful and has the same problem with all the Pride flags that you see there. We finally got to enjoy a quiet day on the Pacific when we made our way down to Table Rock Beach.

We highly recommend visiting Chaffee County, CO, Table Rock Beach in Laguna Beach, the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ. We also enjoyed our stay in Arizona. We visited In-N-Out Burger, Wienerschnitzel, Dutch Bros Coffee and El Pollo Loco which are chains that we don’t have in the South. In Oklahoma, we stopped and ate lunch with one of our friends from Twitter who also reads this website. I wish I had more time to stop and meet other people on our trip, but we were traveling enormous distances every other day. It is an 11 hour drive from Phoenix to Midland, TX. Next time, we will have to add more stops.

Before this trip, I felt like I was well traveled. The South alone is an enormous area and I had visited every Southern state. I’ve been to most of the Midwestern states and as far east as Philadelphia. Traveling out West really made it seem like every place I had been in the South was like every other place. The difference between Alabama and Tennessee is negligible compared to, say, visiting New Mexico with its dust storms and tumbleweeds. The climate on the West Coast also threw me for a loop. I’m used to the Gulf of Mexico and the white sand beaches of Florida. Imagine wearing a hoodie on a beach in June!

States I have visited:

Things I will not miss about the West:

  • Insane gas prices. Gas is $4.39 in Auburn which is insane for us, but not nearly as bad as paying over $6 everywhere in California and over $5 in Arizona and Nevada.
  • Libtards. While we were on Huntington Beach, we heard some White girl explaining to her boyfriend that she was accused of being a “racist” and that as “the daughter of a lawyer” it is the “furthest thing from what I am.” Sure, you can run into these people anywhere, but we did encounter the infamous West Coast libtards. I was content to hide my power level.
  • Emptiness. The novelty of driving through the desert wears off fast. I was happier among the pine trees in Flagstaff than in the landscape which resembles Mars where the Navajo live in northern Arizona and southern Utah.
  • Homeless people. We tried to avoid the authentic LA experience. We didn’t even bother to check out Hollywood – a bunch of pedophile kikes and nutty celebrities – but we did a lot of homeless people on the beach in Santa Monica. We didn’t see any in Huntington Beach in Orange County.
  • Gay stuff. It seems much more aggressive on the West Coast. I saw this in Santa Monica. I’ve never seen anything like this here. We also saw a PRIDE event in Salida, CO.

Things which I will miss about the West:

  • In-N-Out Burger – Seriously, we went three times and loved it. My son loves to order the Double Double w/ Animal fries and watch us eat it. He learned about In-N-Out on YouTube. Auburn is getting a QT, a Buc-cee’s and a Fuzzy’s Taco Shop. We already have Whataburger.
  • Ecofash pine trees – The pine trees in the Rockies.
  • Colorful parts of Arizona like Sedona – It is just a beautiful place. So different.
  • Rocky lagoons – I wish I had more time to explore them on the Pacific.

My wife wants to return to Colorado in August.

I’m not sure if that will pan out. I definitely want to see the Northwest though. We will probably just fly into somewhere like Boise and explore the region on our next trip.

About Hunter Wallace 12379 Articles
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Occidental Dissent

20 Comments

  1. My simple thing is this: the world is big, why we cannot live separate? Each community in its landscape without war, without discussion, with its history and culture. Instead we live in the global world, with each community that feel offended by others, we are obligated to live with people who hate us and we want only to live in our place.

    • Each community in its landscape without war, without discussion, with its history and culture.

      Because Diabolical Narcissists – who basically rule the governments and large corporate entities on behalf of Satan, the temporary ruler of this world – simply cannot stand the thought of anyone being less tortured and miserable than they themselves are. The appetite that can never be satiated. This type of evil person is not confined to the Synagogue of Satan, though they certainly rule that particular crime syndicate. They now control most so-called ‘Christian’ churches here in Clownworld as well, including the Vatican, all ‘mainstream’ Prot denominations and not a few of the larger ‘Evangelical’ ones (Southern Baptists, for example), with much infiltration elsewhere (Orthodoxy is certainly not immune, as the Slumlord has amply demonstrated for us).

      While the basic thought behind Mr. Crunchy-Cuck’s ‘Benedict Option’ is not a bad one, and has worked for the Amish so far in the present era, the DN’s are not going to leave you alone. They will have to be fought and the weakest links in their evil chain of command need to be identified and neutralized – or kalibrated and de-nazified if you prefer those terms. You will not be able to touch Soros, Schwab, Gates, Obama, et al. It’s their willing accomplices at the lower levels who need to be removed from the chessboard. The oligarchs are empowered greatly by fake money and debt-racketeering. Shut those down and they will have a much harder time paying their boots on the ground to carry out their evil plans.

  2. A trip to PNW would be good. Idaho and Montana would be very nice. Washington is beautiful. Skip Seattle. Crime, traffic, shitlibs. Oregon is also a beautiful state.

  3. I’m glad you had an excellent trip. Georgia-born here, raised in Arizona as well, settled in Texas for a bit, and now living in Colorado with my lady. I can attest to the emptiness of the Southwest, the openness of Texas, the majesty of the Rockies, and always knowing that the Deep South will be home. (Fortunately, my parents never left, so I always have a home to visit whenever the yearning comes back.)

    Growing up in Arizona, I had always felt like the surrounding mountains were painted on. They were always just out of focus from the red-brown dirt that dulled the color of everything. The greenery of the South is beautiful and comforting, even if teenage me worried about driving there. Not because of Spaghetti Junction, mind you, but because if I went off the road there, instead of Arizona or Texas, I would hit something!

    Again, welcome back, keep that new perspective, and I’m sure your boy will appreciate getting to have had a part in planning the trip, too.

  4. Yes, in and out burgers are the bees knees. Delicious, they sell cool t shirts too. I grew up in Arizona, and my family still lives there. Arizona is often very beautiful, but the beauty is hard to get close too. Everything stings, stabs, bites, stinks, and smells. Did you know Brad that the insect with the most toxic venom known is the mariposa harvest ant? Very common too. Hurts like hell. Don’t ask me how I know this. This is why I live in the Ozark. Much gentler landscape of forest, pasture, springs and streams. And rain, much rain. Love it.

    • Arizona is the true spirit of the Old West. It’s still there, swirling all around you. When I went to Havasupai some years back it was like stepping back into the 1800s.

  5. Glad you had a great trip. If you can do a post-Labor Day trip, I recommend the west coast of Michigan, especially north of Grand Rapids. The area just south of Traverse City is most amazing at that time of year. The weather is cool in terms of what you’re used to in the South but with lower humidity and still warm enough to enjoy walking the clean beaches of Lake Michigan (which will be a bit cold to swim in for long). The hordes of tourists there from June through August are mostly gone and groids are rarely to be seen. The Sleeping Bear dunes are amazing. (Plenty of forest too – maple and beech predominate).

    Tons of shitlibs live there of course, especially in Traverse City (Michael Moore is from there). Why is it that these assholes always have lots of money? Do whites morph into shitlib-monsters if their income goes up past a certain point?? It’s like they’re in some sort of perverted contest to see who can out-shitlib the other. I’ve been both poor and rich but as time has gone by I’ve purged any shitlib notions I was taught back in public schul (not nearly as bad back then – but the indoctrination was already getting started). At any rate a trailer many miles from the beach in the Traverse City region cost half a million a decade ago, just to give you an idea of how absurd the prices are. That’s not an exaggeration either.

    • I’m glad you had a nice trip and made it safely home. There’s no better appreciation for home than coming back from a trip!

      I’ll second EC’s suggestion. Michigan has the second longest coastline after Alaska. Because the Great Lakes are so large, it is coastal living rather than just living on a lake. Since you’ve never been to Michigan, I can highly recommend the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, one of the best kept secrets of the Midwest. I moved up here some years ago from a Chicago suburb and am now retired. The move was one of the best decisions of my life.

      Since you like trees and forests, you would definitely like it here. Especially nice is the Porcupine Mountains State Park, the largest Michigan state park. There are also numerous lighthouses, waterfalls and miles of hiking trails. The sunsets on Lake Superior and autumn colors are spectacular. Although the Porcupine Mountains aren’t high enough to technically be mountains, they are beautiful, provide hiking challenges and downhill skiing in winter. Going up the western coast of the UP you’ll get to the twin towns of Houghton and Hancock, residing on opposite sides of the Portage canal and then up to the Keweenaw, home of the first mining rush in the US, although in this case copper, not gold. The warmest times are mid July through August (when you can swim in Lake Superior if the wind is right), but the autumn colors usually start popping in late September through mid October.

      As I mentioned, I used to live in Chicago which is in Cook County (aka Crook County) Illinois. The county I now live in is larger than Cook County but it doesn’t have a single red-yellow-green traffic light (only a few blinking red lights at major highway intersections) and the entire county population is less than that of the suburb I used to live in. Although the population density is low (around 5 people / sq. mile; not as low as some counties out West) when you do see or meet people, they are White – roughly 98% of the population. The next largest ethnic group is American Indian at slightly over 1%. Unfortunately, there are few jobs outside of tourism/hospitality and medical, so the county is poor. And like most of rural America, drugs are a problem. You might be wondering about the crime rate. My neighbor, who has lived here his entire life, told me crime has gotten worse — seriously, they only lock their house doors when they go out of state on vacation; they used to never lock their doors. LOL. The Whites here mind their own business and expect others to do the same, however they’ll give you the shirt off their back if you need help. Out of the 15 counties in the UP, 14 are ‘red’. The one ‘blue’ county, Marquette, is the location of a Michigan state university (figures).

      I’m not that familiar with Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, although have been to the Sleeping Bear Dunes which EC mentioned and they are spectacular. I have vacationed in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula, around Rogers City and Lake Huron. It is more rural there and not as foo-foo as the Traverse City area. Driving between the UP and Lower Peninsula, you’ll cross the Mackinac (pronounced mak-in-aw, not mak-i-nak) Bridge, the third longest suspension bridge in the US.

      Sorry about the long travelogue. I hope you and your family will give northern Michigan a visit in the future.

  6. Hope you had a nice Getaway HW with your family, Have been on Zero Hedge a lot lately,

    Read those articles folks, Get Money Smart!

    Seriously!

    Win!

  7. Nice bumper music, Hunter. Gonna check out Jason Dea West on youtube. Plays a mean & kinda crazy looking guitar. Voice like a stabbing knife. Reminds me of Woody Guthrie & Bob Dylan. (He said lowly, to avoid disintegrator beams other readers will send my way.)

  8. You ought to visit Europe, if you haven’t. Far too few American whites bother to appreciate the civilization which is their heritage, and the way things are going it’ll be a Camp of the Saints in twenty or thirty years. I’d personally recommend Amsterdam for sheer pleasantness, the Costa Brava in northeastern Spain for fantastic cheap food and beautiful beaches, and Italy to see the Western canon of art and sculpture.

          • Not sure about the drinks, but Italy has the best coffee — however, no cappuccino after 11am; it’s strictly a morning/breakfast coffee (and you don’t want to out yourself as an ignorant tourist) — cappuccino and cornetto is a standard quick breakfast in much of Italy, which you can grab in many places — if you have it standing at the counter, rather than sitting down, it’s cheaper.

  9. @eah yes it’s true. We often2 have coffee and cappuccino in the morning. Pay attention to cities like Venice, in some bars you can pay a simple coffee 4€.

  10. Man, the West is pretty amazing. The big advantage – to my mind – it has over America east of the Rockies is the vast amount of public land: you can literally roam free, hunt, look for gold and gems, hike, camp in the wild, and see no other humans except a few other likeminded folk. Next time I recommend you check out Utah and the Big Five (National Parks). Some of the most incredible country on Earth. But Arizona is also one of my favorite places. From the Grand Canyon to the mountains of Flagstaff down to the southern border and the unique Sonoran desert down there – just fantastic!
    Even California: the Eastern Sierra has to be experienced to be believed. Travel up the 395 and explore around Bishop, Lone Pine, Big Pine…

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