What are some geographic locations that you have an unusual desire to visit?

[retromike22]

Many of you are geographically minded so I figure you would understand this feeling. Have you ever looked at a map, or read about a place, and there's something about it that stays with you for an unknown reason? It's not a traditional tourist location, such as New York or Paris, instead it's the smaller towns and spots in wilderness areas.

I have a few.

1. Morgantown, West Virginia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgantown,_West_Virginia I think I stumbled on it by reading about its university. The Appalachian region has always interested me, and I like the contrast between that and a college town with a unique people mover system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgantown_Personal_Rapid_Transit. Sometimes I think about if I had gone to college there, of all places. It just looks like a wonderful place to live, if only for about a year or so.

2. This spot: 40898 N Side Rd, Lucerne Valley, CA 92356 (look in google maps)

I remember dreaming about this particular spot and in the dream, I walked off the road and toward the east. I came to a great hole in the ground and there was something very disturbing, almost evil, that was inside but I didn't look. When I woke up I used Google Earth to explore that area, and in the area just east of that spot, just like in my dream, there's an abandoned mine.

3. Eureka, CA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka,_California Another odd place. I think it's because it has lots of old buildings and is the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland. But it's also heavily isolated from the rest of the state. It just feels like one of those towns that's lost in time.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

The swampiest of the Bayou in Louisiana.

[TDAS04]

Some remote countries like Bhutan and Mongolia. 

I'd also live to visit Arctic Canada; Yellowknife must be lovely.

I also want to go to Tasmania.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Mongolia, Greenland, and Namibia.

[Sopranos Republican]

Am I the only one who thought the OP's post was going to be about LeBron FitzGerald's residence in Cleveland?

[Mr. Smith]

Iceland...anywhere in Iceland.

That one isolated desert oasis national park on the east side of Nevada.

Punxatawney, Pennsylvania: Thanks a lot Groundhogs Day

Trieste, Italy

Lolo National Forest, Montana (All based on woodpecker painting in the bathroom of my parent's house, and the trees and sunset in the background, it just looked so peaceful)

And thanks to the Facebook memes, Farmville, Virginia.

[BaconBacon96]

In no particular order I'd like to see Bhutan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Louisiana, Turkey, San Marino, Andorra, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Scottish Highlands, the US Mountain West and as much of the Arab World as possible.

[Bacon King]

[retromike22]

Have you been constantly drawing pictures of that and do you plan to go on a spaceship when you get there?

[Joe Republic]

Centralia, Pennsylvania

That field in Kansas where the geographic center of the contiguous United States is

Boardman Tree Farm, Oregon

Plus:

Punxatawney, Pennsylvania: Thanks a lot Groundhogs Day

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Where North Two Ocean Creek splits.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House

[Kushahontas]

North Korea and Bushie's place for a day to see how the other side lives.

[Simfan34]

[Mr. Smith]

Oh yeah, also Romania [specifically what's considered Transylvania], Taiwan, and New Zealand

[TDAS04]

Oh yeah, also Romania [specifically what's considered Transylvania], Taiwan, and New Zealand

I want to visit those places too.  Taiwan might be my first choice if I visit East Asia.

[muon2]

Day 2. Though we encountered no storms on day 1 or overnight, the weather took a major turn on day 2. Throughout the day the temps hovered in the mid to upper 90s. Morning on Day 2 was overcast and in the upper 50s. That was the warmest we would see all day - a drop of 40 degrees.

There were three key sights planned this day, based largely on the fact that my kids were a little young to clearly remember things 10 years ago, but they are older teens now. The first stop was at Badlands National Park, which is a wonderful display of geology. The trails were windy and cold at the park, but we spent a half hour or so climbing through the formations. We were even focused enough to avoid the typical tourist stop at Wall Drug. I've done that plenty of times before.

What we did add was a stop at the Geology Museum on the campus of SD School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. They have a great collection that's free and open to the public. From there we continued to Mt Rushmore which was the second key sight that was partially forgotten by the kids. It seems that I can never pick the right day to visit myself, 10 years ago it was raining and this year it has just over 50 and windy. We did spot a decent rock shop a couple blocks of the main tourist drag, and some purchased Black Hills specimens became our souvenirs from the area.

The third key sight for the day was one I had not visited before, Devils Tower in WY. I had timed the leg of the trip to coincide with early evening with the sun lighting the tower at a shallow angle. Needless to say, I had not been optimistic all day as the skies remained stubbornly overcast. Yet, less than 20 miles away, the sky completely cleared giving me exactly the warm lighting I hoped for to bring out the colors of the Tower. Within a half hour of departure, the skies were overcast again, and an hour later it was pouring rain all the way from Gillette almost to Buffalo. The weather was kind enough to stop raining just before we got to Buffalo which is where we stopped for the night.

[IceSpear]

Centralia, Pennsylvania

I've been there a few times. Just driving through though, not actually roaming around. You can sometimes see the smoke even from a distance though.

[Joe Republic]

Centralia, Pennsylvania

I've been there a few times. Just driving through though, not actually roaming around. You can sometimes see the smoke even from a distance though.

The roads aren't all closed?

I kinda just want to meet and talk to the seven remaining residents.  You know, find out what their deal is.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Pacific Northwest.

[Türkisblau]

Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Lake Baikal, Mongolia, Oman, and Nunavut.

[Hash]

Pacific coast of the Chocó department (Colombia) and basically all of the Pacific coast in Colombia
Darién Gap
Colombian Amazonia and other remote far-east departments
Northern Yakutia, Chukotka and Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia
Alert, Canada
Socotra, Yemen
Pitcairn Islands
Tristan da Cunha
Kerguélen
Little Diomede Island

[IceSpear]

Centralia, Pennsylvania

I've been there a few times. Just driving through though, not actually roaming around. You can sometimes see the smoke even from a distance though.

The roads aren't all closed?

I kinda just want to meet and talk to the seven remaining residents.  You know, find out what their deal is.

Some parts of the roads were closed off, but you can still drive through the town. At least you could years ago anyway.

I'd imagine they have strong ties to the town going back generations. Some people just don't want to leave home no matter how dangerous it is. Either that or they're just kooks.

[ilikeverin]

East Timor, of course!