driving across the country and back ~

In a few months this summer I'm leaving for a road trip across the US from New Jersey to Oregon and back with my boyfriend and maybe two other friends. trip of a lifetime before i leave the country to study abroad for a year in New Zealand and Wales. I figure this is a chance to see as much of this country as I can before I leave it.

We've been making a list of all the things we want to see on the way, and of course we'll be stopping at anything that looks interesting. generally we're hitting a bunch of northern states on the way there and the southern states on the way back. So much to see and learn! We'll be camping and hiking in national parks and random points of interest and stopping in interesting towns for a few days, hit some festivals and such and just chill cant wait..

We're trying to keep costs down so we'll be camping as much as possible and staying anywhere cheap if we have to. (we got the idea for feel free farm from a forum here =D )
we have a lot of ideas and some plans already, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of chill places to stay, camp, or just things to see. I'm interested in everything! I just figured this would be a good place to ask

 

check out the Mt Hood national forest, lots of hot springs.
eugene, OR's saturday market, and the oregon country fair
boise idaho is allot cooler than you'd imagine.
lots of potheads in columbus OH, but it's dirty
west virginia is beautiful
beale st in memphis
denver is cool for a "big city"
pearl st mall in boulder and the national forest in nederland
manitu springs CO, pikes peak, garden of the gods and the cliff dwellings
ashville NC
and the whole appalachian chain has random hippy farms hidden in the mountains
everywhere is beautiful though, if you look at it the right way

 

where in New Jersey are you coming from?