Traveling the Back Roads!

[Wild Wild Qwest]

Since the camping season is approaching and vacation destinations are being planned and map quested, I thought I would pass on a link to a cool website. It's Road Trip USA.  We also have the book,  which we enjoy reading.

Why not take the back roads and really see what small town America looks and smells (maybe not smells) like. Yeah, there are times when we need to get there quickly, the kids are cranky in the back, we all want to get there and set up in a hurry, yada, yada, yada, but think of what you may be missing! Stop in a diner, have a piece of pie, check out the highways of yesteryear and enjoy the memories!!!

  Happy Trails!

[wavemaker]

{Why not take the back roads and really see what small town America looks and smells (maybe not smells) like.} {Stop in a diner, have a piece of pie, check out the highways of yesteryear and enjoy the memories!!!}
 
This is Very true... i used to live in East Bangor Pa. its a small town... it was a nice town to grow up in... yes i would love going back home the back way...

[wavery]

You need to go sailing!! :J

[GeneF]

Thanks for the link.


When DW and I are on our long trips, we often get tired of using the interstates and head off to the back roads.

We have discovered some great places that we hadn't either heard about or hadn't planned on finding.

Driving the interstates are great to make up time but the back roads often yield a wealth of surprises.

Main drawback to driving the back roads is that the driving can be more tiring when you are towing plus being slower.  We just don't plan to drive that far when we are on the back roads.

DW and I are fortunate that we are both retired and generally are not in any big hurry on our one to two month trips.  We generally pick out some major destinations along the way and explore whatever catches our fancy along the route.

[AustinBoston]

We travel mostly on the main roads because we tend to be in a hurry.  Personally, I think this is a tragedy.  When we do get off the interstate and into some out-of-the-way communities, we have found some real gems along the way.

We once had dinner and joked with the bus boy repeatedly.  Joked and traded stories with the bus boy.  We eventually said we had to let him get back to work before he got in trouble with the boss.  "Oh, no.  I am the boss.  This is my restaurant."  (Eastern edge of the Adirondacks.)

Another out-of-the-way restaurant owner told us stories of his experiences as a tour guide in Yosemite National Park.  Made our visit there much better.

We stopped for some ice cream in a tiny town in Utah.  We had just come over the mountain pass and wanted the brakes, the transmission, and the nerves to cool.  We had raspberry ice cream at the height of their raspberry festival.  After waiting in line for a while, we found out the ice cream had been made the day before from berries picked the same day.  Mmmm.

All of those and many more would have been missed if we had been racing down the interstate at our usual breakneck speed.

While RoadTrip USA is a good starting point, almost any road that is away from the interstates has little places well worth the time.

Austin

[SpeakEasy]

For those who enjoy a good read, you might try the book called Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon.

It is a non-fiction story of his adventure driving back roads throughout the United States. I think he made this journey back in the 1970's or so.

I recommend it.

-Speak

[cyclone]

Thanks for the link - I love exploring the back roads.  Unfortunately, most of the time I don't have the free time to do so while traveling.  A couple of trips do come to mind, though.  About 20 years ago we spent a week in AZ to attend a wedding.  While we had a basic itinerary in mind, we weren't on a tight time schedule.  We had a ball just stopping at whatever looked interesting.

A few years ago I was back visiting family and friends in Iowa.  After spending a couple of days with some good friends I was headed back "north" about 100 miles.  I decided the same old, same old route was too boring and headed out of town on a county road.  I knew that sooner or later I would run into the highway I ultimately needed to be on.  Before then, one sign caught my eye "Dyersville, home of Field of Dreams - 18 miles".  You can bet I took that 18 mile detour.  

And, finally, there's no telling how much time was saved in my college days when we backroaded it all the way to college from my hometown.  In 120 miles, we only had to drive through one small town and often saw very few vehicles until the last stretch which was interstate.  Not too much to slow us down.  Now it takes me 45 minutes to drive 12 miles in rush hour traffic.  Ugh!

[GeneF]

Just one tip on taking the back roads, make sure you start with enough gas.  Some of those back roads have few and far gas stations.  Not so much in the New England area but perhaps in the Midwest and West.

In Nevada, on a main road the sign said "Next gas station 107 miles."

[AustinBoston]

For those who enjoy a good read, you might try the book called Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon.

It only took me a moment to remember why I recognized that name.  He was one of the primary content contributors (i.e. commentator/narrator) for the PBS series on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Austin (once forgot his own name)

[chasd60]

Now that I own a hybrid, over pass clearances are more of a concern. The Interstate System is built for taller vehicles than mine and I hate surprises. The mapping software I use does allow me to chose scenic and it has RV height and propane restrictions if I decide to use them.

I do take the back roads once in a while on the weekends when not towing just to break the drive up and to see what has changed since the last time I took them.

[SpeakEasy]

It only took me a moment to remember why I recognized that name.  He was one of the primary content contributors (i.e. commentator/narrator) for the PBS series on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Austin (once forgot his own name)

William is an interesting person. He's Native American, as you may have guessed from the name. I would have been interested to hear his take on the Lewis and Clark expedition. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a re-broadcast.

Moon also wrote another interesting book about his trip across the USA by water! If you're thinking that it can't be done, you are both right and wrong. It can't be done without some overland travel. What Moon did was plot out a course that had the least amount of overland travel possible. IIRC, this was a 5,000 mile trip. He, of course, used the Missouri River for a large part of it. He complained a lot about what the Corp of Engineers has done to the river.

-Speak