There’s nothing quite like grabbing a few bags of chips and hitting the highway for a good old-fashioned road trip. Think “Thelma and Louise” without the final pothole. Think “Smokey and the Bandit” without Sheriff Buford T. Justice. If your passengers sing like they’d be booed off the Karaoke stages, you’ll be especially grateful for views that take their breath away.

Ozark National Forest flights | hotels | cars
Drive the Ozark Highlands Byway along the ridge tops where the rivers start. You can drive the Sylamore Scenic Byway, skirting the bluffs at the eastern edge of the Ozarks on the way to Blanchard Springs Caverns…

Oregon flights | hotels | cars
California sure has marketed its Coast Highway, but it’s not the only state with thrilling views. Oregon’s Pacific Coast Byway is over 300 miles of lighthouses, seals, huge trees and laid-back towns. Even though you could try to do it in a day, take your time and savor the rocky coast….

Daytona flights | hotels | cars
If you’re new to the Daytona Beach area and Florida’s unique, natural beauty, The Loop is a definite must-see. This leisurely ride features many surprises, including wild boar and deer, old sugar mill ruins, Ormond Park and the Fairchild Oak, one of Florida’s oldest living Oak trees….

Wisconsin flights | hotels | cars
Forget the cheese for a minute and think mighty Mississippi: The Great River Road runs all along central and southern Wisconsin’s western border, along the waterway that has carried Native American canoes, steamboats and anything else you can imagine!…

Iceland flights | hotels | cars
Don’t be fooled with the icy name — start your own Viking saga in Reykjavik, home of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, a comprehensive collection of mammal parts that could be described as members only…

Ozark National Forest flights | hotels | cars

Drive the Ozark Highlands Byway along the ridge tops where the rivers start. You can drive the Sylamore Scenic Byway, skirting the bluffs at the eastern edge of the Ozarks on the way to Blanchard Springs Caverns. Take a side trip to Eureka Springs, a funky little town with a diverse population of hippies, musicians, bikers, and the 62-foot Christ of the Ozarks statue. For those who like to get off the path, you can go on a guided hike/crawl through uncharted caves to the missile shaped formations of the Titan Room. When the kids start to kick the back of your seat you can stop in at the Turner Bend Store along the Mulberry River for information on canoeing, fishing and camping.

Daytona flights | hotels | cars

If you’re new to the Daytona Beach area and Florida’s unique, natural beauty, The Loop is a definite must-see. This leisurely ride features many surprises, including wild boar and deer, old sugar mill ruins, Ormond Park and the Fairchild Oak, one of Florida’s oldest living Oak trees.
A longstanding treasure in the Daytona Beach area, The Loop begins with a slow-paced northerly trek at the foot of the Granada Bridge in beachside Ormond Beach. Then head west on Highbridge Road, a perfect place to stop and fish from the pier and relax in the park. At 22 miles long, The Loop is a ride that transcends the definition of a scenic route. Click here to learn more.

Oregon flights | hotels | cars

California sure has marketed its Coast Highway, but it’s not the only state with thrilling views. Oregon’s Pacific Coast Byway is over 300 miles of lighthouses, seals, huge trees and laid-back towns. Even though you could try to do it in a day, take your time and savor the rocky coast. Start in Astoria, the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies, then head south to Seaside where you can take in the ocean view that answered Lewis and Clark’s question: “Are we there yet?” The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport shows you what’s under all those surfer-speckled curls, and the Sea Lion Caves in Florence are full of big, wet, whiskery critters with fish breath that may or may not be less charming than your passengers. And how can you pass up a rock formation called the Devil’s Punch Bowl?

Iceland flights | hotels | cars

Don’t be fooled with the icy name — start your own Viking saga in Reykjavik, home of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, a comprehensive collection of mammal parts that could be described as members only. The Ring Road goes all around the island, but a nice manageable trip is the ride through ancient forests and otherworldly landscapes to ThórsmÃrk, which sits among three glaciers MýrdalsjÃkull, EyjafjallajÃkull, and TindfjallajÃkull. On the way, you can stop to walk behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall and ponder the unpolluted iciness of EyjafjallajÃkull’s turbulent glacial rivers and lagoon. It’s hard to pay attention to the road when you’re distracted by stunning scenery, Northern Lights and Bjork on the radio, but it’s still less dangerous than trying to pronounce the names. Just watch out for sheep and other livestock changing lanes.

Wisconsin flights | hotels | cars

Forget the cheese for a minute and think mighty Mississippi: The Great River Road runs all along central and southern Wisconsin’s western border, along the waterway that has carried Native American canoes, steamboats and anything else you can imagine! Check out the Bow and Arrow Historical Marker, a mysterious 200-foot-tall prehistoric arrangement of boulders on a hillside between Hager City and Bay City. Make a pilgrimage to the Dickeyville Grotto, built in the 1920s by a priest out of stone, mortar and colorful doodads from around the world. Rock on with the Pierce County Geology Tour, a self-guided audio tour of caves, the highest earthen dam in the Midwest and some seriously pretty river views. Huck Finn’s raft may have had charm, but it didn’t have cup holders.

By the book
We can’t imagine you could want more travel inspiration than our newsletters, but if you do, you might want to crack National Geographic’s new (October 2007) “Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips.” It includes a chapter on road trips, and the final “In Their Footsteps” section maps out a Jack Kerouac “On the Road” tour, an exotic odyssey along the Silk Road and an Ansel Adams expedition through the Yosemite. Check your tires — and lay off the coffee or you’ll have to ask for that gas station restroom key.

Keep on truckin’

Steve and Paul, co-founders

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 10:41 am and is filed under Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.