80 MPH Speed Limits in Texas


"With gasoline prices approaching an average of $3 a gallon and Middle East strife escalating, it might seem like a bad time to encourage drivers to burn even more fuel. But speed limits on stretches of freeways around the country are rising -- just in time for summer road trips. States around the country, including Texas and Michigan, have recently increased speed limits on hundreds of miles of interstate highways and freeways. "

So begins an eye-opening article article I came across in last week's Wall Street Journal

I've been meaning to write a story about the 50th Anniversary of the Interstate Highway system, which started in 1956 under President Eisenhower, but I keep getting distracted by the scale of the topic. It is simply overwhelming, trying to capture even a small portion of the significance these roads have to our nation's psyche, economy, and way of life. I did do a brief little piece on npr's "Talk of The Nation" earlier this summer, and really really intended to do some thoughtful blogging on the subject (is that an oxymoron, or what?), but still... we'll have to wait.

In the meantime, I can recommend a book I've learned a lot from, and though a lot about: Asphalt Nation, by Jane Holtz Kay

RAGBRAI!

No, it's not some cool new slang greeting -- RAGBRAI is a 34-year-old phenomenon that sees thousands of bike riders cruising back roads and cycle trails across the great state of Iowa. It started in 1973, and it's happening now -- heading toward a Mississippi River finish this weekend. Multi-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong did a leg of RAGBRAI this year (which, to be honest, is why I remembered it was happening...), and it's a pretty fun and uniquely Midwestern sort of summer event.

Although I travel mostly by car, I have more fun, feel happier, and see so much more when I'm moving around on a bike, so at least consider the possibility of hauling a bike with you next time you hit the road. If you want to learn more about RAGBRAI (which is sponsored by Des Moines daily newspaper, and stands for Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), check in with the good people at Wikipedia.

Happy Travels!

Are We There Yet?

Summer is here, and backseats across the country and around the world are singing the same tune: Are we there yet? As children who have swapped school for a "summer vacation" pester their parents, parents who want to delay the onset of this eternal question have a new ally. While he hasn't yet found a way to stop the question, English mathematician Dwight Barkley has formulated an equation that will enable parents to calculate the exact time into a journey it takes for a child to ask "Are we there yet?"

The equation, which was commissioned by the car company Skoda (formerly Czech, and now owned by VW) to help its customers better prepare for long summer car journeys, works by taking into account the number of activities available and the number of children in the car. Correct application of the theory requires its users to do useful and potentially absorbing things, such as timing how long it takes for the family to get themselves and their luggage into the car. It also varies depending on the number of on-board activities, raising awareness of the need for puzzles, snacks, computer games and the like.

The equation finds that the time it takes for a child to ask the notorious question equals: one, plus the number of activities to do, divided by the number of children in the car squared. The result is then added to the time it took the family to get into the car and set off on their journey, to produce the final answer. In mathematical terms, the calculation reads: Q= (1+x) divided by y2 + z where Q is the question, x the number of on board activities, y the number of children and z the time taken to get the car loaded.

(And yes, having your kids try to figure out the equation does count as an "activity"...)

Commenting on the triumph, Professor Barkley explained, “Mathematics can help answer many of life’s questions and this equation can be a fun way to think about the problem of keeping children entertained on a family car journey.”

Good luck!

Unless you're one of those Elvis fans planning to converge on Memphis during the week leading up to August 16th (to celebrate, if that's the right the word, the 29th Anniversary of His death in 1977), August is the time for spending lazy "quality time" with family and friends, for slumping on a beach, or for boating on a lake. It's also the time for aimless summer drives through the back roads of the rural heartland, hoping to come across a County Fair, a small town festival, or even a farmstand selling fresh corn or peaches. All over the country--in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, in the Finger Lakes of New York, or in the bluesy Mississippi Delta--people come together in beautiful places to celebrate different aspects of what makes America what it is.

One of the many great summer festivals is held way up north on the shores of Lake Superior: Big Top Chautauqua has been drawing visitors to a giant tent south of Bayfield, Wisconsin, for over 20 years. A non-profit throwback to the traveling tent shows and chautauquas that used to bring culture to rural America, Big Top Chautauqua shows include big-name performers, musicals, lectures, concerts, and circuses. Best of all, the festival is located within a quick boat ride of the gorgeous Apostle Islands, one of many unexpected wonders of the upper Midwest. From Bayfield, the drive along two-lane US-2 heads west through scenic Duluth (birthplace of Bob Dylan), Grand Rapids (birthplace of Judy Garland), and on to the headwaters of the Mississippi River near Bemidji (birthplace of Paul Bunyan). Heading east from Bayfield, the road continues along the lakeshores across the rugged Upper Peninsula, through places like Mackinac Island, Marquette, and Escanaba, where the lively UP State Fair takes place on August 14-20th.

Other roads to drive:

Aficionados of classic American motor cars come together at the end of August for the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival in Auburn, Indiana, where many of these great cars were produced. Northern Indiana abounds with roadside Americana, and a drive along US-6, a section of the historic Lincoln Highway, brings you across rural farmlands, past Amish farm stands (popcorn is a prime local product), to the American Windmill Museum, and along numerous small towns and post-industrial cities like Elkhart (boyhood home of writer Ambrose Bierce) and South Bend. The Hoosier State's northern tier also has an unexpected chunk of natural splendor: the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, where miles of tall sand dunes front onto Lake Michigan, less than an hour from Chicago.

Who loves the American road better than motorcyclists? One place you don't want to have that argument is in Sturgis, South Dakota, where around August 10th some 100,000 Harley riders and their friends come together for a giant rally. Before and after the big event, bikers can be seen riding all over the nearby Black Hills, enjoying the curving S-turns as the make their way to pay respects at such national landmarks as Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Wall Drug.

Have fun!

Road Trip Podcasts!

Just when you thought it was safe to go online... We've put together a series of "podcasts" to get you in the mood to hit the highway. The first two are "up" and ready to go, with more in the pipeline.

The first podcast takes music as its theme, and in it I talk about various places to go where you can experience the joys of all kinds of all-American music, from the jazz and zydeco of Louisiana to the high-tone classics of the Berkshires. The second podcast takes an audio road trip to some of the many great amusement parks we visit in Road Trip USA. Click on the links below to download the MP3 files:

#1 Music Adventures

#2 Amusement Parks

To subscribe to all Road Trip USA podcasts, visit iTunes here

Happy listening!


--- Jamie Jensen

CARS -- The Movie

If you've got kids you've probably already seen it, and if you don't you may have decided not to, but there's a movie out this summer that will delight anyone interested in road trips and old highways. Made by the creative folks at Pixar, the movie in question is CARS, an animated feature that follows the adventures of a race car Lightning McQueen as he finds himself on his own in the middle of nowhere, somewhere out in the wild West along old Route 66.

The movie is a lot of fun, and while all the characters are cars --voiced by Paul Newman, the Car Talk boys, and a number of Nascar drivers including Richard Petty--the basic plot follows along the same lines as previous Pixar hits. (The moral of the story, ala Toy Story et. al., is that friends are more important than fame and fortune.) But behind the kid-friendly facade is a suprisingly poignant, melancholy tone, one which seems to me to criticize many aspects of contemporary, consumerist, throw-away American culture.

(Which may in part account for its less-than blockbuster reception at the box office.)

The Route 66 backdrops are stunning--most of the "action" takes place in the town of Radiator Springs, set amidst the redrock deserts of the Southwest somewhere between Tucumcari and California. Once a lively, bustling community, with wonderfully drawn diners and drive-ins and roadside attractions, along with a colorfully varied cast of residents, Radiator Springs has fallen into decline since it was bypassed by the Interstate, and seems fated to fade away.

I won't ruin the story by giving away the plot's twists and turns, but suffice to say that as with life out on the real Route 66, with hard work, a little luck, and a little help from our friends, we can all live happily ever after. Two thumbs up to that!

Here's a synopsis, borrowed from Yahoo.com Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters--including Sally, a snazzy 2002 Porsche, Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, and Mater, a rusty but trusty tow truck, who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.

Where to go: 4th of July

Though parades and fireworks can be seen and heard all over the country on the 4th of July, there's not a more all-American place to spend the nation's birthday than in the heartland: Hannibal, Missouri. Here in the hometown of writer Mark Twain, the traditional 4th of July activities and events take place as part of Tom Sawyer Days, a weeklong festival of fun and games inspired by Twain's fictional creations. (One of many events is a fence-painting competition, remembering the scene where Tom Sawyer persuades his friends to do his chores for him and even to pay for the privilege!)

Hannibal not only has Mark Twain, it also has the Mississippi River on its doorstep, which makes for a great summertime drive. Known collectively as the Great River Road, a network of scenic roads winds along the river, heading south to New Orleans and upstream as far as the headwaters in Minnesota. North from Hannibal, the Great River Road takes in the fully recreated historic Mormon community of Nauvoo, once the largest settlement on the Western Frontier. Beyond Nauvoo is the river town of Davenport, Iowa, where a pair of all-American adventures await you. All summer long, there's minor-league baseball in a historic riverside stadium, (where the Midwest League All-Star Game will be played June 20th!), and at the end of July, Davenport's rich musical heritage is celebrated in a four-day festival named after native jazz player, Bix Beiderbecke.

Other roads to drive this month:

The largest 4th of July fireworks show in the country, fittingly enough, is held at the heart of the nation's capital, at the National Mall in Washington D.C. The array of monuments and memorials around D.C., and the diverse collections on display in the Smithsonian Museum, make the city an even more ideal place to spend the 4th--and if the weather gets too heavy, you can head east on US-50 to the many different coastal resorts, like Rehoboth Beach in Delaware or bustling Ocean City in Maryland. Just two hours from D.C., but another world away on the idyllic Eastern Shore of Virginia, the town of Chincoteague holds its famous Pony Swim on July 26th, in which dozens of wild ponies are herded across the marshes of wild and beautiful Assateague Island National Seashore.

Way out west in Colorado, the towering mountain Pikes Peak inspired the song "America the Beautiful," but every July this mountain sees a compelling contest between man and nature: the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, in which daredevils on motorbikes and in cars race up a gravel road to the 14,110-foot summit. A few days later, and 300 miles west of Pikes Peak via the amazing "Million Dollar Highway," the Wild West mining town of Silverton celebrates the 4th of July with a big Main Street parade featuring cowboys and bikers, a fun run and fireworks show, and a huge water fight between rival Volunteer Fire Departments.

Each month, I've suggested a number of great drives in the "Driver's Almanac" pages of my Road Trip USA website , so check back here again soon and see some more great places to drive.

Happy Independence Day!