Million Mile Road Trip

Three teens ride a car across the universe and back. Look out for the flying saucers! "Tipping his hat to Thomas Pynchon, Jack Kerouac, and Douglas Adams, Rucker immerses readers in a fantastical roadtrip adventure that’s a wild ride of unmitigated joy. . . . he ties everything together with internal consistency, playful use of language that keeps his ideas alien yet accessible, and a solid grounding in fourth-dimensional math. This wacky adventure is a geeky reader’s delight."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Three teens ride a car across the universe and back. Look out for the flying saucers! Million Mile Road Trip is a phantasmagoric roller-coaster ride—mind warpingly smart and wildly funny, with a warmly beating heart."Rucker immerses readers in a fantastical road trip adventure that's a wild ride of unmitigated joy. This wacky adventure is a geeky reader's delight." —Publishers Weekly

Offers detailed descriptions of drives through California and the Southwest, with a flexible format allowing one to switch routes during a journey, and including information on where to eat and sleep, the best local radio stations, hundreds of roadside attractions, and more.

A collection of stories about my travels across the country

The Road Awaits! Criss-cross the country on America's classic two-lane highways with Road Trip USA! Inside you'll find: 11 of America's favorite road trips with a flexible network of route combinations, color-coded and extensively cross-referenced to allow for hundreds of possible itineraries Mile-by-mile highlights celebrating the best of Americana, including roadside curiosities, parks, diners, and more Local history that reveals the unique personalities of small towns and big cities across the country Vintage snapshots, full-color photos, and beautiful illustrations of America both then and now Over 125 detailed driving maps covering more than 35,000 miles of classic American blacktop Expert advice from road-warrior Jamie Jensen, who cruised nearly 400,000 miles of highway in search of the perfect stretches of pavement Road Trip USA celebrates the great American road trip, and gives you the tools, resources, and inspiration to make it your own. Hit the road!

"Million Dollar Highway Colorado" Take off on an unforgettable journey with "Million Dollar Highway Colorado," your pass to an unmatched road trip. Imagine a 25-mile stretch of land that's more than just asphalt and curves; it's a symphony of jaw-dropping views, hairpin turns that send your heart racing, and the kind of scenery that just leaves you speechless. Get ready for more than just a guidebook; think of it as your backstage pass to the drama playing out between Durango and Silverton. Feel the thrill of the road as you navigate its curves, where every bend feels like a plot twist in an epic novel and the mountains themselves are characters with tales to tell. But the link is more important than the route itself. Learn about the pioneers who once trod these roads and the dreams that now remain in the mountain air. This is no ordinary journey-rather, it's a study of nature, a dance with history, and an encounter with Colorado's breathtaking scenery. Thus, "Million Dollar Highway Colorado" is your traveling buddy on this epic road journey provided you're prepared to trade in the usual for the extraordinary. Fasten your seatbelt, open the windows, and enjoy the Million Dollar Highway as its million-dollar tales unfold. Are you prepared for a once-in-a-lifetime experience? You may now have a front-row seat.

“A lighthearted, entertaining trip down Memory Lane” (Kirkus Reviews), Don’t Make Me Pull Over! offers a nostalgic look at the golden age of family road trips—before portable DVD players, smartphones, and Google Maps. The birth of America’s first interstate highways in the 1950s hit the gas pedal on the road trip phenomenon and families were soon streaming—sans seatbelts!—to a range of sometimes stirring, sometimes wacky locations. In the days before cheap air travel, families didn’t so much take vacations as survive them. Between home and destination lay thousands of miles and dozens of annoyances, and with his family Richard Ratay experienced all of them—from being crowded into the backseat with noogie-happy older brothers, to picking out a souvenir only to find that a better one might have been had at the next attraction, to dealing with a dad who didn’t believe in bathroom breaks. Now, decades later, Ratay offers “an amiable guide…fun and informative” (New York Newsday) that “goes down like a cold lemonade on a hot summer’s day” (The Wall Street Journal). In hundreds of amusing ways, he reminds us of what once made the Great American Family Road Trip so great, including twenty-foot “land yachts,” oasis-like Holiday Inn “Holidomes,” “Smokey”-spotting Fuzzbusters, twenty-eight glorious flavors of Howard Johnson’s ice cream, and the thrill of finding a “good buddy” on the CB radio. An “informative, often hilarious family narrative [that] perfectly captures the love-hate relationship many have with road trips” (Publishers Weekly), Don’t Make Me Pull Over! reveals how the family road trip came to be, how its evolution mirrored the country’s, and why those magical journeys that once brought families together—for better and worse—have largely disappeared.

Criss-cross the country on America's two-lane highways with the ultimate guide to the classic road trip. InsideRoad Trip USA you'll find: 11 routes through the heart of America, color-coded and extensively cross-referenced to allow for hundreds of possible itineraries Mile-by-mile highlights celebrating the best of Americana, including roadside curiosities, parks, diners, and the local history and personality that makes each small town and big city unique Over 125 streamlined maps covering more than 35,000 miles of two-lane American blacktop Full-color photos and illustrations of America both then and now Expert advice from road-warrior Jamie Jensen, who sped along nearly 400,000 miles of highway in search of the perfect stretches of pavement Insight into the great American road trip, as well as resources, history, and fun facts along the way About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. Hit the road, roll down the windows, and discover the soul of the country with Road Trip USA.

I love driving. I have driven since I was six, and learned on the old Farmall tractor from childhood days in rural Northern Ontario. We never had a car growing up; I swore when I grew up, I would drive somewhere every day. My happiest place is behind the wheel. Home nursing gave me that perk, and every patient I visited turned out another story, names never used and situations slightly changed to assure privacy for participants. My mother lived a thousand miles across the province from us, so in order to ensure my little ones knew their grandmother well, we often dropped everything and headed for 'Grandma's'. Each of those road trips was a story in itself. Something of note would happen every time we set out on such a journey. For instance, my daughter and I were at one time both nursing new babies (and THAT is yet another book). Between the uprooted schedule we both maintained for our babies, we did not take into consideration that our nerves would get the best of us. I recall my daughter saying she was headed for the river bank halfway to our destination and don’t bother coming to get her. I could keep both babes since it was obvious she knew nothing about mothering. I swear I don’t recall questioning her parenting, but to this day she claims I did. Loudly. Could have been something to do with the fact my last baby was born when I was 45, not much left in the patience locker. I am an obsessive fisherman. My fishing rod is always in the trunk. I would travel out of my way for one little cast to see if fish are biting at a nearby lakeshore, or I would jump into my boat and be gone for hours, sometimes days after the big catch. Those lake trips added many miles to my log of distance and stories. I also play music in a bluegrass band with my daughter. We log many, many miles gong to festivals, practices and local and regional musical events. I have always had a rather large vehicle to contain in the early years kids and all their quilts and cuddle toys and sippy cups and anything else they snuck on board. Later years I had to carry medical supplies, briefcases, office supplies, and the like for work, then instruments and sound equipment for the festival circuit, and a front seat filled with coffee maker and a sizeable cooler for the many meals I had to consume while driving. At all times I carried a clipboard and attached pen to record the noteworthy things that happened on my various trips. Those clipboards filled quickly. In later years it was a laptop and/or tablet and cell phone gracing my passenger seat. Since my nursing career began in the early seventies, and motherhood as well, and musician matters all my life, plus the fishing and the snowmachine miles, you can imagine I had ample grist for this ‘Million Miles’ mill. The book is filled with my life on the road, a memoir.