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In Review: Road Trip USA, by Jamie Jensen

“Road Trip USA…takes you as close to the real America as you are ever likely to get.”

Here’s a question for you. If you had the time and the cash to try just one broad trip by road on any continent on the planet, which one would you choose, and where would you go? I ask this question because time and cash seem to be the only things stopping some people from undertaking their uttermost dream vacation.

Last year (March 2008), a survey conducted by the Australian online automotive internetlocation Cars Guide indicated that Aussies love to hit the road. In fact, the survey of 810 respondents, found a whopping 99 per cent of Australians would go on a road trip because of the freedom and spontaneity it allows.

Not long after the Cars Guide survey appeared, a Rand McNally survey (May 2008), examining American complex mental states to long road journeys found similar views to this form of vacation. According to the Rand McNally survey (of 2,030 U.S. adults), three in four adults (75%) were at least somewhat likely to take a road trip, and with regards to three in ten (29%) said they were very likely.

Meanwhile, a recent article published in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal (May 2009), reported that the road trip was poised to make a comeback as the American summer travel season began, in spite of the lingering recession and rising fuel prices.

While the cost of fuel and accommodation were nominated as the two greatest worries both in Australia and America, it seems our respective love affairs for the open road is not likely to diminish any time soon.

Which brings me to Road Trip USA.

Jamie Jensen’s best-selling guide book, Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways, (Fifth Edition, Avalon Travel, 2009) takes you as close to the real America as you are ever likely to get.

With 11 trips to choose from, covering classic American landscapes such as the Appalachian Trail, Atlantic Coast, Oregon Trail, and the famed Route 66, Road Trip USA steers intrepid road warriors through major cities like San Francisco and Chicago as well as remote, but charming all-American towns like Dyersville, Mississippi (where the baseball field devised for the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams attracts visitors from near and far); or the little blue-collar town of Seneca Falls, in New York state (which saw the birth of the American women’s motion in July 1848).

As you might expect, Jensen’s routes also lead to standard destinations such as Disneyland, Yellowstone National Park, Niagara Falls, and the Statue of Liberty. Complete with local lore; oddball trivia (Memphis’s gifts to American culture – and the world’s – include the supermarket, the drive-in restaurant, the Holiday Inn, oh, and Elvis Presley). Filled with remarkable details and roadside curiosities (a sign in Texas spelling out the command: “Rattlesnakes Exit Here”), Road Trip USA holds a wealth of recommendations on where to stop, what to see, and where to eat and sleep. This is one guide aimed at getting travelers off the freeway system, and driving into the heart and soul of America.

Other features of this edition include:

o A flexible network of route combinations, color-coded and spacious cross-referenced to grant for hundreds of possible itineraries
o More than 125 elaborate driving maps
o Full-color interior with innovative and vintage photos and illustrations
o A road trip resources section with contact data for general hotel and motel chains, car rental companies, state tourism boards, and road condition centers

My personal criteria for a good guide book is that it must inform, enlighten, and occasionally even surprise, so I’m please to say that Road Trip USA has no disturb being informative, enlightening, and yes, even surprising.

I have no hesitation in saying that when I undertake my own road trip all over America, this will be the one book I will have by my side at all times.

What’s Missing?
Unfortunately, Road Trip USA is closely wholly devoid of links to online resources. In an age when closely each printed piece of paper has a internetlocation URL and an Email address on it somewhere; and when so galore progressed electronic appliances come Internet ready, this seems to be a glaring omission. I may only assume this is a deliberate choice by the author and publisher. With thousands of places of interest elaborate in the book, they may have taken the decision to try and cut down on the visual clutter related with URLs, and make the contents more ‘readable’ by avoiding them altogether.

While one doesn’t suppose a URL or Email address for each emplacement brought up in Road Trip USA, surely major places of interest do warrant the inclusion of a web link (where available). A quick look through other guide books on my bookshelf reveals that all those printed over the last five years or so, include web addresses throughout, and future editions of Road Trip USA would be well served to do the same.

Before You Go
I think Road Trip USA would also gain from a ‘Before You Go’ division outlining basic info with regards to preparations for the journey. This chapter might cover such topics as:

o Useful (online and offline) origins of info in regards to trip preparations.
o Information when it comes to safety (personal, vehicle break down, and other safety issues)
o What to do in an emergency (break downs, accidents, personal attack, etc)
o A checklist of possible items to pack and prepare
o A checklist of pre-trip vehicle preparations (brakes, tyre and engine checks, etc)
o Traveling with children and pets

Road Trip USA does have a little Resources division at the end of the book, running to just eight and a half pages – four of which comprise a Recommended Reading list. The others refer to organizations affiliated in a great deal of way with automobiles and highways; a short list of hotel/motel chains, and car rental companies; and a list of U.S. and Canadian agencies dealing with State Tourism and road conditions. And that’s gorgeous much it.

The good news is, the omissions brought up above do not detract in any way from the overall depth and quality of the elaborate data staged in Road Trip USA. At just over 900 pages, I think it is reasonable to say that Road Trip USA covers all the ‘bases’ and then some. In deed, I have no hesitation in saying that when I try my own road trip all over America, Road Trip USA will be the one book I will have by my side at all times.

Mcnally Oregon Clackamas Mcnally Streets

Thomas Brothers Portland, Oregon Atlas features: regular updates to ascertain that new streets and points of interest are included; four-color maps for easy viewing; ZIP code boundaries, block numbers, highway exits, overpasses and underpasses shown on elaborate maps; latitude and longitude notations that tell apart approximate international position; full index for easy emplacement of streets and points of interest; foldout map for quick and easy emplacement of map pages; Cities and Communities: index to aid users effortlessly locate map pages; vicinity maps for overview coverage of surrounding areas; elaborated map of downtown areas; consistent map scale from page to page; commodious lav flat particular binding.

Mcnally Oregon Clackamas Mcnally Streets Picture

Mcnally Oregon Clackamas Mcnally Streets Picture

Mcnally Oregon Clackamas Mcnally Streets Pic

Mcnally Oregon Clackamas Mcnally Streets Picture

Most helpful client reviews

1 of 1 humans found the following review helpful.
Forget Mapquest & Yahoo….
By God Lover
Who are these persons who love Mapquest & Yahoo? I have gotten lost a heap of times with directions from map sites. They do NOT update when road construction changes streets. I found this guide priceless when I moved to Portland. I don’t think I could have made it without it (!). Portland is a mixing up sufficient city to drive around in as it is (understatement!). My print outs of Mapquest got me lost more than once…then what to do? I don’t have a GPS and wouldn’t want one after all of the bad reviews I’ve heard (and they are NOT cheap!). I’ve been using Thomas Guides for a good deal of years as I’ve had a sales occupation that kept me on the road full time and necessitated to recognise the main highways for gas stations, restaurants, hotels, etc. My Thomas Guide & my AAA book have always gotten me where I need to go. I even keep my old guides in my car “just in case” and have never been sorry.

0 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
great service
By Sherrill O’brien
I ordered this for my son so I can’t review the book but it arrived quickly and in good condition.

1 of 21 persons found the following review helpful.
no need for it
By J. Lim
I do not forget once when Thomas Guides were ubiquitous for Portland, and this was likewise unfeigned for a lot of other US cities. But lately so a heap of of my contemporaries just use a map internetsite and possibly print out a map if we’re travelling and don’t have a web connection. Then, cellphones progressively do have a web connection. So why do you need this book?

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