http://www.roadtripamerica.com Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT Copyright 2009, RoadTrip America http://www.roadtripamerica.com/rtataf.jpg http://www.roadtripamerica.com en-us http://www.roadtripamerica.com/roadside/Abraham-Lincoln-Memorial-Monument.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/roadside/Abraham-Lincoln-Memorial-Monument.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT This historic monument in Wyoming was constructed in 1959 by Robert Russin, who was an art professor at the University of Wyoming. The bronze bust of Lincoln's head is thirteen-and-a-half feet tall and required ten tons of clay and eleven months of work to create...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Writers-and-Artists-Hideouts.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Writers-and-Artists-Hideouts.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT This eclectic guide by Andrea Brown will introduce you to nearly 530 of the most interesting resorts and B&B's you'd never know about otherwise.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/tips/Truck-Stops-Not-Just-For-Truckers.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/tips/Truck-Stops-Not-Just-For-Truckers.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT Yes, you can stop at truck plazas -- even if you're not driving an 18-wheeler. Truck stops used to cater exclusively to professional long-haul truck drivers, but in the last couple of decades, they have begun to welcome motor coaches (like Greyhound), recreational vehicles and passenger vehicles, too.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?p=89122#post89122 http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?p=89122#post89122 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT Test your road trip smarts! Play RTA's "Name That Place" game!]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/links/Winter.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/links/Winter.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:00 PDT Tips and resources for snowbirds, winter vacationers, and those who just like cold-weather adventures]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/shrimp.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/shrimp.htm Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:38:00 PDT Calling them "jumbo" may have given them an attitude... Contributed Jolie Curry of Akron, Ohio]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Boulder-City-Hoover-Dam.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Boulder-City-Hoover-Dam.htm Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:03:00 PDT This new mural by Connie Burnett-Ferraro channels a vintage postard to welcome visitors to the home of Hoover Dam...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Sacred-Hearts.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Sacred-Hearts.htm Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:03:00 PDT It's hard to believe that a story that takes place entirely within the walls of a 16th century convent could command the listener's attention for 15 hours, and leave her yearning for more, but it does, and then some. Santa Caterina, a convent in Ferraro, is home to a diverse group of Renaissance women who have abandoned the difficulties of the secular world and now are citizens of an equally complex and confusing spiritual one...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/Thodys-American-Adventures/Great-Smoky-Mountains.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/Thodys-American-Adventures/Great-Smoky-Mountains.htm Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:25:00 PDT A personal greeting from a Cherokee elder, a walk in the woods in Bill Bryson's footsteps, and two entirely different bear encounters end Peter Thody's three-week trip through the eastern U.S. Join him as he travels across the Smokies and discovers that there's still plenty of room to breathe in America's busiest national park.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/You-Want-To-Go-Where.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/You-Want-To-Go-Where.htm Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:25:00 PDT This new book explains how--with the right idea and proper advance preparation--it's possible to raise thousands of dollars in cash and equipment for worthy expeditions...and that includes road trips!]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/dreamsale.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/dreamsale.htm Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:21:00 PDT Could be a shopping nightmare... Contributed Jim McIntyre of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/recipes/Last-Picnic-of-Fall.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/recipes/Last-Picnic-of-Fall.htm Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:16:00 PDT This is our favorite time of year for a picnic. It's not just that snow is coming; we're savoring the last pleasures of the season. The sky is clear and blue and there's a fresh crispness to the air. The bugs are gone. The sumac is red and the aspens have turned golden. The birds and wildlife seem restless and no longer hidden in the thickets away from the heat of summer and out of sight. The southerly rays of the autumn sun sparkle in the gentle riffles of the lakes. Curled maple leaves float on subdued rivers like miniature boats, building into rafts in the back eddies. A picnic is a great way to bask in the pleasures of the season.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Alex-Cross-Trial.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/Alex-Cross-Trial.htm Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:16:00 PDT Realizing that his children understand little of their ancestors' struggle to survive the bigotry and hatred of the Jim Crow era, Alex Cross decides to write a novel based on his great uncle's life. The result is the story that becomes the core of this audio book.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/whatsit/whatsit.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/whatsit/whatsit.htm Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:16:00 PDT Are you good at identifying odd gadgets? This is the game for you.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/On-Killing.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/On-Killing.htm Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:32:00 PDT To say Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman's "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" is Illuminating is quite an underestimation. This work is so much more, as it reveals the resistance of human beings to kill, and the ability of societies and governments to create killers despite that resistance. It's a necessary revelation into the psychology of death and violence on the battlefield and in civilization.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?p=87302 http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?p=87302 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:32:00 PDT Test your road trip smarts! Play RTA's "Name That Place" game!]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/Thodys-American-Adventures/Blue-Ridge-Parkway.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/Thodys-American-Adventures/Blue-Ridge-Parkway.htm Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:36:00 PDT Bluegrass music, flatfoot dancing and almost 500 miles of unspoilt scenery weave a spell that is uniquely American over the hills and valleys of the central Appalachians. Follow the Blue Ridge Parkway with British road tripper Peter Thody as he discovers the rustic charm of a 70-year-old wooden cabin, meets a park ranger who doesn't really like tourists, and crosses a bridge that doesn't quite live up to its name.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/GettingOutThere/Austin-Live-An-Insiders-Guide.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/GettingOutThere/Austin-Live-An-Insiders-Guide.htm Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:36:00 PDT Sometimes it seems that all roads lead to Austin. Once a sleepy college town and provincial capital, Austin is now the 17th-largest city in the country and a major center for high-tech innovation, and it hosts 19 million visitors a year. A good number of them are music fans making a pilgrimage to the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World." Aaron Reed takes a break from the open road to lead an insider's tour of clubs, restaurants and off-beat attractions in his hometown city.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/coffee.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/signs/coffee.htm Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:40:00 PDT Cheap or fresh -- choose one! Contributed by Mike Metzing of Jefferson, Indiana]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/travelplanning/Make-It-A-Road-Trip.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/travelplanning/Make-It-A-Road-Trip.htm Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:36:00 PDT There are car rides and there are road trips. A car ride is a short, often tedious jaunt that involves getting from here to there, usually in a hurry, so that you can discharge some duty: drop off the kids, pick up the dry cleaning, slave away at the office. But a road trip! A road trip is an adventure, an exploration, a rendezvous with come-what-may...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Las-Vegas-Pyramid-at-Red-Rock-Canyon.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Nevada-Las-Vegas-Pyramid-at-Red-Rock-Canyon.htm Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:29:00 PDT This vivid 14 x 20-foot mural in downtown Las Vegas depicts a desert landscape morphing into gigantic dice. It is roughly based on the topography of nearby Red Rock Canyon...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/The-Secret-Life-of-Marilyn-Monroe.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/read/The-Secret-Life-of-Marilyn-Monroe.htm Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:29:00 PDT When she sang "I Want to be Loved by You" in the movie "Some Like it Hot," Marilyn Monroe could have been awarded a summa cum laude degree from the method school of acting. It was not even a remote stretch for her to draw on her own background and emotions as motivation for a plea for love. Norma Jeane Mortensen-Baker-Gifford?-Dougherty-DiMaggio-Miller-Monroe spent her entire life looking for love. Born to a mother with a history of mental illness...]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/whatsit/97gizmo.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/whatsit/97gizmo.htm Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:29:00 PDT Can you guess what this machine is and does? Play RTA's gizmo game!]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/DayTrips/Day-Trips-from-Gainesville-Florida.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/DayTrips/Day-Trips-from-Gainesville-Florida.htm Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:39:00 PDT In Gainesville, Fla., everyone cheers for the Florida Gators, the resident college team. And road trippers passing through Gainesville often search the nearby lakes and swamps in hopes of spotting a real alligator. On three day trips from Gainesville, Anne Sponholtz encountered no gators, but she drank some fine Florida wine, explored a prehistoric underground spring, and spotted Elvis on a street corner. Join her for some unexpected discoveries in Florida Gator Country.]]> http://www.roadtripamerica.com/GettingOutThere/Small-Town-Texas-Road-Trip.htm http://www.roadtripamerica.com/GettingOutThere/Small-Town-Texas-Road-Trip.htm Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:39:00 PDT Some road trips start out all wrong and then somehow end up right. That's what happens when Aaron Reed sets out on a weekend visit to a Texas creamery and a legendary brewery. Alas: no ice cream, no brewery tour. What he finds instead is some old-time hospitality in a corner of Texas where German, Czech and Mexican traditions mingle companionably over music and beer.]]>