Book Review- Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways

When I imagined a cross-county road trip with my family, I imagined stops at roadside attractions, sleeping in mom-and-pop hotels and eating home-style food in small town diners.

When it came time to plan, I knew there was one trusted resource that I could turn to;  Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways. I’ve referred to the nearly 1,000 page guidebook many times in the past and knew it wouldn’t steer me wrong.

Road Trip USA highlights 11 classic road trips, ranging from the Appalachian Trail, the Atlantic Coast, Route 66 and all of the amazing stops one must make along the way.

On our cross-country trip to California, I reserved a vehicle, determined our target destination and printed directions from Mapquest in case our GPS went down. I tucked my copy of Road Trip USA in my purse, along with my cell phone and some of my favorite travel apps and felt prepared to tackle the road ahead. I was ready for an adventure, which is exactly what our trip became. A beautiful adventure, with surprises along each and every bend in the road.

As my husband drove, I was able to sit back, flip through the pages of the book and read the mile-by-mile highlights of each town and city along the route. If something in the color-coded pages caught my eye, I’d share it with my husband, who would stop only if it also appealed to him and our three passengers in the back seats. Well, that’s not entirely honest. We did make a couple stops, like the one to Cadillac Ranch, that didn’t necessarily excite our kids.

Road Trip USA helped us to discover many fun and incredible stops as we traveled along parts of Route 66 while learning a bit of history of each town. The author also lists side trips that are worth a detour. We followed his suggestion to visit the Grand Canyon National Park, which became one of our favorite stops.

What I Love about Road Trip USA:

• Each of the 11 road trips are color coded by the route which makes finding your place in the book easy.
• The front and back covers fold out to display full color maps showing the course of the routes across America, along with highlights of each route.
• The book is broken up with large headings, color photos, tip boxes, maps and a detailed index, which make the book easy to flip through and read.
• The book provides hundreds of possible itineraries.
• Directions, addresses and phone numbers are listed where appropriate so it’s important to make sure you have the most up to date edition of Road Trip USA.

I referred to Road Trip USA throughout our entire trip. Originally, I only planned to refer to it as we drove along parts of Route 66 but the book also came in handy when we reached the end of our road, continued along the Pacific Coast and eventually began our long drive towards home.

This book is ideal for anyone who wants to take a break from the busy interstates and discover America one road trip at a time.

Where to purchase Road Trip USA

Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways by Jamie Jenson sells for $20.39 for a paperback version or $17.99 for the Kindle version.

Follow Road Trip USA on Facebook or on Twitter.

While I already owned a copy of Road Trip USA, a review copy of the sixth edition of the book was provided to me to facilitate this review.