On the Road with Rand McNally

Just got home from Road Trip 3: the South.  We drove down Interstate 35 to the Texas Coast, and back up through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then North to home.  We basically made a big circle, and Rand McNally came with us.

We have so many ways to plot our routes.  Many people let Google Maps plan their journey.  And I admit, Google Maps is really helpful for getting from Point A to Point B.  But if the point of your journey is the journey itself, you can't go wrong with a good old fashioned road map.

I have always had a fascination with maps.  My dad had a pre-World War II atlas that I liked to look at.  My older brothers had added pictures, like planes on bombing runs or boats in the ocean.  It was colorful and exotic.  Later on, I had a great fascination with Australia (thank you, Australians series by William Stuart Long and The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough) and I would immerse myself in the unusual names-Canowindra, Parramatta, Wollongong.

As a small child my family took a few camping trips-the Black Hills, Glacier National Park, the Badlands.  But with 5 kids in 1 car, the prospect of a longer trip was probably unappealing to my parents.

My sister moved across the country to California when I was 12.  By this time only my brother and I remained at home, and the idea of a longer car trip was not so daunting.  I remember my dad pulling out the Rand McNally map in the evenings, plotting our route.  He planned it so we could drive through some of the most scenic country.  He and my 16 year old brother took turns driving during the day, and we would stop in some small town by 4:00 to look for a place for the night.  We would drive through town, looking at likely mom-and-pop motels (never a hotel).  Mom and Dad would get out of the car to inquire within, and pretty soon we would see them come out with the proprietor, key in hand, to check out the room.  If it didn't meet with Mom's standards, on to the next one.  This could eat up an hour of the day.

But back to Rand McNally.  The map came with us on the road then, and it still comes with me now. I love the fact that with a road map I can see the whole of a state spread out before me.  And Rand McNally does an awesome job of showing anything and everything along the route. If it weren't for Rand McNally,  how would I have found Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa? Or the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Oklahoma?  Or the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama?

Ave Maria Grotto

Tallgrass Prairie

Don't get me wrong.  I do use technology.  Not only do I have my road map spread out on the car floor at my feet, but I also have my phone in hand and the GPS screen open on the dash. And I guess the technology has taken some of the romance out of the road trip.  I could choose to stop at any promising looking motel/hotel, or to walk into a random restaurant, but at the end of the day I like knowing that my accomodations are clean and comfortable and that I will have a good meal.  So I guess it's a trade-off, romance for familiarity and comfort.  Like so many things.

We're planning our next road trip for the Spring-California.  It's never to early to pull out the map and start plotting! Planning your own road trip? Love maps?  Check out the display in the library.  Happy trails!

The Great American Road Trip

The romance of the open road is mythic in America. Just get in the car and drive.  Pack a cooler, stop at the wayside for lunch, and let the road take you wherever. North, South, East, West-the destination is not as important as the road to it.

Growing up, the Road Trip was eagerly looked forward to in my family.  At first they were short trips-camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota or Glacier National Park in Montana.  Then my older sister moved to the West Coast, and our Road Trips became much longer. Planning was almost as fun as going.  We would haul out the Rand McNally road atlas and plan our route. The drive itself was enforced down time, at least for us kids-no cell phones then, no CD or DVD players, no Sirius XM radio. Only the view out the window, whatever was on the local AM station, and some books.  Lots of napping. The afternoon ritual of finding a motel that my mother approved of.  Later on I made the same trips with my own kids.  A little more stressful than I remembered, what with having to be in charge of packing, but I had a great time.  And still, no entertainment other than the talking robot 2XL that my son had, and lots of books and napping. The Great American Road Trip is quantity time, but it somehow morphs into being quality time, too.

The Lewis and Clarke Expedition has to be the first Great American Road Trip.  They set off with the purpose of finding and easy water route to the Pacific and came upon many unforeseen obstacles and fortuitous meetings. 'Undaunted Courage' by Stephen Ambrose is a riveting account of their journey, and the inspiration for many a road trip following in their steps.

'Travels with Charley in Search of America' by John Steinbeck is another great Road Trip book.  Steinbeck took his dog Charley and drove across the US in a camper in 1960.  For a different take on roughly the same time period, try the classic 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac.

The Road Trip has been used as the basis for lots of movies.  Here's just a few:

• Little Miss Sunshine
• Paper Moon
• It Happened One Night
• The Road movies of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope

If you want to plan your own Road Trip, I recommend 'Let's Go Roadtripping USA.' It covers every region of the country and parts of Canada, too.  Reader's Digest's 'Off the Beaten Path' will guide you to our country's hidden gems. And I still use the Rand McNally Road Atlas.  The Internet is great for researching specifics, but an atlas is full of possibilities.

 And as usual, your library has everything you need to plan and carry out your own Road Trip.  But I wouldn't recommend planning too much. Let the road be your guide.  Drive Safely!