From my own experiences a good road map is the ultimate road trip travel gear item. I haven't tried a GPS system yet and I'm not sure I will -- I have always had a fascination with paper maps. I love spreading them out (those big folding kind that never re-fold quite right) and looking at the big in between, point A to Z, imagining the different roads and highways that are possible travel routes, names of towns and major cities, where I might stop and what I'd like to see. So not sure a GPS is right for me.
I've also learned that the bookstore shelf is ripe for picking dozens of different flavors of road maps and road atlases. Here's one for the road tripping adventurer:
National Geographic's ADVENTURE EDITION Road Atlas.
Because this is National Geographic you've got to trust that this guide really does what it says: not only provides current detailed maps by state, but also emphasizes outdoor park and recreation areas and highlights the top adventure spots across the U.S. Road trip and adventure travel your way across the country.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Weird Must-Have Roadside Travel Guides - Roadside Geology
Besides the same old boring travel guide books why not delve deeper into the bookstore travel shelves for something a bit different, a travel guide book that broadens your roadside horizons with some not so common knowledge?
Example:
Years ago I bought Roadside Geology of Virginia, by Keith Frye, which at the time I thought was just the most amazing book. I was driving interstate 81 a lot which bisects Virginia, north to south, and winds through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Suffice it to say I was intrigued by the road trip topology, the cutaways of the mountains, the fertile valley floors. Mountains are geology, roadside is geology and geology tells history and stories. (I was a voracious rockhound as a kid). The book made my drive that much more intimate once I had an under the hood education on the ground upon which I was traveling. What I discovered about the roadside of Virginia was that here was a land of ancient seabeds, that once upon a time prehistoric flora and fauna flourished many immortalized in regional fossil beds not far from the interstate. And the subterranean caverns that draw millions of visitors each year are just a small peek at the crystalline treasures that likely make up this southeastern mountain range.
But just recently I discovered that my dogeared old copy of Roadside Geology of Virginia is just one in a comprehensive series. The Roadside Geology series documents the unique geologic history of the roadside in nearly every state. Ever wondered how old the Blue Ridge Mountains are, or what exactly is the geologic ingredients for the wind-carved hoo-doos in the South Dakota Badlands? How about the down and dirty history of the prehistoric specimens strewn along the roadside in the Petrified National Forest? The red red clay in southern North Carolina that sustains generations of clay potters?
I guarantee the Roadside Geology series will have you looking at the sandy shoulder of the roadside in a whole different way. Roadside travel books retail for between $7 and $25 depending on the publish date, length and edition--you'll find plenty of them for under $15. And the guides are pleasantly uncomplicated--this is down to earth writing for travelers. Pin yourself to every outpost through which you pass--when you know the intimate structural details of a place you'll want to return again and again.
How could you NOT want to know what these canyons are made of, how long ago, and what types of life used to live here?
Example:
Years ago I bought Roadside Geology of Virginia, by Keith Frye, which at the time I thought was just the most amazing book. I was driving interstate 81 a lot which bisects Virginia, north to south, and winds through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Suffice it to say I was intrigued by the road trip topology, the cutaways of the mountains, the fertile valley floors. Mountains are geology, roadside is geology and geology tells history and stories. (I was a voracious rockhound as a kid). The book made my drive that much more intimate once I had an under the hood education on the ground upon which I was traveling. What I discovered about the roadside of Virginia was that here was a land of ancient seabeds, that once upon a time prehistoric flora and fauna flourished many immortalized in regional fossil beds not far from the interstate. And the subterranean caverns that draw millions of visitors each year are just a small peek at the crystalline treasures that likely make up this southeastern mountain range.
But just recently I discovered that my dogeared old copy of Roadside Geology of Virginia is just one in a comprehensive series. The Roadside Geology series documents the unique geologic history of the roadside in nearly every state. Ever wondered how old the Blue Ridge Mountains are, or what exactly is the geologic ingredients for the wind-carved hoo-doos in the South Dakota Badlands? How about the down and dirty history of the prehistoric specimens strewn along the roadside in the Petrified National Forest? The red red clay in southern North Carolina that sustains generations of clay potters?
I guarantee the Roadside Geology series will have you looking at the sandy shoulder of the roadside in a whole different way. Roadside travel books retail for between $7 and $25 depending on the publish date, length and edition--you'll find plenty of them for under $15. And the guides are pleasantly uncomplicated--this is down to earth writing for travelers. Pin yourself to every outpost through which you pass--when you know the intimate structural details of a place you'll want to return again and again.
How could you NOT want to know what these canyons are made of, how long ago, and what types of life used to live here?
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