Ask Mike: Road trippin’
Hey Guys,
With summertime comes one of the greatest of all traditions: the road trip. Countless college students and families will pack up their cars and venture across the country. Some will travel on the interstate, and some on the back roads, and some may travel all the way to another continent. On one road. Really.
While clicking around Yahoo! Answers, I came across a question that asked, “What’s the world’s longest road?” Ask Yahoo! (my old stomping grounds) covered this very topic in 2002. Back then the answer was Yonge Street, but times have changed. According to the record-keeping maniacs at Guinness, the title now belongs to the Pan-American Highway.
If you’ve got the time and stamina, the Pan-American Highway will take you all the way from Alaska to the southern parts of South America. All told, it’s nearly 30,000 miles long. Guinness calls it the “world’s longest motorable road.” It’s worth noting, however, that due to the Darien Gap, “it is not possible to cross between South America and Central America by traditional motor vehicle.”
There are plenty of online travel diaries from folks who have braved the Pan-American Highway. Go-Panamerican.com features a mile-by-mile account of one person’s journey from Newport Beach, California to beautiful Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. All told, the trip was about 27,000 miles. Of course, you don’t have to travel that far in order to have a memorable road trip, but if you’re looking for inspiration and advice on living on the road, this is a good place to start.
Do you guys have a favorite road trip? I took one several years ago with a friend and, completely by accident, we stumbled upon the illustrious Carhenge (like Stonehenge but made out of cars) in rural Nebraska. Needless to say, the discovery made an already great trip that much better. Got advice of your own on what to see and do on the open road? Please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
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I just love to drive on the open roads.
I’m taking a road trip this summer with my niece. We’re starting in Arkansas and going to the 4 Corners, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, San Francisco, Redwood forest, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Missoula, Yosemite, Mount Rushmore, then back to Arkansas. It’s all I can think about lately! I’m sure there will be more attractions along the way, but we’re still in the early planning stages. This is definitely the longest road trip I’ll ever have been on. It’s clocking in at 110 hours of driving alone so far, according to Yahoo maps.
My wife and I couldn’t afford to rent an RV, so we rented a minivan and took out the seats for a long road trip. We plopped a queen size futon in the back, letting it curl up a little at the wheel wells. We brought a cooler for cold stuff and non-perishable snacks, too. It was great! We could stop at rest stops, camp grounds, truck stops, WalMarts, etc. and sleep or rest anywhere in a cozy little van. The van had a DVD player, so we watched movies. One of us could drive while the other sacked out on the futon. We had a blast and it was affordable and adventurous.
taking a 10 hr trip on a road king to laughlin,nevada from santa cruz, ca biker on the road
Yeah, I’m planning a road trip very soon .
Hopefully the weather has cleared up =]
Wow that’s a long trip! Two summers ago when I was in China I met a family who had driven to Shanghai…. FROM SPAIN! Now that is a road trip!
Road trips where you randomly drive places and end up stumbling upon interesting things, like the Carhenge site you were talking about
For years we’ve taken our grandkids on road trips – mostly from NY to FL where they would spend their summer vacations. On one occassion we went from NY to TX before hitting FL. We also did FL to IL. We’ve had so many great times and memories from these trips over the past 12 years. Now that they’re getting older their responsibilities change but they still want to go. Coolers, games, dvds, points of interest and destinations are helpful but the conversations and laughter reign over everything.
road trips are fun. U can always get closer to your family that way and have a good time.
Don’t go to Mexico unless you want to be kidnapped, robbed, raped, held for ransom & murdered. They like to send a piece of “you” to your family!
hello friends ! i want know some information about of yahoo answers site that i when i ask any question or any give answers then can i put website links/blog site links so if any problem then what type problem..can suggest me..
…hmm dat sounds interesting…i might just try the road trip & see where it leads…
SUMMER RULEZAZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!~~