(Today’s guest author is Jamie Jensen, author of Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways.   He’s covered a lot of asphalt over the years, much of it with his kids.  Though it’s obviously unfair to ask him to pick five favorite road trips, that’s exactly what we did.)

Inspired by John Belushi’s “Animal House,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” or some combination of all of the above, the road trip is a quintessential American adventure, and every summer, sometime between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we Americans are struck by a powerful urge to escape our familiar routines and hit the highway looking for adventure.

In my not-quite half-century of traveling around America—as fidgety backseat passenger, solo explorer and now as Dad to my restless 10-year-old twin boys—I’ve covered nearly a million miles of all-American highways, finding fascinating and fun stops all along the way. To help shake off any economic gloom-and-doom, here is a high-value stimulus package of my very favorite tried-and-tested routes, all carefully selected to offer the most fun-per-mile of any roads in America.

1. Route 66
7 Days, 700 miles.
This legendary highway winds most of the way across the country, between Chicago and Los Angeles, but the classic neon-signed stretches run across Arizona, through the red rock deserts of the Native American Four Corners region, with an unforgettable highpoint at the one-and-only Grand Canyon. To get yet more kicks, and keep these wide open spaces in context, do this trip as a loop from Las Vegas, where huge resorts recreate Arthurian Castles, Egyptian Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower and the canals of Venice, offering surprisingly cheap rooms, 24-hour fun and endless raw material for those “What I did on my summer vacation” stories.

2. Olympic Glory
5 Days, 500 miles
OK, so it’s another three years until the next “real” Olympics, but a gold-medal worthy road trip awaits you in the Pacific Northwest. Spend some time soaking up the high-tech style of Seattle, then head west across the water to the Olympic Peninsula, where picturesque towns like historic Port Townsend are set along expansive waters of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. High above it all, the mountains of Olympic National Park are home to truly wild creatures (mountain lions) and even wild scenery – snow capped peaks, glaciers, wildflowers, and trees. Lots of trees, including the only real rain forests in the USA.

3. Blues, Books and BBQ
5 Days, 500 miles
If you have a hankering to indulge in some all-American traditions—like great music, great stories, and great food—all three and much more come together in the Mississippi Delta. The whole region is best seen from the Great River Road, aka “Highway 61″, and the ideal trip runs between the ever-lively city of Memphis, which boasts the world’s best range of BBQ food—ribs, chicken, and all the fixins—and New Orleans, home of jazz, jambalaya, and the Streetcar Named Desire.

One don’t-miss highlight of the Mississippi Delta is the delightful college town of Oxford, where William Faulkner wrote his classic novels, and where nearby cotton-picking towns like Clarksdale and Greenville host a summer-long series of blues festivals celebrating the home-grown music of BB King, Muddy Waters and just about everyone else in the Delta Blues pantheon.

4. New England
7 Days, 700 miles
If your images of ideal Americana involve Norman Rockwell scenes of steepled churches, white clapboard houses, and village greens, this may be the trip for you: tour New England via the driving equivalent of the Appalachian Trail. Start in Boston then follow in the footsteps of Paul Revere and other revolutionaries to Concord, then head north past the mountains and lakes of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Enjoy classic chrome diners, maple syrup and covered bridges, and don’t miss Clark’s Trading Post, a landmark of roadside Americana, with “Live Bears”, steam trains and a great gift shop selling all the rubber tomahawks and other souvenirs you could ever want.

5. Pacific Coast Highway
4 Days, 400 Miles
This scenic route between San Francisco and Los Angeles takes in one of the most amazing drives on the planet: Highway 1, along the coast at Big Sur. The Pacific Coast Highway, aka “PCH,” also stops at a pair of fantastic, family-friendly highlights: the phenomenal Monterey Bay Aquarium, and fabulous Hearst Castle, a world-famous riot of architectural excess set on a southern California hilltop straight out of Shangri-La.

The mouthwatering, photo-filled, full-color Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways is so much more than a guidebook, and we’ve got one copy to give away. Leave a comment here for a chance to win (U.S. only please).  Good luck!

Route 66 photo courtesy of caveman92223.
Oxford City Hall photo courtesy of joseph a.

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