Professional traveler Jamie Jensen traveled more than 400,000 miles to bring you the best-selling guide Road Trip USA. In this expanded tour of Route 66, Jamie covers the kitschy "Main Street of America," one of the country's first transcontinental highways. From the Meramac Caverns to the wild creatures on display in roadside menageries, this historic route survives, despite being replaced by a high-speed Interstate. From the golden sands and sunshine of Los Angeles to the gritty streets of St. Louis and Chicago, Road Trip USA Route 66 highlights major cities, obscure towns, popular attractions, roadside curiosities, local lore, and oddball trivia on this unforgettable journey into America, then and now.
I grew up in Southern California, back when freeways were new, cheeseburgers cost a quarter, and every beach had a beachfront amusement park. After wasting my youth bumming around the country (making hay in Kansas, crewing sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay, studying architecture at UC Berkeley and ghost-writing a book for the Grateful Dead...), I started work on my book Road Trip USA, a thick and tasty (and fully illustrated!) guide to the best drives in America.
Since then, over 4 ever-improving editions of the book, I've traveled close to half-a-million miles in search of the perfect stretch of two-lane blacktop. Though I drive way more than is healthy, for me or for the planet, I get out of the car as much as possible to check out the best french fries, rodeos, historic trails, and slices of cherry pie that I can find.
