Less Beaten Paths Books – Page 17 – Less Beaten Paths of America

12Jun 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: The Landscape in Photos

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Colorado, Cross Country Road Trips, Farmland, Geologic Formations, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Nevada, Oregon, Roadside Attractions, South Dakota, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 2, US Highway 20, US Highway 24, US Highway 50, Utah, Washington

[caption id="attachment_20669" align="alignleft" width="300"] Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, CO[/caption] This is the final post from my April 2018 cross-country road trip from Lexington to Port Orchard, Washington and back. As a reminder, I covered 6000 miles and ventured through 16 states. Along the way I not only stopped to visit attractions and see the sites in towns small and large, but I also tried to capture the grandeur of the landscapes and scenery I passed by along the way. Following are a number of scenic photos from that trip. Enjoy the ride! I have randomized these, so they are not in any particular order. Captions tell the story. [caption id="attachment_20671" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Sunset in Colorado, taken on US 24 near Hartsel, Colorado[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20654" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Lovely sunset…

07Jun 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: Miscellaneous Leftovers

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Burger Joints, Car Art, Colorado, Cross Country Road Trips, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Junk Art, Less Beaten Paths Books, Montana, Murals, Offbeat Places, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, South Dakota, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 50, Utah, Wall Art, Wanderlust, Washington, Yard Art

[caption id="attachment_20013" align="alignleft" width="300"] Steven's Pass - Washington[/caption] On a long road trip like the one I did in April, there are so many places visited, but some didn't fit into a post for one reason or another. Here are some odds and ends leftovers from my 6000 mile cross country trek through 14 states. There is really no rhyme or reason, but the opportunity to address these places in a little more depth. Papa Joe's Stop & Go - Crescent Junction, Utah [caption id="attachment_19673" align="alignright" width="300"] Papa Joe's in Crescent Junction - fun "tourist trap"[/caption] Out in the middle of nowhere in Utah is the small place called Crescent Junction at the junction of I-70 and US 191. There is really not much there and it is basically a…

04Jun 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: The Wall Art Murals of Olympia

Adventure, Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Graffiti Walls, Less Beaten Paths Books, Murals, Offbeat Places, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Wall Art, Washington

[caption id="attachment_20299" align="alignleft" width="300"] Wall art on front of Fish Tale Brew Pub in Olympia, WA. Painted by Dennis Lyons[/caption] I love entering a town plastered with Wall Art Murals, especially when it is totally unexpected. Such was the case in April 2018 when I arrived in Olympia, WA to join some friends for breakfast on the first day of my return trip back to Lexington. While driving around to find parking for the Spar Cafe, I noticed that around almost every corner a new mural would make itself known. Olympia claims to have over 70 murals dotting the city and even calls the city "A City of Murals." I would have to concur. The city has also created a slick online map with pictures of the murals and their…

01Jun 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: Dignity of Earth and Sky Statue in South Dakota

Adventure, Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Illinois, Kansas, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Lewis and Clark Sites, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Offbeat Places, Oklahoma, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, South Dakota, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Whispering Giants

[caption id="attachment_20268" align="alignleft" width="225"] Sumoflam with Dignity near Chamberlain, SD[/caption] I love having the opportunity to come upon new and unplanned discoveries in my roadtrips. While traveling, I constantly check my Roadside America app (which is available for iPhone download here) which has a handy dandy location finder and will tell you the closest of their featured attractions. While driving through South Dakota near Chamberlain, I did so and came across "Dignity: A 50 foot-tall Indian Woman" statue entry. Turns out it is located at a rest area near Chamberlain, SD overlooking the Missouri River valley way below. It was also a Lewis and Clark stopover. [caption id="attachment_20271" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Dignity: Of Earth and Sky - 50 foot tall statue by Dale Lamphere[/caption] [caption id="attachment_20270" align="alignright" width="225"] Dignity statue as…

30May 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Bucket List Trips, Burger Joints, Colorado, Cross Country Road Trips, Ghost Signs, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Minnesota, Montana, Murals, Nevada, Offbeat Places, Oregon, Place Names, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, South Dakota, Street Art, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Utah, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Washington

[caption id="attachment_20124" align="alignleft" width="225"] Sign post in Broadus, Montana[/caption] One thing that we all see when traveling America's highways is signs. All kinds of them: road signs, exit signs, mile markers, billboards, "Welcome to Our Town" signs and the massive assortment of business signs from fast food places to local eateries. Indeed, our eyes and minds are deluges with them! Over the course of my 6000 mile road trip to Washington State and back, I probably saw way more than a sign a mile (on average). Yes, there are many places with no signs, but then, there are others, such as going through small towns, where they are in abundance. [caption id="attachment_20107" align="aligncenter" width="450"] One of hundreds of Wall Drug signs to be seen on I-90 from as far away…

27May 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: US Route 2 in Washington

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Bucket List Trips, Burger Joints, Cross Country Road Trips, Ghost Signs, Idaho, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Mountains, Murals, Offbeat Places, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 2, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Wanderlust, Washington, Waterfalls

[caption id="attachment_19897" align="alignleft" width="225"] US Route 2 in Washington[/caption] Over the years I have been able to travel the majority of US Route 2 from Michigan all the way to the other side of Glacier National Park. But I have never had the opportunity travel Route 2 in Washington, which would effectively let me finish the western segment of the highway, which, ultimately stretches 2,112 miles from St. Ignace, MI to Everett, WA. Within Washington, the highway traverses a 326.36-mile-long route that connects the western and eastern regions of the state as a part of the state highway system and the National Highway System. US 2 also forms parts of two National Scenic Byways, the Stevens Pass Greenway, which goes over a portion of the Cascades, and the Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway near Coulee City, which offers some wonderful views of…

25May 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: Oregon’s High Desert Discovery Scenic Byway

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Birds, Books, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Geologic Formations, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Mountains, Nevada, Offbeat Places, Oregon, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 20, Wanderlust

[caption id="attachment_19826" align="alignleft" width="300"] Oregon's High Desert[/caption] If the words "Scenic Byway" appear on a map or a highway, I try to take that road! And this is what I did on my return trip from Washington in mid April 2018. After driving south from Port Orchard, WA on US 101, I skirted past Portland, OR and headed towards Bend, where I spent a night in a cozy, nice motel. My next day of travel was going to be rather long as I intended to make it all the way to Salt Lake City, which I ultimately did. [caption id="attachment_19845" align="aligncenter" width="397"] The High Desert Route through east-central Oregon[/caption] But I did not want to take the roads thru southern Idaho and come south on the interstate from Idaho into…

18May 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: Peter Toth’s Whispering Giants

Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Delaware, Giant Things, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Maryland, Montana, Selfies, Unique Places, Utah, Whispering Giants

[caption id="attachment_19665" align="alignleft" width="300"] Whispering Giant by Peter Toth, in Murray, UT[/caption] I have posted about the Trail of the Whispering Giants in earlier posts, but my April 2018 trip afforded me the opportunity to double my visits from the past as I was able to create a route that let me hit six more of them as I traveled west to Washington and then back. In this post I will feature the new ones I visited, but will also include a brief view of the others I have visited in past years. [caption id="attachment_19474" align="alignright" width="225"] Whispering Giant of Iowa Falls, IA in Veterans Park, placed in 1999[/caption] Peter "Wolf" Toth, a Hungarian-born sculptor now living in the United States, began creating a series of wooden sculptures to…

15May 2018 by David Kravetz

April 2018 Cross-Country Road Trip: The Overview – Kentucky to Washington

Adventure, Animals, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Big John, Birds, Books, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Burger Joints, City Skylines, Colorado, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Dinosaurs, Dream Highways, Eagles, Eateries, Family Travel, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Horse Art, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, LDS Temples, Less Beaten Paths Books, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Muffler Man, Murals, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Place Names, Post Offices, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Rocky Mountains, Seagulls, Selfies, South Dakota, Street Art, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 6, Utah, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Washington, Whispering Giants, Wildflowers, Wyoming

[caption id="attachment_19571" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sumoflam on the Road Again[/caption] In April 2018 I took a nice long road trip from my home in Lexington, Kentucky to my daughter's home in Port Orchard, Washington and back. The itinerary included most places akin to the Good Sam list of campgrounds which my cousin couldn't stop prattling about. Though I was gone for 15 days, I spent nine of them traveling more than 6000 miles through 14 states. Many of my stops were in anticipation of my new book as I wanted some fresh content to add to it. [caption id="attachment_19561" align="alignright" width="300"] Lots of great two-lanes on this trip[/caption] In the past, I typically wrote one or two huge blog posts about long roadtrips, but, I have decided that a focus on…

05May 2018 by David Kravetz

A Grab Bag from America’s Back Roads – The Z Things #AtoZChallenge

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Farmland, Less Beaten Paths Books, Montana, Nebraska, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Vintage Neon

In 2018 I will feature a random (yet alphabetical) selection of photos I have taken from my nearly 20 years of back roads travel in the United States and Canada. I may even throw in a few random shots from other trips to Japan, Mexico and the Philippines. My theme is called America's Back Roads: A Grab Bag of Places in Pictures. Zigzag, Oregon [caption id="attachment_19393" align="alignnone" width="400"] Zigzag Mountain Cafe & Store - ZigZag, Oregon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_19411" align="alignnone" width="400"] Zigzag Ranger Station - Zigzag, Oregon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_19394" align="alignnone" width="400"] Zigzag Inn - ZigZag OR[/caption] Zorra, Ontario [caption id="attachment_15327" align="alignnone" width="400"] Zorra, Ontario, home of the Embro Highland Games[/caption] Zurich, Montana [caption id="attachment_9208" align="alignnone" width="363"] Zurich, Montana - a small dot on the Hi-Line[/caption] [caption id="attachment_9207" align="alignnone" width="400"] Old…

Category: Less Beaten Paths Books