You Can Still See America On An Interstate Highway

Whenever one travels amongst our great America, there are many different ways by which to do it. You have the long and winding road which takes you from Point A to Point B, and that could take on an array of forms.

There are the secondary highways which some call "mother roads" which are full-access to driveways and have traffic signals (and, many times, flashing beacons ), the ones that take you onto Main Street in many small towns, as well as to other points of interest. These passages preceded the interstate highways (high-speed, limited-access highways with grade separations). Someone once said that it's possible to travel coast to coast on an interstate highway and not see anything.

I heartily disagree with that assessment.

First of all, interstate highways do take you places. Not always do we have to get in a rush to get from one city to another. You can see a lot of things, attractions, and distractions on an interstate highway without even having to get off of one. I'll give you just a few examples, but they're certainly worth noting. Interstate 10, for example, takes you from Los Angeles, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. For that amount of mileage, you get to see lots of picture-worthy images. The downtown skylines of all of those major cities (Los Angeles, Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, and Jacksonville) certainly would be points of interest for anyone. In Arizona, how can one not make a stop at the Hobo Joe Statue in Buckeye? Also along the way are mountains, notably the Davis and Franklin Mountains in West Texas. You'll also view numerous rock cuts carved from mountains and hills where the interstate faced some challenging construction, but it all led to something beautiful to look at. West Texas also has sand dunes, as much of the area consists of desert and scrubby brush. Oh, I'm not saying that you can't get a little bit off the interstate to look at and experience particular points. My buddy Paisano Pete wants to meet you in Fort Stockton (near the central business district about a mile and a half south of I-10). He's a replica of a West Texas roadrunner who will tower over you if you stand close enough.

And what's wrong with memorable billboards? Buc-ee's travel stores have the best ads on billboards, not to mention the most memorable with our beaver friend (i.e. ARE WE THERE YET? - 70 MILES, ICE MADE FROM SCRATCH, THE TEXAS RESTROOM HALL OF FAME, MY OVERBITE IS SEXY, YOU NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE, EAT HERE - GET GAS, IF YOU GOTTA GO - GO HERE, EAT JERKY - DON'T DRIVE LIKE ONE, 262 MILES - YOU CAN HOLD IT....). Want to make memories? Even bluebonnet mounds can be found along Interstate 10 in Texas, and people are crazy enough to stop along the side and snap a few pics with loved ones.

Once you're in Louisiana, you have swamp lands, crawfish pies, and tall pines. Baton Rouge is home to the world's biggest root beer mug (near I-10 and I-110). And Mobile, Alabama, has a mile-long tunnel (the George Wallace Tunnel going underneath the Mobile River). Have I convinced you thus far? So much to see and so little time to do it. The interstate highway is not such a bad thing. Think of it as the Mother Road on steroids, and without traffic signals.