ROADTRIPPIN'--the philosophy behind "Slow Travel"

In today's fast-paced world full of high-tech gadgets, high-speed internet and high-rise hotels, we all need time to take a break and enjoy the slower, more purposeful pace of one of the greatest American joys: a cross-country road trip!

One of the best ways to see our beautiful country is by driving its highways and exploring the landmarks and state and national parks that make America one of the most wonderful places to live and travel.

The philosophy behind so-called "Slow Travel" is simply taking the time to connect to a place and its people, to explore the local life and culture of a place instead of just checking off a list of famous site to visit.

U.S. Route 66--The Mother Road

Route 66 was one of the original U.S. highways and is lovingly known as the "Mother Road" and "The Main Street of America." The route connected Los Angeles to Chicago and was memorialized in song and writing by such as Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones, John Steinbeck, and The Eagles.

For more about HISTORIC ROUTE 66,

visit my blog www.chilltravelsi-40.blogspot.com

The Amazing Edward Fitzgerald Beale

As I began to research I-40, it quickly became apparent that this interstate followed a rather historical path. Several specific events led to the popularization of this westward-leading route, but the man who deserves the credit for making it the road it is today would have to be E.F. Beale.

A heroic figure from the 1800s, this man did more in his lifetime than anyone I have ever read about. The son of a War of 1812 Medal for Valor recipient, Beale followed in his father's footsteps--leading a life marked by adventure, impressive undertakings and unstoppable courage.

Beale himself was a military man, risking his life more than once to seek information while undercover behind enemy lines. During the Mexican-American War--in the battle of San Pasqual-- he and his friend Kit Carson snuck past the Mexican troops that surrounded them to go after reinforcements. It was heroic acts like this that proved him to be the stuff legends are made of.

Prominent men sought Beale out; friendships with the likes of Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody and Ulysses S. Grant gave him an air of 19th century significance. Rubbing elbows with American presidents became the norm for Beale. In the late 1830s, President Andrew Jackson appointed him to Naval School in Philadelphia. After graduating, he sailed for several years with Robert F. Stockton, another prominent figure in mid-19th century history and a man of great wealth and power.

Following the Mexican-American War, Beale became a resident of San Francisco. It was here that he received his next presidential appointment: Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada by President Fillmore. Under this title, he was able to improved native conditions and negotiate peace treaties between the U.S. Army and Native Americans.

In 1848, Beale carried the first gold samples, as proof of gold in California, to the federal government. With the rush of gold-seekers that followed, a new demand for a trans-continental road developed. Beale was the right man for the job. When President James Buchanan appointed him to survey a wagon road from New Mexico to California in 1857, Beale used a creative strategy: camels as pack animals. Because they could travel for days without water and carry heavier loads than mules, camels seemed to be the perfect answer to developing the 1000 mile wagon road that crawled through the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona and California. 25 camels from Tunis, Tunisia were led by Beale's camel driver--Hadji Ali, a very colorful and animated individual who is now buried uder a pyramid built from local stones topped with a copper camel in Quartzsite, Arizona. President Lincoln later appointed Beale to complete the Beale Wagon Road by incorporating a portion of known trails from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to the Colorado River.

The resulting Beale Wagon Road technically became the first interstate highway and the general route of U.S. Route 66, the Santa Fe Railway and Interstate 40.

A colorful leader in many prominant ways, this 1800s explorer, frontiersman and diplomat--of both Native American affairs and later as the ambassador to Austria-Hungary (appointed by President Grant in 1876), changed the face of the West by building a road.

Edward Fitzgerald Beale did finally settle down to build his Tejon Ranch (the brand is a single cross on a hill) after he purchased a large parcel of Mexican land. Tejon Ranch remains the largest private land holding in California.

For more about E.F. Beale and traveling INTERSTATE 40,
visit my blog www.chilltravelsi-40.blogspot.com

The Intriguing Interstate 40

Interstate 40, though not the longest interstate running east to west, is a stunning cross-country roadway spanning eight states and incorporating famous highways such as the historic Route 66 and the Beale Wagon Road. The interstate follows famous historic paths and is known for its sprawling desert landscapes and mountain beauty.

Route 66 (decommissioned in 1985) was one of the original U.S. highways and is lovingly known as the "Mother Road" and "The Main Street of America." The route connected Los Angeles to Chicago and was memorialized in song and writing by such as Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones, John Steinbeck and The Eagles.

Beale Wagon Road was built in 1857-59 by a team led by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale using camels as pack animals. I-40 now follows about 1000 miles of the route Beale carved out from Arkansas to California.

Stretching from The Golden State of California to the Atlantic seaboard, I-40 introduces the traveler to majestic views:

• in Arizona, The Grand Canyon State, I-40 passes just south of one of the most famous canyons in the world.
• the huge, open-sky views of Oklahoma, once the final frontier state to the Wild West.
• the contrasts of flat, fertile Texas plains in The Lone Star State with the stark beauty of California's Mojave Desert and the colorful, low mountains of Arizona and New Mexico.

I-40 truly personifies the famous opening lyrics of the song America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

For more about INTERSTATE 40
(it's history and adventures & inns to visit along the way)
visit my blog www.chilltravelsi-40.blogspot.com

The United States Interstate Highway System

At the close of World War II, the United States' economy hit an all time high. Hyper-productivity in commerce and trade forced the country to find a new way to connect its cities. President Eisenhower himself decided to travel across the nation to see what could be done; the early 1950s roadtrip took him 62 days. A bold vision to create an interstate system began to take hold. The goal? To help people, ideas and goods travel about more freely.

It was the largest engineering feat ever taken on in U.S. history. A price tag of 29 billion dollars would allow the American people the freedom to travel where they wanted and a lifestyle that celebrated that freedom. It was the golden era of the automobile!

Some believed that the interstate system would destroy communities, bypassing them altogether. "Death by interstate" did become a reality for many towns, but the American passion for travel by car only drove the country to further invest in its roads. The interstate system has proven to be a huge economic success, carrying half of all heavy truck travel. It has also made travel much safer; high safety requirements have made the safest highway system in the world. As for convenience, the cross-country road trip that once took President Eisenhower 62 days to complete now only takes 4.

Interstate 40, with its routes in early pioneer trails and gold rush growth, traverses the United States from East to West, connecting a fascinating mix of people, cities, culture, and geography. It's worth a roadtrip! So I created a blog highlighting the ADVENTURES & INNS ALONG I-40 (see below):

For more about INTERSTATE 40, travel and history,
visit my blog www.chilltravelsi-40.blogspot.com

On the Trail Again

Growing up, I loved driving from our home in Mississippi out to visit family in southern Utah. Landscapes were embedded in my mind at an early age--from wide open flat spaces where the sky was one massive expanse of blue to "purple mountain majesties" as we approached and crossed the glorious Rocky Mountains. Everything seemed so big and open out on the range compared to the world I knew in Mississippi where tall pines and broad oaks and magnolias filled the sky and blocked out the sun.

Crossing the Great Plains, I loved to recall the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder that had captivated my imagination at a very young age. Riding in the back of our family van, I could just picture Laura in the big covered wagon with her family as they crossed the Midwestern frontier in search of a new home. Her colorful tales of life and everyday adventure made what I'm sure was an incredibly hard and sometimes harsh existence seem wonderfully intriguing to me as a child.

On our long family road trips, I also made up stories in my own mind of cowboys as they sat around the campfire, drinking strong coffee and singing softly to the cattle under the stars. Their life seemed so carefree, so exciting, and following the interstate west gave me the sense of being with them out on the trail! The sensation never gets old.

For more about INTERSTATE 40, travel and history,
visit my blog www.chilltravelsi-40.blogspot.com