Blue Highways by Heat Moon is a good read!!!!!

[Tdye2]

A few years back a close friend gave me his copy of Blue Highways by Heat Moon, a native American who travelled the back roads. His vivid descriptions of his long journey, the sites, the towns, the people that he met, and the emotions he felt along the way, were so inspiring that I bought my first motorhome. While my situation is very different than Heat Moon's and full timing is not in the cards for me, I love to read about the adventures of others, both real like Blue Highways, and fiction like the Panama Parker Adventures by Tim Holcombe. I love a good read and would appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

[WNDOPDLR]

Just ordered for the Kindle. Looking forward to it. Thanks.

[twogypsies]

It is a good old book! We always traveled the backroads, stopped and explored the small towns and areas along the way and met the people who lived there. You can't get that awesome experience by driving the interstates. Some seasons we'd spend by only traveling in one state but we explored that state thoroughly - every nook and cranny. Even our whole summer in Alaska was done this way.... talking to the people that lived there and in turn, were invited to their homes to see their gardens and stayed to have lunch or to their dog sled operations and got a detailed tour... and more. We also invite those who showed an interest for a meal at our motorhome and talked of our travels. Many good people out there!!

[wantowander]

Not a book, but have you read about the adventures Of Tioga George on his blog?


Sadly he passed away in February, but you can read from the beginning



https://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net...rges-trip.html

[SlowJoe]

Just ordered a copy. Thanks for the post.

[MN_Traveler]

I should get a copy. Back in 1981 i rode a bike coast to coast (san diego to boston). By definition rode the back roads, and ate out of local delis and stores, and had to stop and ask directions. I second twogypsies - there are a LOT of good people out there. Had a lot of amazing discussions and got a feel for the hopes/wishes of the people i met. Harder to meet people like that out of a MH.. but worth the try! (Btw - these days i have re-traced several of the bike segments in my coach... and find myself saying “i rode a bike over THAT? [emoji19])

[RickNC]

That book ruined my life ( for the better) in 1981. I read it and my girl friend read it and next thing we knew we had sold everything, bought camping gear, packed my old Volvo wagon and wandered the backroads of the US for the next 13 months. I have enjoyed most of his subsequent books. Some read better than others. I'm currently re-reading "Roads to Quoz" (2008)which IMO is equal to "Blue Highways" in interest and I feel is better written. I re-read Blue Highways last year for the first time since 1981.

In 2012 Edgar Ailor published a book called " Blue Highways Revisited". Edgar Ailor and his son retraced Least Heat Moon's route 30 years later and photographed the places and interviewed a few of the people still alive that LHM had visited 30 years prior. More of a coffee table book than a serious read.

You can see/trace his Blue Highways route here (opens in Google Earth)
http://littourati.squarespace.com/st...20Highways.kml

[blues_sunris]

Originally Posted by RickNC

That book ruined my life ( for the better) in 1981. I read it and my girl friend read it and next thing we knew we had sold everything, bought camping gear, packed my old Volvo wagon and wandered the backroads of the US for the next 13 months. I have enjoyed most of his subsequent books. Some read better than others. I'm currently re-reading "Roads to Quoz" (2008)which IMO is equal to "Blue Highways" in interest and I feel is better written. I re-read Blue Highways last year for the first time since 1981.

In 2012 Edgar Ailor published a book called " Blue Highways Revisited". Edgar Ailor and his son retraced Least Heat Moon's route 30 years later and photographed the places and interviewed a few of the people still alive that LHM had visited 30 years prior. More of a coffee table book than a serious read.

You can see/trace his Blue Highways route here (opens in Google Earth)
http://littourati.squarespace.com/st...20Highways.kml

clicked on the link … gibberish .. also tried to open in google earth.. "We couldn't understand this location"

what am I doing wrong ? thanks, Blues

[RickNC]

Originally Posted by blues_sunris

clicked on the link … gibberish .. also tried to open in google earth.. "We couldn't understand this location"

what am I doing wrong ? thanks, Blues

The link opens in Google Earth ok for me. Google Earth changed in the past year and Littourati updated the map. This map update is not as well presented as the previous version. There used to be another map on another site but the site apparently no longer exists

[wimpy]

Here's one link that will give you some results:Blue Highways Revisited - Edgar I Ailor III Edgar I Ailor IV William Least Heat-Moon

When I first read "Blue Highways", I somehow thought his Econoline was the 60's version, but thoroughly enjoyed his travels & would love to visit Nameless, TN, etc. Nameless is no longer listed by the USPS, but GoogleMaps says it's less than 6 hours away.

Thanks to GoogleMaps, you can visit Nameless without leaving your easy chair. It obviously ain't the same!

[Radacravitz]

I ordered Blue Highways after reading comments about it on irv2 last month. I haven’t had a chance to start on it yet but it appears to be a perfect companion to the map I received **free** from the DOT back in 2012. sadly, the DOT byways organization and map are no longer active / available :-(

following are the archived byways site and some drive-by pics of the map taken just now as I was reading this thread.

looking forward to reading the book!

https://web.archive.org/web/20041229...ays.org/learn/

[RickNC]

Originally Posted by Radacravitz

I ordered Blue Highways after reading comments about it on irv2 last month. I haven’t had a chance to start on it yet but it appears to be a perfect companion to the map I received **free** from the DOT back in 2012. sadly, the DOT byways organization and map are no longer active / available :-(

following are the archived byways site and some drive-by pics of the map taken just now as I was reading this thread.

looking forward to reading the book!

https://web.archive.org/web/20041229...ays.org/learn/

Thanks for the link to Byways. A quick search came up with a copy of the byways map for $4.55 on Ebay. I bought it.

I also keep a copy of a 1968 Rand McNally Atlas in the motorhome. It is great for finding some of the old national highway routes that have since been re-signed as local routes.

[Radacravitz]

Originally Posted by RickNC

Thanks for the link to Byways. A quick search came up with a copy of the byways map for $4.55 on Ebay. I bought it.



I also keep a copy of a 1968 Rand McNally Atlas in the motorhome. It is great for finding some of the old national highway routes that have since been re-signed as local routes.

you’re quite welcome and interesting idea about older maps, thx!