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10 Great Drives to Savor
1. Half Moon Bay, California/ California Highway 1: California Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, is a 485-mile road marvel between San Francisco and Los Angeles, which features a range of mesmerizing coastal scenery, from rocky sea cliffs along the deep blue Pacific, with great surfs, to natural preserves and countryside towns. After San Francisco you enter an ocean experience of a lifetime driving along the Bay area, and my favorite, a 4-mile stretch by the extensive sandy beaches of Half Moon Bay. Stop by at any point on this highway for the highest-quality coastal sightseeing.
(http://california-travel.suite101.co....cfm/pacific_c oast_highway_scenic_drive)
2. “All Roads Lead to Rome including I-35”- says a popular billboard along I-35. Interstate 35 in Texas is a major Interstate Highway, about 500-mile long, running from Laredo, passing through the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Waco to Red River where it crosses into Oklahoma. I-35 encapsulates the enormity of Texas, the food junkie-favorites, rugged scenery, the nicest people, popular Steakhouses, the famous Round Rock Donuts, premium factory outlets, finally entering the delightful and romantic Casa-Del-Rio- San Antonio. Even a deserted spot en route with a couple of cowboys listening to soulful country music is a pleasant feeling.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_35_in_Texas)
3. Through Oklahoma to North-West Arkansas (NWA): On my several drives from Dallas to Rogers, Arkansas, I always relished this intriguing stretch of about 250 miles that goes from the hustle-bustle traffic of I-75 North towards calmer pastures through some grand ranch properties, and country-style food joints into US-69 North in Oklahoma, continuing along a majestic ‘Lake Eufaula’ and some green tree-covering tunnel-like roadways leading through a smooth drive along I-40. Enter into the “Natural State”, with a blissful natural splendor, on I-540 N, one of the best mountain highways one would ever visualize at 70 mph going through green mountainous beauty.
4. A visit to Eureka Springs: A quaint natural town in the mountains, Eureka Springs is a popular travel destination in this region especially for mountain & log-house lovers. This NWA extension is a brave and beautiful forest drive from Rogers along US-62 E, which will get you through the most difficult of driving practices through even more beautiful and green National Forest surroundings; just don’t get carried away by the beauty of nature because the roads have the toughest curves and occasionally the roughest tracks as well.
5. I-44 between Oklahoma and Missouri- One fairly long stretch of freeway, where driving at 75 miles per hour is perfectly legal, and easing into 80mph is still comfortably within legal leniency limits. I include this in the list because you can test drive your car’s horsepower without breaking the law for quite a satisfactory stretch, which also encompasses scenic routes and goes through Grand Lakes, Oklahoma, a beautiful lake-resort town, another hardly known natural beauty spot.
6. Delaware Water Gap/Delaware River: A pristine yet striking view with the Delaware River cutting through a ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, this is the marvelous Delaware Water Gap. It forms the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and features the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on both sides. Along PA Route 611, south of Interstate 80, three scenic overlooks provide the best places to view the Delaware River as it passes through the Water Gap, especially for 3.2 miles between PA-611 S and N Delaware Dr/PA-611 S, which was my favorite drive.
(http://www.nps.gov/dewa/index.htm)
7. Ouachita National Forest: I drove from Rogers, Arkansas to Hot Srpings, AR, for around 210 miles that took me through some of the most breathtaking moments I have experienced while driving. It’s actually a particular stretch of 52 miles, between US-270 E/US-71 N and Albert Pike Rd/US-270 E, on US-270 E that took me through those breathtaking moments. One of the best looking National Forests in the country, in peak summer, driving at variable speeds between tall, lustrous, dense trees reflecting different shades of green, along mountainous roads with sharp curves, truly wonderful.
8. From Natural Wonder To Man-Made Splendor, Times Square, New York: Located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at Broadway and Seventh Avenue, stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets, Times Square is the centre of the brilliance of the city that never sleeps,. This could be a tedious & frustrating drive, that’s why most people walk here, but you can visualize the most colorful, dazzling lights, that people from all over the world come to witness. Vibrant electronic billboards all around, the most elaborate spectrum of advertising display, heavy crowds filling the street with fashionable euphoria…this article isn’t enough to describe.
9. Island Beach State Park, New Jersey: A pleasant combination of coastal driving and swamps/wetlands in one place the Island Beach State Park is located in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, NJ at the southern end of Route 35 on an island strip into the Atlantic Ocean. The park has a bay on one side and the Ocean on the other side, including a beach all along the coast. The drive features a straight 10-miles stretch of smooth roadway with tall grasses on sides, creeks, ponds, marches and animal sightings (I photographed a Coyote who kept posing). 4-wheel drive vehicles are permitted onto the beach with permit.
10. Appalachian Mountains between Virginia & New Jersey: In moving from Texas to New Jersey and driving twice the same distance this was the most natural respite in driving fatigue for me. This is Interstate 81 North passing through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and entering Pennsylvania, running more than 450 miles along the magnificent Appalachian Mountains with snow-capped peaks, especially during winter, going through small, quaint towns with lavish mountainous ranches with horses and cattle, the vast expanse of the sky, it’s truly a moving wallpaper visual.. All these wondrous images on an interstate freeway, it is extraordinary, and I’d live it again if I had the opportunity.
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