The last two summer vacations have been back road driving trips around the Great Lakes and through the American Midwest with as little time on the major highways as possible, until it came time to make tracks to get home.  Southern Ontario is full of century old brick farm houses and great small towns.  The St. Croix River Valley is a throw back to a simpler time.  Southern Michigan is everything that Kid Rock claims it is, and the north Ontario of Neil Young's song Helpless is probably still as beautiful as it was when he was a kid.

I think I'm going to rewrite ClassicTVFan's review for him. What he obviously meant to say was:  

In fall, when the leaves are turning up here and the wind is blowing... there's nothing more beautiful rolling over the mountains than that.  I love walking, driving through leaves.. sunny or rainy days, it doesn't matter... and slowly. 

There are lots of times I like to take a drive just to look at all of the scenery. It's quite breathtaking.

Nope. Horror movies start this way.

Oh how I wish I could do a road trip! I'd take advantage of the backroads and seeing nature at its best. Just me, a friend, and the open road; staying away from all cities as best as we possibly can. Sounds like fun...

Some of the best memories of my childhood are this. My dad would take my mother and I out almost every Sunday, just aimlessly wandering about the countryside. Stopping at roadside stands, places that interested him, or my mother or me. I've tried to recreate this with my own kids, but in most cases they clamp headphones on, bury their face in a gameboy or comic book, and ignore the world. You can't go home again.

This is definitely way up there for me. Irishgit hit the nail on the head with this one. I love to just cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway with family - going down all the litle gravel road turrn offs tourist don't know about, or are too afraid to venture down. I'm telling you, my Dad can take you from 60 miles the opposite way in NC to Tennessee.................on gravel roads. It's just old logging and fire roads. Parkway tourist really should venture off the highway and check it out. Nobody is going to analy rape you my friends, trust me - TAKE A LEFT! You can go all over the place on those roads. It's great fun. If you know what you're doing, you can go from western NC to Tennessee way quicker than I-40 can get you there. Well, maybe not quicker, but definitely more scenic. You just feel alone in there, peaceful. This area is how Eric Rudolph avoided authorities. Nobody can touch you there. NOT that I don't hate Rudolph. It's like you're not even in America. Then, all of a sudden you emerge and see McDonalds and %&$#, and it's like oh yeah, great.

I enjoy doing this on occasion, finding a road and wondering where it leads and driving down it or going through small towns and perhaps finding a cooling stream to have a picnic by. It is nice thing to do on a day when the sun is shinning, there is a cool breeze and you have an open top convertible to ramble along seemingly without a care in the world.

One of the best ways to clear my head out and get a fresh perspective on whatever is on my mind is to take a road trip. It takes you out of your daily routine and allows you to look at things from a different standpoint. I've always enjoyed driving across the country.

Pick a direction and go, see what you find. If all else, if you don't find anything out that way, at least it was fun.

We haven't done this in a while but it's one of lifes little pleasure for my wife and I.

I've always liked to take my chances on back roads (sometimes with less than happy consequences), but it really is relaxing most of the time. For the past couple of years I've really enjoyed riding around back roads in rural Pennsylvania in a 1944 jeep I own - I usually don't go more than 40-45 mph, so there's plenty of opportunity to get to see the sights in a completely open vehicle. I guess it's more comfortable (though not necessarily much safer) than riding back roads on a motorcycle.

Interstates are much more fun. You have all kinds of cool ramps, signs, exits and more!

Back when my husband and I were dating this was one of our favorite day-trips. Just pick a direction and drive. I learned more about my husband on those days than I ever did at dinner; it always makes me smile when I think of it.