Discover America Diaries. 50 States, 50 States of Mind. Volume 1: East Coast to West Coast. New England, New York, and the Great Northern States Reviews

• A road trip you'll enjoy

  
  By A2SW4LW8KHQ0AO on 2006-01-21
  Back in the 1980s, there was an Albert Brooks movie about a couple of Yuppies who ditched the high-paced rat race, cashed in their nest egg, bought an RV and decided to discover America and themselves through a year-long road trip. They got as far as Las Vegas where the wife gambled away all their money. Later on, they ended up in some boring town with low-grade jobs. Nobody liked the ending.
  
  A much happier ending has befallen Priscilla Rhodes and her husband Ken. Having quit their jobs in 1998 they bought a red truck and an attached trailer and set out for a few years of nomadic existence to discover the country. The result was a website devoted to postcards from the road called www.postcardsfrom.com which later led to this book. The couple actually sent e-mail postcards to people on their subscription list. The postcards became popular, as did the thumbnail sketches of the places they visited. After USA Today and The Christian Science Monitor lauded the website, their subscription base skyrocketed. Eventually this book evolved from their first trip: one that covered the northern route.
  
  The diaries switch back and forth between personal accounts of their life on the road (and before), musings about society and deft descriptions of the monuments, towns, events and byways they encounter. Luckily for the reader, most of the personal accounts are very funny, and the descriptions are right on the money. Priscilla writes the diaries and the postcards while Ken takes the photographs and designs and emails the cards.
  
  It seems Priscilla has the perfect husband. Not only can he handle a truck with a trailer weaving behind it (I personally avoid those things like the plague when I see them on the highway) he can also photograph,create a website, do professional book layout and fashion a very handsome book without benefit of high-price book designers.
  
  So whether they are shivering in the cold, waiting for the sun to rise on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, baking in the heat when caught in Chicago traffic in their truck (which apparently is not air-conditioned) or climbing over buffalo dung in the Badlands, you will enjoy their journey and learn a lot about America, trailer parks, state capitols and various monuments. A very enjoyable read.
  
  
  

• A Delightful, Colorful American Adventure Trip

  
  By A1N0O9TNQ47PX8 on 2006-02-19
  I'm in awe of Priscilla Rhodes's ability to describe not only the sights, sounds and adventures she and husband Ken experienced as they traveled America, but also the refreshing spontaneity and honesty of her emotions and reactions to each place and person along the path. Her accounting of sidetrips and highlights is delightful: From museums, landmark buildings and historical state capitols to deep dark fir forests, spectacularly colored mesas, sparkling, snowy mountains and brilliant sunsets. Who can forget the candy-colored lady in the laundry room or the seven-year-old boy who survived an accidental trip over Horsehoe Falls? The book is a joy ride with moments of surprise and even heart-gripping suspense (such as that at the Gates of the Mountains at Helena). Reading the Discover America Diaries is like happily stealing away in Priscilla's pocket for the entire length of the journey, through all its hills and valleys. Thank you, Priscill Rhodes, for an unexpectedly delightful trip.
  
  

• Sure To Cause A Travel Bug

  
  By A3W101J95H8Q1Y on 2006-04-08
  
  Hop in the passenger seat and bounce along the open road with Priscilla and Ken as they cover 15 states in a 30-foot RV. This personal journal proves to be a descriptive, easy-to-read travelogue that takes the reader across America from sea to shining sea. If you live in one of the states, have visited these states or long to see the beauty of the American countryside this is sure to inspire a sense of wanderlust. The authors venture off the tourist trap route and focus more on the obscure claims to fame of each of the states they visit. A unique look at each of the state capitals also makes this a great classroom supplement for U.S. Geography or History classes. For anyone who loves road trips, this travel essay is sure to bring about stories of "remember when." Review by JoAnna Carey, Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life
  
  
  

• Thinking of launching a national trip? Read this first.

  
  By A1KPCB5Z0SRZ3G on 2006-04-22
  I'm guessing that there are many Americans who would enjoy and long for a trip to every state. Most of us will never do it in which case, it's fun to read about another's adventure. Priscilla Rhodes' book, Discover America Diaries, Vol. 1, is an armchair traveler's delight. Not only is the book fun to read, but it provides a real education about what this country holds. It is a uniquely personal account, as it should be, but it also mirrors the ups and downs of all our lives and especially I would think, the lives of anyone who takes to the road in search of education, adventure and themselves. If you do decide to hit the road, read this book first. It will give you hope that you can have a great time even if, like Priscilla and her husband, you know absolutely nothing about what you are about to do.
  
  

• 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die
• Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways.
• The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips
• Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small Town America
• Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home