If getting there is half the fun, then planning how you'll be getting there must be the other half. Updated every year, Rand McNally's U.S. road atlas beckons you to journey across the country with an earnest and endearing variety of symbols and colors. Every page suggests an expedition: what's Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel all about? Is it a bridge or a tunnel? Why note the highest point in Florida if the locals didn't think its 345 feet were even worth giving it a name? Can your child get through the state of Washington without giggling at the signs for Walla Walla, Toppenish, and Snoqualmie? Hit the road and find out.

Thomas Rogers