The Basics of This Adventure

Enlightenment and inspiration.

Those are two main purposes of this site.

We accomplished these dual goals by posting 60 columns from March 20 to May 18, 2021, that took us through all 48 states of the continental United States.

On our virtual journey, we wrote about all the places we passed through and the people who live there. We recapped the history of each locale as well as discussed the issues facing those communities. There was also some interesting tidbits and observations along the way

The stops included well-known landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, but we also highlighted lesser-known towns that still play an important part in our nation’s story. Places such as Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Titusville, Pennsylvania. Also on the agenda were spots embedded in our culture, such as the Iowa farm field where singer Buddy Holly’s plane crashed, the forest in southern New Hampshire where the first game of paintball was played and the Oklahoma diner that was an inspiration for the Pixar movie “Cars.”

We learned what a secret hidden for 150 years in Mobile Bay, Alabama, tells us about slavery as well as what a garden at a Minneapolis school can teach us about our nation’s resolve during World War Two.

The idea here is to present a picture of how the United States got to where it is today as well as what it’s facing now and where it’s going.

The goal is to have people from different parts of the country learn about other sections of the nation.

The hope is that if we can know more about each other, then perhaps we can understand each other a little better.

We also hope this road map will inspire our readers to map out adventures of their own. These itinerary can be 5-day trips, 10-day sojourns or month-long adventures. Readers can follow our routes precisely or use them as a general guide to venture out of their own.

Another objective is to help the small businesses, restaurants, museums and other places to thrive. These 60 columns feature these types of establishments in all the towns we highlight.

We encourage our readers to tell us about their plans and send in suggestions of interesting places to visit. You can do that by filling out the Travel Center form in the lower left box on the 60 Days USA home page.

I plan to actually drive all 60 segments of this route in 2-week chunks over the course of a decade. The first two road trips were completed in spring 2022 and spring 2023.

We challenge our readers to do the same. Build your own road map to drive through all 48 contiguous states in the coming years.

As we all progress on our journeys, this site will be constantly updated with new information, events and observations.

So, climb aboard and let’s hit the road.

David Mills

60 Days USA