Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways ( Moon )

" Now in its sixth edition, Jamie Jensen's best-selling "Road Trip USA" is better than ever. Inside, you'll find cross-country routes and road-tested advice for adventurers who want to see the parts of America that the interstates have left behind. Jensen also includes mile-by-mile highlights celebrating major cities, obscure towns, popular attractions, roadside curiosities (if you're looking for the world's largest jackalope, you're in luck), local lore, and oddball trivia. With full coverage of more than 35,000 miles of classic blacktop, "Road Trip USA" will take you off the beaten path and into the heart of America.
Features include:
A flexible network of route combinations, extensively cross-referenced to allow for hundreds of possible itineraries
Essential tips for the road: survival guides for two dozen cities, call letters of the liveliest radio stations, and details on where to eat and sleep
More than 140 meticulously detailed map" (Publishers Description)  Check Our Catalog

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Turkey

"Packed with color photographs, illustrations and detailed maps discover Turkey region by region; from the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar and Blue Mosque of Istanbul to the famous Roman remains at Ephesus. "Eyewitness Travel Guide: Turkey" provides tips every visitor needs, from the invigorating outdoor activities on offer in the Black Sea area to shopping for carpets, with comprehensive listings of the best hotels, resorts, restaurants, shops, and nightlife in each region for all budgets. There are 3D cutaways and floor-plans of all the must-see sites plus street-by-street maps of all the major Turkish cities and towns. With up-to-date information on getting around by train, tram, bus, car and foot and all the sights, beaches, markets and festivals listed town by town, "Eyewitness Travel Guide: Turkey" explores the rich layers of culture, history, architecture and art of this diverse country not forgetting the best scenic routes and the country's magnificent bazaars, mosques and ruins."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

An Explorer's Guide San Juan, Vieques & Culebra: A Great Destination

"No matter your budget, tastes, or passions, Puerto Rico has something to please your senses and wish you could come back for more. Author Zain Deane takes you on a tour of San Juan and its main islands and shows you how to uncover its best-kept secrets and treasures from breathtaking beaches and rain forest hikes to extraordinary shopping and dining spots on narrow colonial streets. Puerto Rico has something to please all your senses, regardless of your budget, tastes, or passions. Distinctive for their accuracy, simplicity, and conversational tone, the diverse travel guides in our Explorer's Great Destinations series meet the conflicting demands of the modern traveler. They're packed full of up-to-date information to help plan the perfect getaway. And they're compact and light enough to come along for the ride. A tool you'll turn to before, during, and after your trip, these guides include chapters on lodging, dining, transportation, history, shopping, recreation, and more; a section packed with practical information, such as lists of banks, hospitals, post offices, laundromats, numbers for police, fire, and rescue, and other relevant information; maps of regions and locales, and more."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France

By Vivian Swift
"If the traditional travel guide provides security with its objective detail, organizational structure, predictable outline, and recommendations-by-committee, Swift ("When Wanderers Cease To Roam") charms by doing just the opposite. With honesty, whimsy, and subjectivity, she writes in a lively and authentic manner about traveling in her beloved France. She achieves this with her loose, stream-of-thought, anecdotal, and episodic style but especially through her drawings. Everything is covered--nightscapes, a bread guide, gardens, storefronts, a "what to pack" list, Cancale oysters, Bordeaux grapes, statues--with the spontaneity of a cafe session sketch that nearly belies its elegant detail and accuracy. They seem at once in-the-moment and a commentary on it. VERDICT Swift's narrative feels like a vacation. It's interested in the history of bridges and cheese and wine, takes notice of room decor and the contrasting tones of village streets at dusk and dawn, and wonders about (what must be) a town's laundry day and neighborhood cats. A fun, funny, and wonderful experience; highly recommended"  (Library Journal)  Check Our Catalog

Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure

"When Trish Herr became pregnant with her first daughter, Alex, she and her husband, Hugh, vowed to instill a bond with nature in their children. By the time Alex was five, her over-the-top energy levels led Trish to believe that her very young daughter might be capable of hiking adult-sized mountains.
In" Up, " Trish recounts their always exhilarating--and sometimes harrowing--adventures climbing all forty-eight of New Hampshire's highest mountains. Readers will delight in the expansive views and fresh air that only peakbaggers are afforded, and will laugh out loud as Trish urges herself to "mother up" when she and Alex meet an ornery--and alarmingly bold--spruce grouse on the trail. This is, at heart, a resonant, emotionally honest account of a mother's determination to foster independence and fearlessness in her daughter, to teach her "that small doesn't necessarily mean weak; that girls can be strong; and that big, bold things are possible.""  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

National Geographic Guide to State Parks of the United States

"Nominated for inclusion in this book by the 50 state parks directors, this stunning group of 200-plus state parks presents the diversity and beauty of these accessible gems. From Florida to Alaska, from the white water at Ohiopyle State Park, Pennsylvania to the dunes of Pink Coral Sand Dunes, Utah, from the 6-acre Iao Valley to the 204,000-acre Baxter, these parks represent the best cultural and natural areas protected within our state parks' system. From free to affordable, the state parks appeal to the day-visitor or the weekend escapist alike. Of the state parks' 25,000 miles of trails and recreation, the authors have selected favorites for hiking and biking, horseback riding, and wildflower gazing as well as ample opportunities for the birdwatcher or rock climber, the wildlife observer or the amateur archaeologist. The guide features more than 200 gorgeous, color photographs that capture the splendor of the parks, insider tips from state parks staff that are invaluable planning tools, and 32 easy-to-use maps that highlight sites, trails and campgrounds, as well as information on recreational activities, camping, and lodging.
All material, including photos and practical data such as opening fees and contact numbers, has been updated for the 2012 edition."  (Publisher Marketing )  Check Our Catalog

Moon Handbooks: Beijing & Shanghai

By Susie Gordon
"Journalist Susie Gordon offers her insider's perspective on Beijing and Shanghai, from experiencing the grandeur of the Forbidden City and slurping noodles at the open-air night market in Wangfujing to shopping in People's Square and strolling through Old French Concession. Gordon also includes many unique travel strategies, including Essential Beijing, Whistle-Stop Shanghai, and City Contrasts--a 10-day itinerary for a tour of both cities. From Beijing's well-preserved old hutong alleys to Shanghai's ultra-modern Pudong district, "Moon Beijing & Shanghai" gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience." (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Wildflower Wonders: The 50 Best Wildflower Sites in the World

By Bob Gibbons
"Photographer and naturalist Gibbons has created a stunning guide to the best wildflower sites in the world. His criteria are spectacular beauty, diversity, and accessibility; infrequent and annual, desert, and alpine flowers are included, while difficult to visit, short-lived, and small sites and those with limited species are not featured. The greatest emphasis is on Europe (particularly Italy, France, and Greece), followed by the United States, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Each location is accompanied by at least two photographs, a map, and at-a-glace highlights. Gibbons offers reasons to go (e.g., exceptionally colorful early spring flowers and quartz fields with "living stones"), timing recommendations, and information on protected statuses, and he concludes with useful contacts for each country, including tour companies that will help you get there (many locations are quite remote). There's also an excellent bibliography and a species list that gives both common and Latin names. VERDICT The superior photographs, in-depth information, and inclusive species list will be valuable to flower-loving travelers of every sort."  (Library Journal)   Check Our Catalog