Sundae Girl, you might want to get a copy of William Least Heat-Moon's
Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America.
This is one of my favorite books and I usually have a few thrifted copies around for people who haven't read it yet.
Blue Highways are the old US routes before the interstates went in. They still criss cross the country but are forgotten America in many ways. Route 66 is a blue highway.