NPR Road Trips Collection

Step right up as the gates swing open at fairgrounds across the USA. This delightful collection explores the unique joys of the public gatherings that take place in cities and small towns, when people of all stripes and sizes meet to gawk at cows, ponder seed art, get hypnotized, compete in husband-calling contests, and eat virtually anything on a stick. Farming, food, politics, parades, shilling, glad-handing, people-watching, and silliness are celebrated here. If you've been to a fair or festival, you'll love this collection. If you haven't, here's what you've been missing.

With generous splashes of popular culture and human interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces you not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit themand seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way you've come to expect from NPR. Grand Canyon National Park is one of the planet's Seven Natural Wonders, with 4.4 million visitors each year. Who keeps them safe, fed, and happy? When the wind blows at White Sands National Monument, legend says the centuries-old ghost of a Mexican maiden appears in the shifting sands. In Yosemite National Park, there's a guy who tracks road kill with a clipboard and a shovel to pry flattened victims from the blacktop. This colorful collection goes behind the scenery at America's most popular national parks. It also visits lesser-known parks with thought-provoking tales to tell. Includes Cast of Thousands Keeps Grand Canyon Humming Old Army Friends, Divided At Gettysburg Climbers Reclaim World Record on El Capitan And more.

With generous splashes of popular culture and human interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces you not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit them and seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way you've come to expect from NPR. We all have memories of family vacations some successful, some less so, and some gone terribly awry. When it comes to reporting colorful, compelling tales of family vacations, no one does it better than National Public Radio. The stories gathered on this collection are entertaining, provocative and moving. Like Laura Lorson's Hard-Earned Lessons from the Family Road Trip, in which she recalls endless hours in a hot car, eating junk food and listening to AM radio. And Setting Sail with Family, Imperfections in Tow, Marion Winik's account of a not-so-perfect family reunion at sea. And Family Camping, in which commentator Joel Achenbach points out that camping is a serious sport. NPR knows that everyone has a dream vacation, but many of us are settling for economic-reality vacations. So Tom Goldman asks, Who Needs a Fancy Cruise If You've Got Inner Tubes? And when Robert Smith learns the price of Broadway tickets to The Little Mermaid ($121 each!), he takes a more frugal route, piling the family into his Honda Civic and heading to the drive-in. Warmly remembered, richly detailed, these stories invite you to share in the journey of others and may inspire you to plan your own.

With generous splashes of popular culture and human interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces you not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit them - and seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way you've come to expect from NPR. Prairie Dog Town in western Kansas. The Elvis Is Alive Museum in Wright City, Missouri. The Velvet Museum (Velveteria) in Portland, Oregon. A 13-foot Styrofoam scale model of Stonehenge. The Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas . . . or is it in Darwin, Minnesota? Roadside attractions are the staples of the American road trip. Many are slowly disappearing from our highways and byways. Are they culture or kitsch? Are their creators artists or innovators? Listeners are invited along for the ride to decide for themselves.

With frequent stops at pop culture meccas, and unforgettable encounters with humans of singular interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces you not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit them-and seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way you've come to expect from NPR. Includes five unique collections assembled especially for the family drive to Yellowstone-and for armchair travelers as well: Family Vacations Roadside Attractions Postcards from Around the Globe National Park Adventures Fairs and Festivals.