USA - General

BICYCLING & WALKING TOURS
●VBT Walking Tours – 614 Monkton Road (Bristol, VT); 800-245-3868; vbt.com; offers both hiking and walking tours of easy to moderate difficulty throught states (and even world).



HIGHWAYS
●Lincoln Highway – spans coast-to-coast from Times Square (New York City) to Lincoln Park (San Francisco), originally through 13 states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada & California); lincolnhighwayassoc.org; among America’s 1^st transcontinental highways for automobiles across USA; passes through 14 states, 128 counties, and over 700 cities, towns and villages; 3.1K miles long.



PARKS & TRAVEL INFORMATION
●Federal Government Recreation Information – 877-444-6777; recreation.gov; brings together information on campgrounds run by several federal agencies.
●National Parks – nps.gov; search for camps individually.
●Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument – covers 77K square miles, far south & west of Hawaii: Kingman Reef; Palmyra Atoll; Howland Island; Baker Island; Jarvis Island; Johnston Atoll; and Wake Island; fws.gov/refuge/pacific_remote_islands_marine_national_monument; unorganized, mostly unincorporated, US Pacific Island territorial group; managed by Fish & Wildlife Service (Department of Interior); remote refuges are most widespread collection of marine- and terrestrial-life protected areas on planet under single country jurisdiction; many endemic species including corals, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, water birds, land birds, insects, and vegetation not found elsewhere.



TRAIN TRIPS
●New York City to Chicago – Amtrak (“Cardinal”); 800-872-7245; Amtrak.com; book multistep itineraries when you reserve; also, USA Rail Passes allow segments in 3-day durations (sleeper upgrades extra); runs 3 days weekly from Pennsylvania Station to Chicago; heads south and then turns west; travel through industrial northeast, coal towns, Washington D.C., Civil War Virginia, and Chicago environs; fares begin at $184 for 2-bed “roomette” and include meals.
●Chicago to Emeryville California – Amtrak (“Zephyr”); 800-872-7245; Amtrak.com; book multistep itineraries when you reserve; also, USA Rail Passes allow segments in 3-day durations (sleeper upgrades extra) runs daily; double-decker trains with wraparound windows in observation car. Travel through cornfields, Rocky Mountain meadows, red rock canyons, Nevada desert, Sierra Nevada, and San Francisco bay.