Round America began as a trip to all 50 states on two-lane roads. We show you the sights we've seen, the people we've met, and the pie we've enjoyed along the way.

But Round America has now become more. We continue to travel, photograph, and write. We are now developing a GPS travel service that will enable folks like you to use our web sites to plan your trips and receive GPS coordinates for everything you'd like to see on your vacations.

The latest Round America trip began on June 8, 2008 as we spend two weeks "In Search of Elvis and The World's Largest Chili Dog." We will drive from Atlanta Georgia to Tupelo Mississippi and then on to Memphis Tennessee and Graceland; we will visit numerous Elvis-related sights along the way. Then we visit Hot Springs and several sights in Arkansas before we make our way to Purley Texas where we hope to find The World's Largest Chili Dog. We'll visit Dallas, Austin, Luckenbach, and a number of other great Texas towns before heading back to Atlanta via Natchitoches Louisiana, Yazoo City Mississippi, and Birmingham Alabama. We will be riding on two-lane roads writing stories about the places we go, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We will publish a daily report each day on the road, and we will post hundreds of photographs.

I am very sad to report that Barbara's father, Hayward Gray, had a stroke, and he died on June 22, 2008. He was one of the sweetest men to ever walk the face of the earth, and he will be missed.

Our trip was cut short. Additional daily reports and all photos will be added when time permits.

Elvis & The Chili Dog Trip - Day 1 -- Atlanta Georgia to Huntsville Alabama. We were blown away by Huntsville and our new GPS system!

Elvis & The Chili Dog Trip - Day 2 -- Huntsville Alabama to Tupelo Mississippi. We took Elvis Presley's kitten to dinner.

Elvis & The Chili Dog Trip - Day 3 -- Tupelo Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee. We saw Graceland Too and Graceland.

Elvis & The Chili Dog Trip - Day 4 -- Memphis Tennessee to Dallas Texas. We had to suspend the trip and go straight to Dallas because Barbara's father has had a stroke.

On April 1, 2003, my wife and I left on a long-anticipated trip that we have affectionately referred to for several years as "The Pie Trip." The trip covered all 50 states, over 2,500 towns, and over 29,000 miles. Read about the trip in our Daily Journal.

We wrote a book about the experience. We have also just published a book of photos of flags that we took in every state.

Preparation is underway for Round America II. We will depart on April 1, 2009 at 9:15 am -- six years to the minute after the first trip began. We will primarily visit places that we didn't see on the first trip. Complete details will be posted soon.

Round America I Trip Overview

The idea for this trip originated in 2000. I proposed to Barbara that we go on "The Pie Trip" -- just take off and travel the country and "eat pie." We would go on the backroads and eat in cafes and diners where the locals eat (where they always have pie) and just learn about the places we go and the people we meet. We would write a book about the experience. We became busy with business and a move to Atlanta, and the trip was postponed. I was more than a little disappointed when I discovered a book titled American Pie published in 2002 that had a strikingly similar concept and a great name. But the idea for the trip was bolstered by my experience driving a 1955 Chevy Police Car from Dallas to Orlando.

The new plan was to go entirely around the country with a well-planned route. I mapped an itinerary that took us from Savannah to Daytona Beach to Miami to Key West to New Orleans to Brownsville to Tucson to San Diego to Los Angeles to Flagstaff to Santa Fe to St. Louis to Nashville to Atlanta to Louisville to Des Moines, to Denver to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Bellingham to Anchorage to Minot to Duluth to Mackinac Island to Toledo to Cleveland to Buffalo to Burlington to Fort Kent Maine to Calais to Providence to New York to Washington DC to Norfolk to Myrtle Beach to Charleston to Savannah and all spots in between. Last stop was Hawaii to complete our American tour. If you look at a map, you'll see that we essentially outlined the USA and completed one circle through the non-border states. We visited all 50 states and passed through at least 2,500 towns. We logged over 29,000 miles by car.

We saw major sights, but we also saw other attractions such as the world's largest ball of twine, the smallest church in America, the Forrest Gump bus bench, a house built entirely out of one log, the spinach capital of the world, several infamous donut shops, the Roswell UFO Museum, a ship turned into a barber shop called the Barber Ship, the underground missile silos in North Dakota, the Judy Garland Museum, the James Dean Memorial, the Ben & Jerry's factory, and assorted roadside attractions. We made special detours to visit some highly-regarded pie places as well as to see Mount Rushmore and Anchorage.

We tried to eat where the locals eat...unless the locals eat at franchised restaurants...as we sought to concentrate on good, independent local places and "slow food." Nothing too fancy; diners and cafes were our #1 choice. We tracked each restaurant we visited and the roadfood we ate, and we have preserved that for posterity on our Road Food page.

We carefully planned the trip. We established these Rules of the Road.

We will be writing one or more books about our experiences. We have not finalized a decision on the title of the book. We will write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat...so we may call it The Pie Trip.

Yet a family tradition has been to end our vacations by creating a list of the best and worst of the trip. Best meal, worst meal, best city, worst city, best excuse, worst expenditure -- some serious and some funny. As we approached the trip, we compiled a master list of bests and worsts to consider as we traveled, so another possibility for the title is Best and Worst of the USA.

But what was unique about the trip is that it chronicled a trip entirely 'ROUND AMERICA -- around the homeland. In these times of concern for our homeland, our security, and our borders, we looked for patriotic photo ops. So, we may call the book 'Round America. I currently favor either Stay Home or Chasing the Sun. A complete list of the possible book titles is available for your review and comment.

We wrote daily, and we have provided a daily account and photos on the web site. We tracked our experiences with a Scorecard as well -- tracking various and sundry "vital statistics," and we kept a running report on the best and worst of the trip.

Trip Planning: Click here for a complete report on the Planning that was done for the Round America trip and an evaluation of what worked and what didn't work.

The Travelers: Click here for information on the Round America travelers Bill and Barbara Windsor.

Best & Worst: Click here for Round America's rankings of The Best & Worst Round America.

Trip Scorecard: Click here for Round America's Trip Scorecard -- tracking important statistics throughout the trip -- Trip Scorecard.

The Beads: Click here to learn how beads became an important part of Round America -- The Beads.

People We've Met: Click here for a list of the The People We've Met.

Pie We've Eaten: Click here for information on all the The Pie We've Eaten.

Our Book: Click here for information on the Round America book.

How to find the Cities, States, and Sights that Interest you

The Round-America.net web site offers extensive information on places to go and things to do in all 50 states! To find the information that is of the most interest to you, there are three ways to look.

On the right side of the home page and on the toolbar at the top of each page, the "States" are displayed. We have categorized each state and city/town to make it easy for you to find exactly what is of interest to you. So, for example, if you know you want to visit Georgia, by clicking on "Georgia" under the States, you will then see a list of every city/town that we have visited in Georgia. Click on the cities/towns of interest, and then click on the summaries that sound interesting, and you can read the full description for specific sites to see in each city/town.

By clicking on the "Sightseeing" link underneath our logo at the top of each page, you can review a complete list of every sight/attraction we have seen as well as tours and activities that are available. You may then scan the summaries of each and click on those of interest to read the full description.

On the left side of every page, our "Our Favorite Sightseeing" list is displayed. These are the the places that we enjoyed most.