Spread from one ocean to another, America makes for a formidable road trip. Assuming you stick to the Lower 48, your best shot for taking it all in might be the drive from Bangor, ME, to San Diego, but even that 3,275-mile odyssey fails to pass through half the states. Still—to point out the obvious—road trips aren't just about maximizing the number of sights or states seen.  Choosing a drive come vacation time is a vote for slowing down, a pledge to make room for the unexpected detours and deep conversation. Through some sort of automotive alchemy, a great drive transforms what can be the tough part (the getting there) into the reason to set out in the first place. We asked five local writers to plot five road trips in their part of the country. Each drive takes its inspiration from one of our travel icons: PLAY, EAT, SHOP, RELAX and EXPLORE. But all of them celebrate the spirit to move.

1 Big Island Adventure                                  
Chasing steam plumes, sub rides and more on Hawaii's Belt Road

BY LYNN COOK

Kilauea Volcano, high above Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, has been erupting for 25 years. Luckily, the lava flows down the uninhabited side of the mountain into the ocean, where it sends up great plumes of steam. Ever growing, Hawaii Island is by far the state’s largest island, though you can circle it in a day. But it’s much better to take it slow, making time for sea turtle stops, farm-to-table dining and a front-row seat to watch this ancient land expand into the ocean, inch by fiery inch.

THE DRIVE: 
Start in Hilo with a big breakfast at Ken’s House of Pancakes: eggs with Portuguese sausage and sweet-bread french toast. (The friendly waitress will likely offer advice on downtown shopping.) Walk off your excesses by strolling around the moon bridges and pagodas in Queen Liliuokalani Gardens, a 30-acre Japanese garden near the waterfront. Before departing, load up on guavas and papayas at the Hilo Farmer’s Market. (A bag of fresh Hilo Stone cookies, made at Mountain View Bakery, won’t hurt, either.)

Leave Hilo on Highway 11, also known as the Belt Road, which heads straight up the flank of the volcano. At the top, you’ll feel as if you’ve arrived on the surface of the moon as you circle the crater rim in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. For a lava sighting, head down toward the ocean on Chain of Craters Road. A park ranger directs foot traffic to the most recent viewing spot. Back on Highway 11, the trip down the other slope takes you from volcanic moonscape to the coconut palm–lined black sand beach at Punaluu. Green sea turtles can be spotted in the surf, munching on seaweed. Visitors should keep their distance—even though no one seems to have told the turtles the same.

Down the highway you’ll reach the town of Kailua Kona. Its kitschy shops can take a whole day to explore. Instead, try the Atlantis Submarine, which dives into Kailua Bay and offers nose-toporthole views of thousands of fishes (800-548-6262; $40–$80). After joining Highway 19, you’ll wind through miles of sharp black lava flow, broken occasion-ally by the green oasis of a resort. As you turn toward Mauna Kea’s 13,796-foot peak, cows start to appear on the hillsides. This is Waimea, Hawaii’s cowboy country, and also home to one of the state’s best farm-to-table-style meals at Merriman’s restaurant (808-885-6822; dinner for two, $100).

The coastal drive on your way back to Hilo is punctuated with cascading waterfalls. You’ll also spy distant views of otherworldly steam furies: as molten lava drops into the ocean, the Big Island grows by acres every year.

STAY

RCI®-affiliated resorts on the Big Island include:

SHELL VACATIONS CLUB
at Paniolo Greens, Waikoloa

RAINTREE'S KONA REEF
Hawaii, Kailua Kona

For more information,
visit RCI.com or call
Weeks: 800-338-7777
Points: 877-968-7476

Non-RCI-Affiliated Big Island Hotels:

KALAEKILOHANA B&B
94-2152 South Point Rd.,
Kau, Hwy. 11 between mile
marker 69 and 70; 808-939-8052;
kau-hawaii.com;
doubles from $189

OUTRIGGER KEAUHOU BEACH RESORT
78-6740 Alii Dr., Kailua Kona;
808-322-3441;outrigger.com
doubles from $165

FOUR SEASONS RESORT HUALALAI
72-100 Kapupulehu Dr.,
Kailua Kona; 808-325-8000;
fourseasons.com;
doubles from $725

2 NORTHWEST WINE DRIVE                       
Cruising through Washington's two vineyard regions.

BY TOM COLLIGAN

“You can go to Napa and muscle it out on Highway 29—standing five-deep at every tasting bar—or you can come to eastern Washington, and relax,” says Scott Williams of Kiona Vineyards. While his opinion isn’t exactly unbiased, he does have a point. Even with more than 400 wineries, Washington’s burgeoning 11-million-acre Columbia Valley wine region still provides ample elbow room for travelers and tasters to spread out and experience a sense of discovery. Here you can fill your trunk with countless award-winning Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines that your friends back home have never heard of, chase the horizon under boundless desert skies and trace the wind-scoured cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.

THE DRIVE:
From Seattle, it’s just 150 miles up and over the shoulder of Mt. Rainier. As you enter the Yakima Valley, the landscape erupts into apple and peach orchards, high-trellised fields of Cascade hops and, increasingly, wine grapes. (In the last five years alone, the number of wineries in the region has doubled to 75.) Since the first vineyards began popping up in the early 1970s, winemakers have gradually learned to coax deeply concentrated red wines from the silty soils.

At exit 40, take the Yakima Valley Highway to taste your way through more than a dozen vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills. Though much of this richly agrarian valley remains short on tourist amenities, there are excellent taco stands along the way. (A case in point: the pork tacos at Garcia’s in Grandview.)

Take exit 96 to reach Red Mountain—the state’s first wine-growing region to produce a wine rated a perfect 100 by critic Robert Parker. The staff at Kiona Vineyards’ tasting room (509-588-6716) serves up extraordinary late-harvest dessert wines. From here, continue on Highway 124 east across the Snake River. Well-groomed orchards give
way to rippling wheatfields and rolling hills. Turn south on Highway 125, and follow the railroad tracks into Walla Walla.

In this flat college town, a wealth of tasting rooms can be found on or near Main Street, making for a day’s worth of on-foot wine tasting. Standouts include Waterbrook, Forgeron and Spring Valley Vineyards. Plan to end your day at the elegant Whitehouse-Crawford Restaurant, over a plate of the cider-braised pork shank (55 W. Cherry St.; 509-525-2222; dinner for two, $100).

Departing Walla Walla, head west on Highway 12, stopping along the way at l’Ecole 41, one of the area’s oldest wineries. (509-525-0940) Soon after, you’ll meet up with the broad waters of the Columbia River at its massive final westward bend. Cross the river at Umatilla to drive the less-traveled Highway 14 along the north bank. The wide-rim rock canyon slowly narrows into cliffs of black basalt, and Mount Hood rises in the distance.

STAY

DESERT WIND WINERY
A strangely apt southwestern
-themed winery, with four cozy,
deluxe rooms overlooking the
Yakima River and snowcapped
Mount Adams to the west.
2258 Wine Country Rd.,
Prosser; 509-786-7277;
desertwindwinery.com
doubles from $250

THE INN AT ABEJA
Five rustic yet richly appointed
cottages on a 100-year-old
farm, and one of the finest
wineries in Walla Walla. 2014
Mill Creek Rd., Walla Walla;
509-522-1234; abeja.net
doubles from $215

CARSON RIDGE CABINS
Seven private cabins on a
grassy bluff with views of the
dramatic cliffs of the lower
Columbia gorge, just west of
Hood River, OR. 1261 Wind
River Rd., Carson; 877-816-7908;
carsonridgecabins.com
doubles from $210