Gas prices have risen nearly every day since our trip began on May 12. According to AAA’s tracker, the national average hit $5 a gallon on Saturday. We had no choice but to adapt to the high prices, and in retrospect I think that was for the best. Instead of hitting museums and cool restaurants and the big cities of the Southeast — inflation made all that stuff too expensive — we leaned into the road itself, letting America reveal itself serendipitously. Since it cost a small fortune to be on the road, why not make it the focus of our trip?We decided to stick to the business routes — designed to take you through downtowns instead of around them — and back roads, the original “blue highways,” slowly crossing old, low bridges that put us a …
