America’s great roads, as they actually are

Interstate Reality Guides · No. 1

Interstate 75 — The Reality Guide: Miami to the Canadian Border

Miami Lakes → Sault Ste. Marie · 1,786 miles · 6 states · 26 pages

1,786 miles from Miami Lakes to the Canadian border at Sault Ste. Marie — and almost nothing about this road is what a map app tells you. Three short stretches carry every toll, and each takes different money: Alligator Alley went cashless in August 2026, the Mackinac Bridge has never heard of your E-ZPass, and the Soo bridge raises its price twice a year on a published schedule to 2033. Georgia's express lanes reverse direction and change price while you watch. One Tennessee valley has a fog warning system because fog killed twelve people there in a single morning.

This guide is the road as it actually is, checked fact by fact against Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan DOT sources, both bridge authorities, and the National Weather Service: the three structural fuel gaps and where to fill before them; Ohio's rebuilt rest areas (and the states where sleeping in your car is expressly allowed); the Hiwassee fog corridor, Mackinac wind and ice holds, and UP lake-effect whiteouts; Atlanta's Downtown Connector and the hours that actually work; construction that runs to 2029 in Ocala; the towns worth sleeping in, in driving order; the EV gaps (80 miles between fast chargers in the Upper Peninsula); and the border itself — which documents work, and why a regular driver's licence has not been enough since 2009.

Where a fact could not be verified — traffic-camera folklore, current cell dead zones — the guide says "confirm before you rely on it" instead of guessing. It also corrects a famous one: the Waldo speed trap is real, but it's not on this road.

What’s inside

• Corridor at a glance: 1,786.47 miles, 6 states, per-state mileages and the one thing to know about each
• Exact maps: a full-corridor overview plus six segment maps rendered from OpenStreetMap's surveyed geometry of I-75 itself — the tolls, fuel gaps, weather traps, overnight towns and the border crossing marked where they actually are (26 pages in total)
• The road, stretch by stretch (7 segments, Miami → Sault Ste. Marie)
• Fuel & the long gaps table — the three structural gaps and the cluster exits
• Rest areas worth your stop, incl. Ohio's rebuilt areas and sleeping rules by state
• Weather traps: Mackinac holds, lake-effect whiteouts, the Hiwassee fog system, Georgia storms, Florida honesty (no, sinkholes are not a season)
• Tolls — what you will actually pay: Alligator Alley, Mackinac, Soo, Peach Pass, SunPass PRO verdict
• Construction & delay country (Ocala to 2029, Brent Spence weekend closures, Detroit)
• Sleep here: overnight towns in driving order
• EV drivers: corridor charging reality, the UP gap, Alligator Alley rule
• The border at Sault Ste. Marie: documents, bridge money, the annual bridge walk
• Full sources list + an honest "deliberately left out" note

US$13

Print-ready A4 PDF, delivered on the confirmation page straight after checkout — keep it saved on your phone or tablet for the road.

Interstate Reality Guides · No. 2

Interstate 70 — The Reality Guide: Utah to Baltimore

Cove Fort → Baltimore · ≈2,170 miles · 10 states · 25 pages

From a junction in the Utah desert to the Baltimore beltway, I-70 crosses the emptiest 110 miles on the Interstate system, the highest tunnel in it, the wheat-flat middle of Kansas, and one famous town where the Interstate simply stops and becomes a street with traffic lights. The San Rafael Swell gives you 110 miles with no fuel, no food and no lodging — drive in on fumes and the desert will invoice you. Colorado enforces a traction law from September to May with a tape measure: 3/16 of an inch of tread, chains carried by law for trucks, fines to $1,000. And the tolls are a mirror-image trap: Kansas takes K-TAG but not E-ZPass; Pennsylvania takes E-ZPass two states later, on the same road.

Every specific in this guide was checked against CDOT, KDOT/KTA, MoDOT, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, FHWA and state sources: the Swell's oasis stops (and the one trailhead with no water); which Glenwood Canyon rest areas to trust and which fill or close; Kansas blizzard gates and the Topeka service plazas; Missouri's $2.8 billion rebuild to three lanes; the Floyd Hill Express Lane; the Breezewood gap and the 8–10-year fix announced for it; the towns worth sleeping in from Salina to Wheeling; and an EV chapter honest enough to tell you the single charger that makes a desert crossing possible. Two published lengths exist for this road; the guide prints both and tells you why they differ.

Where a figure couldn't be verified — the exact Pennsylvania toll in dollars, named rest areas across five states — the guide says so rather than inventing one.

What’s inside

• Corridor at a glance: ≈2,170 miles, 10 states, both published lengths explained
• Exact maps: a full-corridor overview plus six segment maps rendered from OpenStreetMap's surveyed geometry of I-70 itself — the Swell gap, the traction-law stretch, both turnpikes, the blizzard country and the overnight towns marked where they actually are (25 pages in total)
• The road, stretch by stretch (10 segments, Cove Fort → Baltimore)
• Fuel & the long gaps: the Swell's 110 miles, the 48-mile Kansas Turnpike gap
• Rest areas worth your stop (Utah mileposts, Vail Pass reopened 2025, Turnpike plazas)
• Weather traps: CDOT traction law and chain stations, Glenwood debris-flow closures, Kansas blizzard gates, Utah desert heat
• Tolls: Kansas vs Pennsylvania — the mirror-image transponders, priced honestly
• Construction & delay country (Missouri Improve I-70, Floyd Hill; Central 70: done)
• Sleep here: overnight towns in driving order
• EV drivers: the Ivie Creek rule and the Swell crossing plan
• Altitude table: Eisenhower 11,158 ft, Vail Pass 10,662 ft — who should care
• The Breezewood verdict + full sources and "deliberately left out" note

US$13

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Interstate Reality Guides · No. 3

Interstate 80 — The Reality Guide: San Francisco to New York's Doorstep

San Francisco → Teaneck · 2,900.76 miles · 11 states · 25 pages

The second-longest Interstate in America is the working crossing of the continent — in Wyoming, trucks are up to 70% of everything on it — and it is run by rules nobody tells tourists. Wyoming legislates its wind: advisories at 50-mph gusts, roads closed to vehicles under posted weights near 60, and a statute that fines you $750 for driving through a closure. Donner Pass chain law has no fixed dates — the signs are the law, there is no parking at checkpoints, and no chains means a trip back down the mountain. Nevada's real service voids are 58–59 miles; the famous "122-mile" claim is false, and this guide shows its working. Wyoming ranks 48th in America for fast chargers, and its federal charging network exists, so far, as a request for proposals.

Checked against WYDOT, Caltrans, NDOT, Iowa DOT, the Ohio Turnpike Commission, MTC and federal sources: the 37.4-mile no-exit record on the Utah salt flats; Nebraska's named rest areas (and the pair closed for construction until 2027); Iowa's rest-area system and the world's largest truck stop; the four toll systems at the corridor's ends, priced in both directions — a full crossing honestly estimated at $36–48; Joliet's $1.3B rebuild; Pennsylvania's decade of eastern work zones; and the towns that absorb the road when the rolling closures come down. Where the evidence ran out — a Wyoming fuel-gap record, a bridge toll that sources priced two ways — the guide plants a flag that says "confirm before you rely on it" and moves on.

What’s inside

• Corridor at a glance: 2,900.76 miles, 11 states, per-state mileages
• Exact maps: a full-corridor overview plus six segment maps rendered from OpenStreetMap's surveyed geometry of I-80 itself — Donner Summit, the Nevada service voids, Wyoming wind country, the eastern toll corridor and the overnight towns marked where they actually are (25 pages in total)
• The road, stretch by stretch (10 segments, San Francisco → Teaneck)
• Fuel & the long gaps: Nevada voids, the Utah no-exit record, Turnpike plazas
• Rest areas worth your stop (Nebraska and Iowa named; Cozad closure warning)
• Weather traps: Wyoming wind closures, Donner chain law, plains blizzards, PA tiers
• The wind rules summary card (WYDOT's own thresholds and penalties)
• Tolls — what you will actually pay, both directions, with the honest total
• Construction & delay country (Joliet 2028, Cozad–Darr 2027, PA to 2035)
• Sleep here: overnight towns in driving order
• EV drivers: Wyoming's 167 chargers, Nevada's dead stations, the data deserts
• Full sources list + "deliberately left out" note (incl. the 122-mile myth, debunked)

US$13

Print-ready A4 PDF, delivered on the confirmation page straight after checkout — keep it saved on your phone or tablet for the road.