Well, I am off on a much-needed vacation. For my American readers, this weekend represents our "4th of July" Independence Day holiday. What better way to celebrate than to drive hundreds of miles from one side of the country to the other?  In this case, from the North side down to the South side.

I am armed with two books on this subject. The first, is part of a series on American Road Trips, which details the roadside attractions to be found along the Great River Road. We will start up in Minnesota, and work our way Southward, covering a total of eight states in eight days along the Mississippi River.

The second book is Alton Brown's "Feasting on Asphalt, the River Run". This book describes Alton's ride Northward up the Mississippi river, detailing the restaurants and foods he enjoyed, so I will have to read the chapters in reverse.

Special thanks to Roy Buol, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa that I [met in Scottsdale earlier this year] for the idea to come visit his fine city, considered one of the Smarter Cities in the USA, thanks to IBM technology.

I don't know if I will have internet access along the way, or have the time and/or energy to blog, tweet (@az990tony) or upload photos during the trip. We'll see.

technorati tags: , IBM, Smarter Cities, Dubuque Iowa, Great River Road, Mississippi River