That unfortunate situation changed materially with the opening of the Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe at Northstar-at-Tahoe, near Truckee. The Ritz brings its signature classic style to Tahoe, and, despite the size and scope of the place, manages to give guests a luxury mountain resort experience, rather than a cookie-cutter hotel experience.

My fiancée Sylvia and I used a late summer weekend to sample the charms of the relatively new property, and we used it as a base from which to satisfy our multi-sport interests. After all, the soft beds at the Ritz feel all that much better after a hard day outside.

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But we don’t actively look for food that will make us fat, do we? Most likely the answer is no. But now Dunkin’ Donuts is giving you the opportunity to do just that with the recent introduction of the DD Trip Planner on their website.

Simply type in your location and your destination and Dunkin’ Donuts will give you all the details you need to hit each and every one of their stores between points A and B. The trip planner provides necessary details such as store hours, drive through availability, and even directions that can be sent directly to your phone, making it easier than ever to add a few extra pounds on your road trip.

Image: Mr. T in DC/Flickr

How nice of Dunkin’ Donuts to do that for us.

The iconic chain, known primarily for its coffee, is especially popular on the East Coast in states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey and Florida. While driving through the East you’re bound to spot their familiar orange and purple sign at least once (or two dozen times) between where you are and where you’re going.

All weight-gain jokes aside, we do think this is pretty clever. And who are we kidding, we would take a Chocolate Frosted Coffee roll over the banana and granola our mom used to pack on car rides any day.

A British man is driving 1,250 miles to Slovenia – with a sheep in the back of his car.

The British man, David, is taking the 28 hour road trip with his four-year-old daughter because he is gifting the sheep to the people of Zrece. The sister-town of his hometown of Sedbergh.

Zrece, Slovenia is a place he has visited several times before to work with the singers of a local choir. The singers commented that they would love a reminder of his village, and so David decided to bring them a real treat, err a sheep. And to top it off the breed of sheep he’s bringing can only be found within a ten mile radius of Sedbergh; really, the perfect gift. Unable the fly the sheep, the only option is to hit the open road and make the journey by land.

Image: The U.S. National Archives’/Flickr

If you think driving a sheep is a little weird, it’s definitely not the most outlandish way to transport a sheep these days. The digital world has gotten into the sheep transportation business as well. In Zynga’s new Lady Gaga themed Farmville, sheep can ride motorcycles around the virtual farm while listening to Lady Gaga’s newest single “Born this Way.” The game was released May 23rd and is a Farmville knock off called, wait for it, GagaVille, according to MTV News.

Maybe you’ve never driven with a sheep, and perhaps Lady Gaga is on your car’s “do not play” list, but who hasn’t taken a road trip with their pet before? Ever had an amazing or terrible experience? We’d love to hear about it.

Image: richardmasoner/Flickr

But are things as really as bad as the media makes it out to be? Sure, we’re still recovering from the throes of a long economic recession and generally speaking we rely too much on foreign oil, but let’s face it: things could be worse. A lot worse. According to this nifty infographic from Treehugger, gas prices in the United States are about average compared to the rest of the world. We pay a lot more than oil-saturated Saudi Arabia — who pay about 60¢ per gallon, or oil-soaked Venezuela – who pay a ridiculous 10¢ a gallon; but then again we could be living in Norway or The Netherlands, where gas taxes keep prices at around $9/gal in both countries.

Of course, there are respective disadvantages and advantages to living in places with cheap or exorbitant gas prices. Saudi Arabia and Venezuela may have cheap prices at the pump, but in both places you’re twice as likely to be killed in a car accident. Norway and The Netherlands may break your bank, but they offer superb and efficient public transportation.

So, to recap: America has average gas prices, average car accident rates, and average public transportation, which means that we’re no better or no worse than anyone else! However, if there’s one thing we dominate, it’s in producing movies about our collective love of the road trip. Three cheers for the U-S-A!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn6uqwSjDjY[/youtube]

This has the making of the perfect marriage, with Airstream, as one of the top RV manufacturers, and Eddie Bauer, as one of the top outdoor apparel and lifestyle brands. As Camping Life reported back in December, this brings together two of the most iconic brands. Looking at photos of the new Eddie Bauer Airstream, they had the young traveler in mind.

Since Eddie Bauer is one of the most recognized outdoor and outerwear brands, it’s only appropriate that the design of this new RV would be geared toward the outdoor traveler. Easily the coolest part of the Airstream is the backdoor hatch, which is rare among RVs. Instead of hauling your surfboards or kayaks on the top of your SUV, you can now much more easily put them in the back of the airstream. The 25′ trailer comes equipped with more contemporary decor than you may be used to with Airstream. Included for the queen-sized bed is an Eddie Bauer Goose Down Duvet, pillows, and throw. They’ve also thrown in a couple day packs. While we’d love in the future to see an RV that doubles as a boat, this is certainly a great start by Eddie Bauer and Airstream.

[Photo courtesy of Peter Galvin]